At home with the Warriors, Jimmy Butler is winning and unbothered: ‘I’ll take being the bad guy’

SAN FRANCISCO — Moments after the Golden State Warriors wrapped up their five-game road trip in Brooklyn earlier this month, Jimmy Butler pulled Steve Kerr aside in the visitors’ locker room for a quick chat.

His message was simple: He wouldn’t be flying back to San Francisco with the team. Instead, he needed to take a separate flight to Miami.

“To pick up my kids,” Butler explained.

Similar to the arrangement he occasionally had with the Miami Heat—one that was initially accepted but later stirred some complaints—Butler won’t be staying at the team hotel during the Warriors’ four-day stint in Miami this week. Instead, he’s opting for a more private and spacious setting, allowing him to spend quality time with his three young children who live there.

That’s why he left the Brooklyn arena in a hurry. With the Warriors beginning a two-week homestand, he wanted his children with him as he settled into a new city. To make that happen, he had to fly to Miami and bring them back to San Francisco.

“I pulled Steve aside and said, ‘Steve, I’m finna fly home and grab my kids,’” Butler recalled. “He just said, ‘Oh, OK. Yeah. See you back in the Bay.’ That was it. Nothing more.”

For Butler, this wasn’t a request—it was simply a heads-up. His status and success in the league afford him a level of influence that he’s not shy about using. Before the trade deadline blockbuster that sent him to Golden State, he had never spoken directly with Kerr. But in their first one-on-one conversation, Kerr laid out his only two non-negotiable rules: Be on time and compete as part of the team. That was all.

“We embrace individuality here,” Kerr said. “I told Jimmy that from Day 1. ‘Just be yourself.’”

For Butler, it was an easy adjustment. He may often travel separately from the team, but he is known for his punctuality. More importantly, he’s a proven winner, and since his arrival, the Warriors have undergone a dramatic turnaround. They were 25-26 before the trade. Since then, they’re 16-4.

“We need him, and he needs us,” Kerr said. “It’s the perfect timing for him to be here.”

When the Brooklyn game ended, Butler had just helped lead the Warriors to a 4-1 road trip alongside Stephen Curry. The next scheduled team activity—a walkthrough before a home game against the Detroit Pistons—was two days away. What Butler or any other player chose to do in those 40 hours was entirely up to them.

So, was he worried about how Kerr would react to his travel plans?

“No,” Butler said with a shrug. “Because I was going to do it anyway. I was just letting him know. But nothing comes before my family. Not a game. Not anything. I’m going to pick up my kids. I haven’t seen them since before the damn trade. I need to see my babies.”

The Warriors, particularly Kerr, are known for fostering a laid-back, family-friendly environment. Former players, including DeMarcus Cousins, have praised Kerr for his willingness to allow family and friends on team flights. The practice facility is often filled with players’ kids running around.

Andrew Wiggins, who was sent to Miami as part of the Butler trade, was grateful for the way the Warriors supported him through his father’s illness. Draymond Green’s son has even served as the team’s equipment manager on occasion. If Curry wants to step away from a road trip for a round of golf at an exclusive course, the usual response is a simple yes.

“It’s all about what you need,” Butler said. “You’d think every organization operates like this—doing whatever it takes to keep players happy, healthy, and performing at their best. You need time off? You get it. You need a chef? You get one. A driver? Done. Family to travel with you? Absolutely. They focus on keeping us in the right mindset to succeed and help bring home a championship.”

In an extended interview with The Athletic last week, Butler declined to go into detail about his departure from Miami, though the topic will resurface as he faces his former team on Tuesday. However, his perspective on why his six-season tenure with the Heat soured—and why his experience with the Warriors has been so smooth—is clear.

“There are always stories about me,” Butler said. “People talk, but they don’t know why I do what I do. They just see the actions, not the reasons behind them. Do you think I do things just to do them? No. There’s always a reason.”

Butler’s journey to stardom has been defined by self-belief. Selected 30th overall in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls, he barely played as a rookie but carved out a spot in Tom Thibodeau’s rotation by his second season. Ahead of his third year, when he was poised to become a starter, the Bulls signed veteran Mike Dunleavy Jr. to fill the small forward role.

Dunleavy, now the Warriors’ general manager, was one of the first veterans who told Butler he had the potential to be a star. It’s one of the reasons Butler holds him in high regard today.

But even Dunleavy was uneasy when Butler declined the Bulls’ four-year, $44 million extension offer in 2014. At the time, Butler hadn’t yet exploded onto the scene, and betting on himself carried significant risk.

“I wouldn’t have advised my own kid to do that,” Dunleavy admitted. “But then he went out and proved everyone wrong. He just said, ‘Alright, watch this.’ And he blew up. No doubt about it—he was a max player. It was incredible to witness.”

That gamble paid off, leading to a five-year, $90 million contract. Ten years later, that same conviction factored into Dunleavy’s decision to trade for Butler and extend him in February, locking him in for two more years and $111 million beyond this season.

Kerr and Curry initially wondered how Butler would fit into the Warriors’ culture. Some within the organization debated whether they should delay offering him an extension or negotiate below the max, sources said. But Dunleavy, having played alongside Butler, vouched for his talent and character. He convinced ownership that investing in Butler was worth it—that a motivated Butler would see it as a sign of trust.

“Paying him was the easy part because he’s that good,” Dunleavy said. “What sets him apart is how he elevates his teammates. That’s what makes you a max player. I can’t predict the future, but I know who he is. I played with him. I understand what drives him.”

For Butler, rejecting Chicago’s four-year offer in 2014 wasn’t even a tough decision. He knew his game was evolving, and he had dominated summer scrimmages against NBA talent.

“I think Chicago knew too,” Butler said. “That’s why they tried to get me for cheap. That’s business. But I’ve always been good at knowing my worth.”

And he was right. That decision led to a max contract and set the stage for a career in which he’s confidently controlled his own path, using his influence to move on from situations that didn’t align with his priorities. Over time, that approach has led to $312 million in career earnings.

“Chicago didn’t want to pay me the supermax,” Butler said of his 2017 trade to Minnesota. “But in other places, it wasn’t about money—it was about winning. And when you win, everything else follows. The money. The fame.

“If you play for the lifestyle—the women, the cars, the houses, the private jets—winning gives you all of that. So every decision I’ve made since that first contract has been about one thing: winning.”

That’s why, Butler said, he never saw a long-term future in Minnesota and requested a trade in 2018. In Philadelphia, he felt the culture lacked accountability. Players weren’t held to high standards, and his blunt style didn’t resonate.

“You need to be able to call people out,” Butler said. “As long as it’s about winning, it shouldn’t matter how it’s said.”

With the Warriors, accountability has been present from day one.

“Steph and Dray have done it their entire damn careers,” Butler said. “You can speak your mind here, and everybody listens. That’s the difference.”