Jimmy Butler is the epitome of a winning player, and thanks to him, the Golden State Warriors could have made it further into the 2025 NBA playoffs had it not been for an untimely hamstring injury to Stephen Curry. But a new season is upon us, and Butler now has even more time to integrate himself within the Warriors fabric. And what better way to open his first full season for the Dubs than to score 31 points to power them to a 119-109 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
Butler may no longer be the man who can carry the scoring load night-in, night-out, but he raises his game against the best competition, which is what he did against the Lakers. The Warriors star forward took advantage of a Lakers defense that was in disarray, as he scored more than half of his points from the charity stripe (he went 16-16 from the foul line).
And in so doing, he managed to score his biggest points total in a single game in his brief Dubs tenure thus far, as pointed out by Polymarket Hoops on X (formerly Twitter).
Butler knows that there is a growing sense of urgency both for him and the Warriors to compete for a championship. He's not exactly a spring chicken, and Curry and Draymond Green are both getting up there in age as well.
Time is ticking on them to win a championship, although in the loaded Western Conference, no team can afford to slip up. The Warriors' strong start to the year as buoyed by an incredible performance from Butler means that they're ready to step up to the plate and challenge the Oklahoma City Thunder's Western Conference supremacy.
Jimmy Butler's Robin takes center stage as Warriors' Batman takes a backseat
Butler knows that the Warriors brought him in back in February to be the secondary star to Curry. He has no delusions of grandeur; he knows his role is to be the best sidekick he can be to the Warriors' GOAT.
But there are nights where Batman simply doesn't have it going, and Robin has to pick up the slack. That's exactly what Butler did for the Warriors, as he was a constant threat to put points on the board all night long against a shaky Lakers defense with Curry not exactly being at his best.
The Warriors will now look to keep it going on Thursday night as they face the Denver Nuggets for their home opener.
