The Golden State Warriors came into Wednesday on the verge of being knocked out of the NBA playoffs after a very promising close to their regular season.
They came into Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves down three games to one, and they ended up losing by a final score of 121-110.
Jimmy Butler, the man who turned their season around when he arrived in a February trade, had another underwhelming game with 17 points on 4-of-11 shooting. It caused one user on X to make a big claim about the six-time All-Star forward.
"Jimmy Butler the most overrated player in the NBA," the user That Blame Guy wrote.
Some fans seemed to agree.
"'Playoff Jimmy' and its just a weak conference," one user wrote.
"Playoff Jimmy wasn’t a thing in the finals tho ð¤," a second user wrote.
"Hitched their wagon to that bum he fooled the whole Dub nation ð," another user wrote.
"He may be," a fourth user wrote. "That 2023 run is kinda overrated too. Caleb Martin was better against the Celtics than he was."
But some fans feel Butler isn't overrated -- they think some simply expect too much from him.
"Not at all," one user wrote. "Just not a 1st option. The the Pippen to an MJ."
"I don’t think he’s overrated, I just don’t think he’s a 1st option," another user wrote. "He’s a really good support piece, same with Draymond for the Warriors specifically, but it’s like having two powerful upgrades for a weapon but you haven’t unlocked the actual weapon ☠️"
Butler came to Golden State from the Miami Heat, a team he transformed from a lottery squad to a contender immediately when he joined them in 2019.
The Heat improbably reached the NBA Finals twice in his first four seasons with them, and they came very close to a third trip to the championship series in 2022. But that unit had run its course, and Butler demanded a trade several months ago.
While he is one of the game's deadliest players in crunch time, he has always been a team player to a fault and usually becomes aggressive in terms of looking for his own shot for long stretches only when necessary.
Jimmy Butler goes up against Rudy Gobert.
© Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images
Golden State's immediate future does look bright with Butler on board. He and Stephen Curry, who went out in Game 1 versus Minnesota with a hamstring strain, should be able to make the team into a legitimate championship contender next season.
It does need more size and a little more firepower off the bench, but other than that, its dynasty does appear to have been resurrected thanks to Butler's arrival.