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The first question I asked Jimmy Butler III inside the Warriors’ locker room at Chase Center was almost as simple as his response.
“How do you manage to always stay cool no matter the chaos around you?”
“I’ve been doing this s—t a long time. Ain’t nothing gon’ faze me.”
It shows. Warriors coach Steve Kerr separates the season into four quarters, roughly 20 games each, believing it’s a sufficient sample to assess the quality of a team. Butler has been part of the team for 20 games, 16 of which ended in victory. His production has been satisfactory, but his composure has made an even greater impact, giving serenity to coaches, to decorated veterans like Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, and to youngsters finding their way in the NBA.
“He’s a been very good for us,” says assistant coach Ron Adams, in his 32nd season coaching in the NBA. “He settles everybody down, and that’s something we needed, especially when closing games. He’s made Steph and Draymond better. He understands the game, and the other guys respect his presence.”
The Warriors were one game below .500 (25-26) when they took the court at United Center in Chicago for Butler’s debut after being acquired from the Miami Heat at the Feb. 6 trade deadline. They tended to squander leads, even against opponents with inferior rosters and records.
When general manager Mike Dunleavy and CEO Joe Lacob traded for Butler – parting with Andrew Wiggins, who was terrific in the 2022 NBA Finals victory – Golden State was trending not toward the playoffs but fighting for a berth in the play-in tournament.
Less than two weeks later, after winning three of four games with Butler on the roster, Green was predicting a championship. Considering the Warriors were 28-27 and in ninth place in the Western Conference, it was an outlandish proclamation.
The Warriors since have posted the second-best record (13-3) in the West, behind…
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Publish date : 2025-03-25 07:20:00
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