We're in the deep stages of the NBA playoffs, and the Golden State Warriors are not one of the last teams remaining. They lost in the second round at the hands of Anthony Edwards, and the team is still trying to figure out what went wrong. If you ask former Heat star Dwyane Wade, it was Jimmy Butler's approach to the series that ultimately sealed the Warriors' fate.
“I didn't like the way he approached the game," said Wade. "I know Jimmy is a pass-first guy, I know he's about getting his teammates the ball, and he wants to see them shine. But it's at a point where you're getting $60M, this ain’t working. He won’t look at the basket. I’ve seen this in a Heat Jersey. When Pat comes out a says we don’t want to give you an extension, it’s not always injury, I need to see what you’ll do in every moment. We saw Jimmy in the bubble, he was a dog. I saw Jimmy in another finals vs the Nuggets, he did the same thing he did the other night, he didn’t look at the basket!”
As a Heat loyalist and Miami city legend, Wade likely has no appreciation for how Butler left his former team. After leading them for years, Jimmy Butler left in a firestorm of drama after Pat Riley refused to give him an extension. He's been with the Warriors ever since, but things didn't end too great this season after losing the Western Semifinals in five games.
The former Miami Heat star averaged 20.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game in the series, but it still wasn't enough to get the job done. Despite his decent numbers, many felt that Jimmy should have been more aggressive on offense instead of constantly looking to pass to an open teammate. In Game 5 of the series, he had 17 points on just 11 attempts in the series-clinching loss.
Butler and the Warriors have vowed to come back stronger next year, but there are some doubts that they are built for long-term success. With Jimmy on the team, Golden State is no doubt better off than when they had to go without him, but Wade isn't the only one who has noticed a very concerning trend for the veteran swingman.
Butler, 35, has yet to win a championship in his career, and things always fall apart every time he gets close. For someone who gives everything on the floor in pursuit of victory, Jimmy's impact hasn't always been a positive one. Throughout his career, Butler has ruffled feathers for his aggressive and sometimes ineffective tactics, which have involved outbursts on the court and in the locker room.
In one famous incident on the Timberwolves, Butler went off on his own teammates during practice and forced everyone to watch as he ran the starters off the court with a second-string lineup. On the Heat (after his falling out with Pat Riley), Butler made things downright toxic in the locker room by showing up late to team events and causing enough chaos to get suspended from the organization.
So, with a track record of falling short in the playoffs, the pressure is on Jimmy to prove the doubters wrong and prove to the world that he is capable of finishing the job and stepping up as a star when needed. With another two years and $110 million on his contract, Jimmy is making superstar money, and he has to take more than 11 shots in an elimination game for his team to make any kind of run in the West.
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