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While reflecting on the 2024-25 campaign, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr gushed over the addition of Jimmy Butler, which led to a comparison to LeBron James during his media availability. Following the Warriors’ second-round exit, Kerr addressed Jonathan Kuminga’s usage in the playoffs, as the veteran head coach has been in a very reflective state of late.
Kerr revealed that questions regarding Butler’s shooting remind him of a young James navigating through his first playoff runs with the Cleveland Cavs, per The San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami.
“This kind of reminds me — this topic of ‘Did Jimmy shoot enough?’ — kind of reminds me of … before LeBron [James] won any championships and he was with Cleveland,” Kerr said. “And he’s passing to open teammates for game-winning shots, and they miss, and then the next day, it’s like, ‘Why didn’t LeBron take the game-winning shot?’ It’s like, well, because that was the right play and his teammate got a wide-open look, that’s why.
“Every player is unique to himself. I think Jimmy’s an incredible player. But if you want him to score and there’s no spacing around him, which was the case for the last four games of the series without Steph, it’s going to be really hard to score, especially against a guy like (Jaden) McDaniels with (Rudy) Gobert at the rim,” Kerr concluded.
How Steve Kerr sees LeBron James in Jimmy Butler, Warriors
While Warriors veteran Draymond Green joins TNT for the Western Conference Finals, his head coach, Steve Kerr, looked back on their 2024-25 campaign. Kerr believes in Butler and says he improved the Warriors.
“Jimmy, he’s a subtle superstar,” Kerr said. “He doesn’t jump off the page when you watch him from afar, from a skill standpoint, from an athletic standpoint. But as soon as you’re with him for a few days, you see the impact. You see how strong he is, how smart he is, the footwork. He rarely turns it over. And he’s so smart, he reminds me a lot of Andre Iguodala, the way he sees the game. Jimmy’s main thing that he wants to do is pass.
“And you know me, I believe passing is the key to the game, I really do. We’ve always had good passing players on our most successful teams, guys who distribute, who see the game, who understand that a good pass, whether it’s an assist or not, unlocks an offensive possession. And a couple of good passes on a possession means your defense is set up, and the game is flowing, and it’s connected. Jimmy does all that. And that’s why we started winning,” Kerr concluded.
It’ll be intriguing to see how the Warriors approach the offseason.
