On Monday, the Golden State Warriors picked up a blowout win over the Miami Heat, but the big story of the game was Jimmy Butler leaving the floor due to injury against his former team. The injury was later revealed to be a devastating torn ACL that will keep Butler out for the remainder of the season and raises a slew of questions about Golden State's strategy moving forward.
While many think that the Warriors' championship window may now officially be closed after this news, recently, Butler's agent Bernie Lee made a statement suggesting the opposite sentiment.
“Obviously a gut punch on every level for Jimmy and the entire group, but I firmly believe that this is a part of the journey,” Lee said, per ESPN, via Anthony Slater on X, formerly Twitter. “We can't only expect to take the good things out of it. I've known for over 10 years now that Jimmy is going to win a championship before he is done. My belief in that is unwavering.”
Lee also added that “we will make some functional decisions here in the next few days and then we are onto the next… “If you know anything about Jimmy, you know exactly how he will attack this challenge. Put simply, he has this.”
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It's unclear what those “functional decisions” might entail, and if Lee foresees his promise of a championship for Butler occurring in the Bay Area, or on a new team.
Meanwhile, the Warriors and general manager Mike Dunleavy will have to make some serious considerations ahead of the upcoming trade deadline, which is set for next month.
The Warriors will next take the court on Tuesday night against the Toronto Raptors.