Steph addresses ‘noise’ about Butler’s fit with Warriors culture originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Warriors superstar Steph Curry silenced any noise questioning Jimmy Butler’s fit in Golden State’s locker room culture on Wednesday.
Curry told 95.7 The Game’s Matt Steinmetz and Daryle Johnson how he had zero reservations about Butler’s personality before the two became Bay Area teammates and doesn’t have any now.
“There’s noise everywhere. I hear everything. I try to filter through everything to know what’s real and what’s not,” Curry told Steinmetz and Johnson. “I talked to Draymond [Green], I talked to [Warriors general manager] Mike Dunleavy, who was [Butler’s] veteran [with the Chicago Bulls] back in the day, and they spoke so highly of who Jimmy was.”
As Curry mentioned, Dunleavy and Butler were teammates in the Windy City from the 2013-14 NBA season to 2015-16, so the GM knew who Butler truly was as a person better than most leading up to the trade. And Green signing off on the Butler deal was the icing on the cake, considering he used his podcast to openly warn the former disgruntled Heat star about his dramatics potentially being harmful to his career.
“I’m a fan of basketball, so a lot of these things I look at through a fan lens, not [as a Warriors player],” Green said on Feb. 5. about Butler reportedly not wanting to be dealt to Golden State. “This one in particular, when I saw this, I was just like ‘Man, Jimmy’s got to be really careful,’ because you continue to lessen the amount of teams that would be willing to take you on.”
Good thing the past is the past.
The Butler deal has worked out tremendously thus far as the Warriors have won 12 of 13 games when the two-way wing is available, and the organization’s vibes are as high as they’ve been in years.
Curry understands Butler’s ending in Miami was ugly. However, Butler is a Warrior now, and that’s all that matters to the greatest shooter in NBA history.
“When the family feuds, it’s obviously tough, and I know him and Miami [Heat] have a history of winning, and also it didn’t end the way they wanted to,” Curry told Steinmetz and Johnson. “But when we talked and understood Jimmy was going to be here, it was just about showing up [and] being a professional.
“He’s motivated to win, and that’s everything I heard. And when you get locked in Jimmy, it’s the absolute best, and it’s our job, collectively, to keep that energy going.”
Golden State has received no reasons to believe the energy won’t remain high during the Butler era. The Warriors are winning games, and many in Golden State’s organization – such as Curry – are having a blast.
