Jimmy Butler effectively ended his Miami Heat career with a disgruntled news conference. He began his Golden State Warriors career with the opposite.
The Warriors introduced their new forward on Thursday, with a No. 10 jersey and a lot of smiles. After receiving three different suspensions from the Miami Heat, Butler said he was just happy to play basketball again:
“For myself, I’m just so happy to be playing basketball again, honestly. But for an organization like this one, with some hella fine talent that we have, I’m glad that I get the opportunity to get here and help get us to winning and do something special. I think that’s why I’m here and I will do my best to do what everybody wants, and that’s to win a championship. I mean it.”
The beginning of the end of Butler’s time in Miami came when he implied he had no more joy playing with the team and criticized his role under head coach Erik Spoelstra. The Heat immediately suspended him seven games after that, then two games for missing a team flight, then indefinitely after he walked out of a shootaround.
All told, Butler has played five games total since Dec. 20 and was averaging the fewest points and minutes of his career since his early days with the Chicago Bulls. The Warriors still bet on him upgrading an aging core, sending away Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schröder, Kyle Anderson, Lindy Waters III and a protected first-round pick in a complicated four-team trade.
When asked how he will fit into the Warriors’ system alongside Stephen Curry, Butler had a simple plan:
“We good. Pass the ball to Steph and get out the way. Easy!”
Butler also received a two-year, $121 million extension to keep him with Golden State through the 2026-27 season, which also happens to be when Curry’s current Warriors contract runs out. Butler said the extension wasn’t the primary reason he wanted the trade, though:
“I’m not going to say that was a big part, but I’m happy about it. I think the biggest part was just getting me to be able to play basketball again. I just want to be able to go out there and do what I’ve been doing for a very long time … I’m very, very, very happy that I’m not getting suspended no more.”
Butler played five and a half seasons with the Heat and enjoyed the best team success of his career, reaching the NBA Finals twice and the playoffs every year despite not having a star-studded supporting cast.
Despite the ugly end to his Heat career, and a reported falling out with team president Pat Riley, Butler was complimentary toward the organization from the other side:
“I’m straight. I don’t got too many bad things to say about them. They gave me an opportunity, I felt like I did my job to the highest level. I have so much respect for that organization, for the people that’s running that organization and for my former teammates. I’ll always wish them the best.
I have a lot of love for a lot of people over there at that organization and I just want them to know I’m very grateful for the relationships that I have built and that I’ll keep for a lifetime.”
Despite the kind words, Butler still has yet to leave any of his past four NBA teams without the bridge at least partially burnt. His time with the Warriors represents an opportunity to buck that trend.
