It’s been a month since the trade that brought Jimmy Butler to San Francisco but nobody will soon forget his divorce with the Heat. Things were so bad toward the end that as Butler was kept off the court, he was living his best life behind the scenes in anticipation of another trade.
“I’m healthy. I got my kids. I got Big Face brand (his coffee company). I’m good. I got the opportunity to go work on my s—. Work on my game,” said Butler, via Andscape’s Marc Spears. “Be around my people. Play some dominoes. I knew I was going to end up somewhere where I was wanted. I knew I was going to play basketball again.”
Butler, 35, was recently traded to the Golden State Warriors after six years with the Miami Heat. Alongside Bam Adebayo, under head coach Erik Spoelstra, Jimmy led the Heat to the Finals in 2020 and 2023. By all accounts, Butler was happy with the Heat until the 2023-24 season when things started to go wrong.
The Heat finished 8th in the East and were knocked out in the first round by Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and the Boston Celtics. The Heat refused to give Butler an extension after the series and rumors were swirling that they were considering trading the NBA veteran.
Feeling unwanted and underappreciated, Jimmy Butler began to destroy his relationship with the Heat in an effort to join a new franchise. Besides requesting a trade, he routinely skipped team activities and was even suspended after missing the team flight.
Several Heat executives tried to talk Butler down, but he rejected all attempts at reconciliation. By the end of his tenure in Miami, the situation was downright toxic in the locker room. After just 25 games in the 2024-25 campaign, he was exiled from the franchise and now he’s dominating as a Warrior alongside Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
Jimmy Butler Is Embracing His New Role
After such a volatile situation with the Heat, things were looking bleak for Jimmy but he never lost faith. In the end, just like he predicted, it all worked out.
With the Warriors, Butler has found a new basketball home and it’s been the perfect fit so far. Not only can he compete alongside NBA legends, but he also gets to be himself without any compromises.
“I’m here now. The organization is great, the guys are great, winning is great and we do any and everything that it takes to win here,” Butler said. “So that’s what makes my mental so great. We’re winning again. I love the spirit that surrounds. I do. There’s no talking about myself, which is great. Let me go drink my coffee, play my dominoes and leave me alone.”
So far, the Warriors are 13-1 with Butler in the lineup and look like a contender again. At sixth in the West, Golden State is still considered the underdogs to win the West but they have faith that they can pull it off with their star-studded trio.
For Butler, he’s just happy to be in a place where he feels wanted. After such an ugly breakup with the Heat, he needed some stability on a team where he was free to be himself with no strings attached. Clearly, Jimmy has no regrets over his actions and he believes the Warriors are where he was meant to be all along.
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