Butler makes Warriors history over impressive five-game start originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Jimmy Butler experiment couldn’t have started better for the two-way forward and the Warriors.
Golden State has won four of five games with Butler while the six-time NBA All-Star has, quite literally, made franchise history.
Butler wasted no time getting acclimated to playing with superstar Steph Curry and the Warriors. As reflected by his historic start, Butler is averaging 20.4 points, 6.2 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals to 1.0 turnovers over 32.2 minutes per game.
Not too shabby for a 35-year-old, who was portrayed as a vibes vampire amid a rocky exit from the Miami Heat.
Butler’s Bay Area impact has extended beyond the stat sheet. Golden State, 29-27 and ninth in the Western Conference, has been a much more confident bunch since Butler’s arrival on the eve of the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
“Jimmy gives us some swagger,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Friday after Golden State’s 132-108 win over the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center, in which Butler finished 17 points, seven assists, three rebounds and three steals.
The Warriors have been playing like a team pushing for a fifth Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy in 11 years behind their aging stars, rather than a rebuilding franchise focused on the future, which Dub Nation felt to be the case before Golden State went all in on a trade for Butler.
Butler’s aforementioned historic stat line encapsulates the type of player he is. But NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole put it best in the conclusion of his latest column:
“Butler touches nerves that empower his teammates. Their faith in him somehow transfers to them, resulting in a mental edge that can be powerful. That ability might be more valuable to the Warriors than Jimmy’s own production.”
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