The Golden State Warriors were unable to mount much of a resistance against the Minnesota Timberwolves as they lost their fourth straight on Wednesday night, ending their season. Once Stephen Curry went down with a hamstring injury, they stood little chance—especially as Anthony Edwards remembered he's one of the best players in basketball. Jimmy Butler, tasked with being a No. 1 after the team brought him in to be a No. 2, once again struggled in the defeat. In Games 4 and 5 combined Butler attempted all of 20 shots and was a team-worst -47 over 76 minutes.
Fans are having a field day roasting him for the duds but Golden State coach Steve Kerr was there to provide some much-needed perspective during his postgame commentary.
"Jimmy changed our season," Kerr said. "Flipped everything for us, gave us a chance. We became one of the best teams in the league."
"Jimmy changed our season. Flipped everything for us, gave us a chance. We became one of the best teams in the league" 🙌
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 15, 2025
Steve Kerr reflects on the season, including the impactful addition of Butler pic.twitter.com/qOutdraiqL
Sports can cause people to have very short memories but Kerr is correct. The Warriors went 23-8 with Butler in the regular season and he allowed them to survive the Play-In tournament. It wasn't too long ago they were taking out the No. 2-seeded Houston Rockets. Who knows what would have happened had Curry not suffered his injury. Then again, this was always the concern with an aging team that brought in an aging player to solve its aging problems.
Making the playoffs when that looked uncertain and winning a series is an accomplishment. And who knows what would have happened with a fully healthy team (except Charles Barkley). This is a franchise, though, that has won so much that anything less than winning it all feels like a failure.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Steve Kerr Had Nothing But Positive Words for Jimmy Butler After Ugly Exit.
