Butler trade shifted Warriors’ vibes at NBA All-Star Weekend

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Butler trade shifted Warriors’ vibes at NBA All-Star Weekend originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Right in time, the rain went away before busloads of celebrities, corporate sponsors and fans arrived in the Bay Area for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game. It wasn’t sunshine and surf, but windy days and gray skies that became more blue as the weekend went on.

In the weeks leading up to the giant event, the Warriors were in real danger of a dark cloud looming over both Chase Center and Oakland Arena, with a monsoon of negativity raining down on them.

A middling team and an aging superstar, weighed down by trying to carry a franchise more than two full seasons removed from a championship, continued to look more improbable every game. No second star and a legend who formed an iconic duo long gone. No Paul George. No Lauri Markkanen. No fantasy turned reality of pairing Steph Curry with LeBron James or a Kevin Durant reunion.

No Jimmy Butler, until that changed the night before the Feb. 6 trade deadline moments before the Warriors were set to play the Jazz in Utah, completely changing Golden State’s story for the rest of the season while shifting the vibe of All-Star Weekend.

“Jimmy’s a great leader,” Tyler Herro said Saturday in Oakland at Media Day. “He leads by example, he comes in every day with a hard hat, puts his hat on and he gets to work. He’s a winner, he wants to win.

“I’m sure the fans out here in San Fran and Oakland will love Jimmy and we’ll miss him down in Miami.”

Butler’s arrival in South Beach coincided with the Heat drafting Herro out of Kentucky in 2019. For the first five-plus seasons of his career, Herro, 25, would often share the podium alongside Butler after wins. They created a quick friendship and blossomed into a Big Three that also included Bam Adebayo.

Not anymore.

Herro, in his first All-Star Game appearance, was the lone player representing the Heat. He didn’t get to answer questions about how he, Adebayo and Butler were going to make a playoff push and again compete for a championship, but instead had to give a respectful response to what his former…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/butler-trade-shifted-warriors-vibes-102209815.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2025-02-17 10:22:00

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