BEFORE STEPHEN CURRY began his usual pregame workout routine in Utah on February 5th, he stepped out of the visiting locker room at the Delta Center to exchange a hug with Andrew Wiggins, who was just coming off the court.
Wiggins had just received the news he was being traded to the Miami Heat as part of a major five-team transaction that would bring Jimmy Butler III to Golden State. Moments later, a heavyhearted Steve Kerr closed the locker room to media before the game, informing the team about the trade and allowing players and coaches time for emotional farewells to Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson, and Lindy Waters III.
Short-handed, the Warriors ended the night with a 131-128 loss to the then 12-win Jazz, leaving their record at 25-25.
Curry, who needed 31 shots to score 32 points in the defeat against the struggling Jazz, returned to what remained of the Warriors` locker room after the game. Four players from a close-knit squad were gone. But superstar help was on its way.
An emotional Curry turned to Draymond Green. His longest-tenured teammate noticed tears on Curry`s face, the weight of the moment clearly affecting the usually composed superstar.
In the same arena where Michael Jordan delivered the iconic last shot of the Chicago Bulls` dynasty, Curry might have inadvertently given the final chapter of the Warriors` own dynasty a fitting title.
“This is it,” Curry told Green. “It`s our last ride.”
All season, Curry had yearned to play `meaningful` games again, driven by the singular goal of a fifth championship ring. On Monday, Curry is set to play his 151st playoff game in Game 4 against the Houston Rockets. This particular game takes on added significance if Butler can be by his side.
After playing only eight minutes in Game 2 and sitting out Game 3 due to a deep gluteal muscle contusion, Butler is hoping to return for his first playoff home game in front of a supportive Chase Center crowd. Butler`s arrival has propelled the Warriors back into the postseason after a one-year absence and has clearly revitalized Curry and the closing act of this dynastic run.
“How many more realistic opportunities will we truly have at chasing a championship?” Curry shared with ESPN in Houston before Golden State`s 95-85 Game 1 upset against the Rockets. “I`m not saying this is the final year, this specific run we`re on. It`s more about focusing on what we can achieve from it.
“Draymond and I have fought every battle together for the past 13 years. Obviously, we are trying to recapture that magic.”
Coach Kerr has already adapted his offensive strategy to maximize the strengths of both players, blending Curry`s motion-heavy system with Butler`s deliberate isolation sets. But a fifth title run, a decade after the first championship of the Curry era, will ultimately hinge on whether Curry and Butler can continue to effectively leverage and integrate their incredible but contrasting offensive talents to keep the Warriors` championship window open.
“The exciting part is that Jimmy provides us with the chance to extend this for a few more years,” Kerr told ESPN. “He`s that skilled. He`s also the type of athlete who will age well because he doesn`t rely on explosive leaping ability. His game is built on savvy and strength, and he`s an incredibly intelligent player.
“So, I believe we`re going to be very competitive for the next few years. But Steph is right, these upcoming years represent the final stretch.”
A LITTLE OVER a month after the Butler trade, Curry celebrated his 37th birthday at home. By the end of the party, only three people remained into the early hours, playing poker and enjoying wine from Curry`s cellar, along with a large bottle of Chateau Margaux that Butler contributed.
Curry, Butler, and Green were building new memories and strengthening their bond off the court.
“Yeah, that`s primarily because we`re all avid poker players,” Curry said jokingly. “It was a great time. Throughout the years, you have those specific moments where you intentionally gather everyone to share a good time.
“That served as a good starting point for the remainder of the season.”
While Butler and Green have developed a strong connection over late-night domino games on the road, Curry and Butler are also building their relationship, despite their playing styles being almost completely opposite.
Curry primarily operates off the ball on the perimeter, constantly moving and weaving around screens to get open for devastating and spectacular 3-pointers within a framework of organized chaos. Butler, conversely, prefers a more deliberate, clockwork approach with the ball inside the arc, seeking to create mismatches for himself or his teammates. He drives to the basket to either set up a teammate, score, or draw a foul, often seemingly using as few steps as possible.
Butler humorously remarked that “opposites attract” after his first game alongside Curry on February 8th in Chicago.
“The way we play now is significantly different,” Kerr told ESPN, comparing this team to past championship Warriors squads. “We don`t need to generate as much off-ball movement now, which is an incredible advantage because playoff defenses are intensely focused. We`ve had many series, like against Oklahoma City in `16 or the Rockets with all their switching in `17 and `18, where teams successfully took away a lot of our off-ball actions. But with Jimmy, off-ball actions aren`t essential.
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“You can simply get him the ball, space the floor, and when you absolutely need a basket, when everyone is fatigued and the game is on the line, Jimmy is, in my opinion, as reliable an option as anyone in the entire league. I`m talking about LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, it doesn`t matter, name them, Nikola Jokic, the world`s best players. Jimmy belongs in that category. And the fact that we can pass the ball to him without needing to run eight different off-ball screens for Steph or Klay Thompson provides us with a completely different dimension.”
Butler, a passionate soccer enthusiast, takes pride in ball security and consistently aiming for “shots on goal.” However, he also admits he enjoys the unpredictability that sometimes arises from Golden State`s offense, even if the occasional turnovers might frustrate both Kerr and himself.
“Sometimes, positive outcomes emerge from this structured chaos, which one particular player truly embraces and excels in,” Butler said after Game 1. “So, you have to accept the inconsistencies sometimes. It won`t always be perfect. It won`t always be bad either, but we`re managing.”
“I`m comfortable within the organized chaos. I can anticipate when it`s happening,” Butler stated. “You brace yourself just in case, but honestly, [Curry is] incredible. And out of that organized chaos, I believe he either gets an outstanding shot or creates an outstanding shot for himself or a teammate.”
Including both the regular season and playoffs, Curry has an impressive 76% effective field goal percentage directly off passes from Butler. This is the second-highest mark among duos who have attempted at least 50 shots together since February 8th, according to GeniusIQ data. Furthermore, when they are not on the floor together, Butler has successfully stabilized the critical non-Curry minutes, contributing to the Warriors` plus-17.8 net efficiency when both players participate in a game.
When Butler is on the bench, he observes Curry much like the 18,000 other fans in the arena, often shaking his head in astonishment. He has become such an admirer of his new teammate that he recently wore a custom No. 30 Warriors jersey with “Butler III” on the back during a workout.
“I believe any team has a chance when I`m part of it,” Butler commented after the Warriors clinched the seventh seed with a 121-116 play-in victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on April 15th. “But I absolutely know that every team has a chance if Steph is on the team.”
“So, I get to play Robin. That`s my Batman. We`ve got all the villains on the other side: Two-Face, Joker, Riddler, and everyone else in the Western Conference. We have many games ahead of us to win.”
After Curry delivered a stellar performance with 36 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds to defeat the Rockets in Game 3 with Butler sidelined, an appreciative Butler posted a picture on his Instagram resembling the Batman Bat-Signal, but replacing the Batman logo with Curry`s signature Under Armour logo.
“Thanks Batman and team, excluding Buddy,” Butler wrote, known for playfully teasing Buddy Hield.
Hield, who perhaps had his most impactful game as a Warrior that night with 17 points and five 3-pointers, expressed his desire for his own character in the Warriors` “Dark Knight” universe.
“I knew Robin was out tonight, so I felt I had to step up,” Hield said after the win. “Maybe just being Alfred tonight.”
Since the trade, Curry has been highly impressed with Butler, including the custom jersey gesture. Curry`s new star teammate is fully invested in this `last ride.`
“For the last 13 years, we were known as `The Splash Brothers,`” Curry told ESPN. “We had myself, Draymond, and Klay, though we didn`t really have a specific nickname for the trio itself. But we`ve been part of various lineup nicknames and things like that.
“Now, with Jimmy taking the initiative to create a new nickname, one he didn`t consult me on, which is fantastic because it shows he`s bought in, he`s here.”
SITTING AT A table at the Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad in early March, Butler was asked about his more widely recognized nickname, a persona seemingly endowed with postseason superpowers that elevates him beyond a mere sidekick.
Butler initially downplayed the “Playoff Jimmy” label but left no ambiguity about his commitment during this crucial time of the year.
“Man, I think that`s just an image people have constructed over the years,” Butler told ESPN regarding “Playoff Jimmy.” “I understand my capabilities. I can tell you that much. And I appreciate it because everyone thinks I simply elevate my game, but I don`t really just raise it a notch. I might just handle the ball a little more. I might be slightly more assertive, looking to score.”
“[But] you`re talking about someone who is prepared to do anything to win. That`s the type of person that is. The player they`ve labeled as [Playoff Jimmy], he would give everything out there. He truly would. It`s intense. He truly would leave it all on the court.”
The Warriors got their first authentic glimpse of “Playoff Jimmy” during their play-in victory over the Grizzlies. If there was any doubt about the impact Butler could have for the Warriors at this stage of the season, he delivered a grueling 40-minute performance with 38 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals.
Since Butler`s debut on February 8th in Chicago, the Warriors have compiled a 26-9 record, including regular season, play-in, and postseason games. Golden State lost Game 2 after Butler was limited to eight minutes following a nasty fall when he was undercut by Amen Thompson during a defensive rebound attempt. With him assisting coach Kerr from the sideline, Curry and the Warriors managed to grind out a Game 3 win without him in uniform.
The Warriors were ranked 10th in the Western Conference when Butler arrived and needed him to immediately embody his postseason intensity, as he helped them make a dramatic climb up the standings. He has been instrumental in helping Green elevate the Warriors to become one of the league`s top defenses in efficiency and a top-three unit in half-court defensive efficiency, defending on-ball screens, and contesting shots during that period, according to ESPN Research data.
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“I don`t know if it`s exclusively the playoffs; I think that`s just who Jimmy is fundamentally,” said New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, who coached Butler in both Minnesota and Chicago. “Jimmy is a ferocious competitor. I`ve always felt that his greatest strengths were his competitiveness and his basketball intelligence. … That`s precisely what the playoffs demand. You need the ability to adapt quickly. You`re often facing the same opponent seven straight times. So, you must be capable of making adjustments and reading the game, and that`s where he truly excels.”
Butler is one of only 10 players with higher career averages in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks in the playoffs compared to the regular season (minimum 100 playoff games), according to ESPN Research. Green is also on that exclusive list, so he understands what it means to elevate one`s game in the postseason.
Out of Butler`s 16 career 40-point games, eight have occurred in the playoffs. He is the only player among those with at least five career 40-point games to have half of them come in the postseason.
“Yeah, he`s different,” Green remarked when asked about the “Playoff Jimmy” nickname after the play-in win. “You can just perceive a completely different intensity level and focus. I`ve observed it on television for years. Seeing it firsthand and up close? It`s absolutely real. Sometimes, you get into the NBA, and players acquire these nicknames, and you think, `Come on, that`s not accurate, they`re not real.`”
“That one is real. And I`m grateful he`s on our team.”
Kerr has witnessed teams employ every tactic imaginable to slow down Curry, including Houston, which had multiple defenders grabbing, tugging, and even holding the point guard as he frequently attempted to break free for a shot in Games 1 and 2. But for those situations when defenses manage to smother Curry, Kerr now possesses a countermeasure tailored for physical playoff basketball.
Since joining the Warriors, Butler has averaged 11.7 isolation possessions per 100 possessions. No player under Kerr has averaged 10 or more isolation possessions per 100 possessions across both a regular season and playoffs combined, according to Genius IQ data.
The “Iso Jimmy” approach appeared perfectly suited for a gritty, hard-fought contest like the Warriors` Game 1 victory, which Kerr compared to a playoff game from “1997.”
Kerr and Green repeatedly noted that Butler brought a sense of “calm” to the Warriors in Game 1. Houston managed to cut a 23-point deficit down to three in the fourth quarter. When the Rockets narrowed the gap to seven, Butler responded with a putback, then patiently used the clock before sinking a turning stepback jumper over Alperen Sengun. Butler scored six of his 25 points in the final 1:43 to secure the win. He finished with 25 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals. This was the third time he has achieved at least 25 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals in a playoff game, tying Allen Iverson for the third most such games.
Without Butler for the final three quarters of Game 2, the Warriors often resembled the team that stood at 25-26 before his debut in Chicago. Houston heavily focused its defense on Curry, and Golden State looked distinctly different without Butler`s presence. While role players like Hield and Gary Payton II (16 points) stepped up to support Curry in Game 3, Curry emphasized that the Warriors are aiming to win “14 more games like these. We need Jimmy to achieve that.”
Curry understood the trajectory of his season had shifted that February night in Utah. Both he and Green also felt the increased responsibility on their shoulders with Butler`s arrival. This explains the emotional moment they shared.
The last ride is officially underway.
“Let`s go then!” Green told ESPN he replied to the teary-eyed Curry in Utah. “Let`s make it happen!”
“There`s an appreciation we felt and still feel. We were sitting there and recognizing that we have a responsibility to fulfill. … They [traded for Butler] for us because they still believe in us.”
