SAN FRANCISCO – The sand is well washed out of their toes and tan lines are fading as the Warriors returned to practice Thursday following a much-needed break over 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend.
Now, with 27 games remaining, the team’s focus fully has shifted to the final stretch of the 2024-25 NBA season.
Mentally, the guys are feeling refreshed and recharged after the week-long break. Physically, however, Warriors coach Steve Kerr described practice as “a typical first day back from All-Star break,” stating the players were a “little rusty.”
Golden State doesn’t have long to shake the rust off as it faces the new-look Sacramento Kings on Friday at Golden 1 Center, whom the Warriors are neck-and-neck with at the Western Conference’s No. 9 and No. 10 playoff seeds.
The Warriors were at the same exact positioning at this time last year. Tenth in the West. The final spot for the NBA Play-In Tournament. The difference 363 days later, however, comes in the form of a six-time NBA All-Star, five-time All-NBA player and the player who thrives most under pressure.
Jimmy Butler has given the Warriors a new type of confidence that hadn’t been felt all season until the 35-year-old joined the organization.
“I think there's just a little bit more,” Warriors second-year guard Brandin Podziemski said Thursday after practice of the team’s confidence after acquiring Butler. “A little bit more belief with Jimmy bringing what he's done through his career, knowing what kind of player and person he is.
Golden State Warriors
“Everybody ramps up their sense of urgency because he is an All-Defensive Team, All-Star, all that kind of thing. So I think everybody just ramps up their intensity more and it just feels more in tune.”
Butler, a 13-year veteran, has a different leadership style compared to Steph Curry and Draymond Green. He stated he’s already looking forward to building a close relationship with some of the young guys such as Jonathan Kuminga, who’s had a Hall of Fame lineup of mentors to learn from just four years into his pro career.
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For now, though, Butler still is learning the ropes and adjusting to a new style of play with Golden State.
His presence when he walks into a room, however, has been felt from the get-go.
“I think he just injects a certain level of confidence that he carries himself with off the court,” Warriors center Kevon Looney said. “When he steps in the room, it makes you feel like, ‘Oh, we got a chance to win. We’re going to win.’ So him just bringing that confidence to us and bringing that to our young guys is followed by example. He's a hard worker.”
The Warriors are 3-1 with Butler on the court. He’s averaging 21.3 points on 44.6 percent shooting over that span, with 7.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 32.4 minutes.
Golden State is 3.5 games behind the No. 6 seeded Los Angeles Clippers. The Minnesota Timberwolves (31-25), Dallas Mavericks (30-26), Kings (28-27) and Warriors (28-27) currently sit in play-in territory. The Phoenix Suns (26-28) are creeping just behind the Warriors, sitting 1.5 games back of the 10th spot.
Kerr foreshadows a “wild ride” down the stretch, adding the Warriors must be the best version of themselves each and every night to put themselves in a good spot for the postseason. He, too, can sense a boost in the team’s confidence since Butler’s arrival, and he remains hopeful that holds for the rest of the season.
“Hopefully what it does is it shifts the confidence,” Kerr said. “And I think that was the reason for the trade. We were seemingly kind of stuck in the mud where we were, and it’s nobody's fault. I think sometimes a team runs its course. And I think at the time of the trade, I think Mike [Dunleavy] sensed the fact that we just were treading water. We weren't getting anywhere. And so sometimes you make a move for that reason alone, just to shake things up and try to create confidence and momentum, and that's the idea behind trading for a guy like Jimmy.
“He has that type of presence and swagger. He's taken two Miami [Heat] teams to the Finals as huge underdogs. [They] came out of the Play-In to take a team to the Finals. We may find ourselves in the same spot. You know, it's going to be hard to get to six. We're going to try like hell to do it. But who knows? We may end up in the Play-In, [and] he's the kind of guy you want, in a Game 7 or a Play-In game. You need alphas like him, great players like him. So that's the idea.”
Dunleavy declared last week that the playoffs start now for the Warriors. Green shared a similar sentiment recently. Podziemski agreed, already setting his eye on going 21-6 the rest of the way to hopefully lock up the fifth or sixth seed. Loney also is looking past the Play-In.
"Definitely, it’s go time," Looney said. "Coach was talking about this sprint to the end of the season. We're trying to get out of the Play-In and get up in the top six. We feel like we're capable of that, but we got to put together wins, and we can't have any of those losses where we beat ourselves. We got to be really good to close the season. I feel like we're capable."
While they’re still trying to figure out how to get there, whether that be a best-of-seven playoff series or the Play-In path, Green shared a confident prediction over the All-Star break, proclaiming the Warriors were not just going to make it to the NBA Finals but would win it all this season after acquiring Butler.
“Yeah, we are,” the always-confident Podziemski said with no hesitation.
Looney shared a more thought-out answer.
“That’s our goal,” the big man said. “I feel like we got the talent, we got the players, we got the coaches to do it. It’s just are we going to go out there and execute it and do what we are supposed to do?
“It's been my goal [to win a championship] every year since we've been here. Nothing has changed.”
