Seeing is believing and the Golden State Warriors are getting an up-close-and-personal look at Playoff Jimmy. Jimmy Butler is showing up and showing out in a big way for his new team in the 2025 NBA playoffs.

“He’s different. I’m happy he’s on our side,” Draymond Green said about Butler, who dropped 38 points to lead the Golden State Warriors to a hard-fought 121-116 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

The win advanced the Warriors into the Western Conference playoffs as the seventh seed. Butler is a major reason why the Warriors remain a legit title contender. Draymond is well aware of Jimmy’s reputation as a big-game hunter when April, May and June roll around and he certainly loves seeing it up close and personal.

“You could just see a whole different intensity level and focus,” Green said postgame. “I’m a basketball fan, so I’ve watched it on TV for years. To see it up close and personal, it’s a real thing.”

Butler’s magnificent all-around game — he also had seven rebounds, six assists, three steals — was the catalyst in Golden State putting Memphis on its heels and building an early 20-point lead before the Grizzlies stormed back.

With the game up for grabs, Steph Curry put on his superhero cape and provided the knockout punch in the second half. Curry took over down the stretch, scoring 15 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter including a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line to ice the game.

“We got a hellified Batman in Steph,” Butler told TNT’s Allie LaForce about his Warriors teammate.

“It’s real. It’s real I’m telling you,” Butler added. “That’s a Batman if I’ve ever seen a Batman. Always coming to save the day. He’s so poised, he’s so calm.”

When the Warriors acquired Butler in a blockbuster trade at the trade deadline, they picked up a player who can impact the game in multiple ways. Butler has been everything the Warriors envisioned. He’s been the Robin to Steph’s Batman, and having the two of them together gives the Warriors a punchers chance in the postseason.

“I think one more than anything how together we are on the court off the court, everybody wants everybody to be great,” Butler said. “We play our roles to a tee.”

Golden State has been the NBA’s second-best team since acquiring Butler, who’s had a significant impact on both ends of the court. Since the trade, the Warriors have owned the league’s best defense and they went from having the worst free throw attempts per game to being the best almost overnight.

A loss would have been detrimental for Golden State, a team many experts believe are on a short list on NBA championship contenders. But thanks to Butler and Curry, the Warriors avoid the extra game and get some much-needed rest before the playoff chase truly starts.

“Our guys have been playing high-level, knockout games for three weeks. We desperately needed the [extra days off],” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

Image caption: Draymond Green calls Warriors teammate Jimmy Butler “different.” (Getty Images)

Steph Curry plays with a lot of emotion, but it is extremely rare to see him cry on the court.

That’s what happened in the final moments of Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals in Boston. The Golden State Warriors were seconds away from winning their fourth NBA championship in eight seasons and Curry let it all out. Tears came down his face after hugging his dad Dell Curry, who was standing under the basket getting ready to celebrate with his son. Steph was so overcome with emotion that he fell to the floor with still 2.7 seconds left on the game clock.

Former NBA player and current TV analyst Grant Hill asked Curry about his moment vulnerability and in classic Curry fashion, he gave a very candid and thoughtful response.

“Any time you’re trying to sustain anything at this level, there’s just so much emotional baggage and the physical nature of what we do. It’s hard,” said Curry, who took home the Bill Russell award as the MVP of the 2022 NBA Finals after leading the Golden State Warriors to a hard-fought victory over the Boston Celtics in a grueling six-game series.

Curry was a unanimous choice as MVP of The Finals after averaging 31.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in the series. And he did most of his damage while being guarded by the reigning defensive player of the year in Celtics guard Marcus Smart.

The 34-year-old sharpshooter finished with 34 points, seven assists and seven rebounds in the clincher, giving him 30 or more in three straight games at Boston’s TD Garden. The signature moment came in Game 4 when Curry dropped 43 points and hit seven 3-pointers in a 107-97 win that tied the series at 2. Boston didn’t win another game in the series after that Curry flurry.

“To go to five straight Finals — like I said after going through these last two years — and try to maintain that belief and carry that every single day,” Curry said. “Every time we come into the gym and practice. Every time you come into game. Every time you step into a locker room. You understand that leadership. You have to carry that. Whether guys believe it or not, or you’re gonna end up in the finish line or not, I let all that out at the end of the game. This one definitely feels different.”

This Warriors’ championship run was certainly different. It was sweeter. It always feels sweet to prove people wrong. The Dubs were left for dead after missing the playoffs the last two seasons. They heard all the negative chatter. The dynasty was done. Klay Thompson may never be the same after ACL and Achilles surgeries. They can’t win a title without Kevin Durant. Draymond Green is getting old.

But the Warriors found a way to build it back up, and now they’re back at the top of the NBA mountain.

“What we’ve been through over these last two years have been a lot,” Curry said. “To be able to just let all that out, especially in this building [TD Garden Arena in Boston], it’s a historic building. I was just thinking about all that.”

He added, “Just proud of everybody that played a part in making this a reality.”

Seth Curry, Steph’s younger brother, celebrated with him on the court. Steph said his brother asked this rhetorical question: “What are they gonna say now?”

What are the talking heads and critics going to say? Absolutely nothing. Nada. Zip. As Warriors defensive stalwart Draymond Green put it, Curry left no doubt that he’s an all-time great. Steph cemented his place on basketball’s King’s Landing after winning a fourth title and a Finals MVP.

“Without [Steph], none of this happens,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Curry. “That’s not taking anything away from Joe [Lacob] and Peter’s [Gruber] ownership. They built an incredible organization. Bob Myers is a helluva GM. We’ve had so many great players. But Steph ultimately is why this run has happened.”

Kerr was asked if this was the least talented Warriors squad to win a title. Kerr wasn’t in full agreement with that assessment, saying the 2022 Warriors may not have the same offensive firepower as the previous Golden State champs but they’re just as talented especially defensively.

“We had Kevin Durant for three years with this core group. We’re untouchable,” Kerr said. “This [2022 team] has been compared to our first championship team in 2015. Maybe there are some similarities. But this is still a talented group of players.”

He continued: “Our defense was spectacular in this series, especially the last three games. The Celtics had the best defense in the league but we were right behind them. What made this group really special besides the obvious with Steph was the defensive intensity and versatility.”

It’s laughable to think that there are still people, including basketball pundits, who question Curry’s place among the game’s all-time greats. Draymond calls those questioning Curry’s legacy as “garbage.”

“He’s still Steph Curry. He’s still an all-time great. To add [a Finals MVP] to your resume, as a competitor, you want that. For him, well deserved. It’s been a long time in the making. He left no doubt.”

The Golden State Warriors are back in the NBA Finals for the sixth time in eight years. The last team to pull off that feat was Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.

The Warriors dynasty is definitely not over, and one of their main guys is making sure everyone knows it.

“After being counted out, dynasty being over, and all those things. To get back [in the NBA Finals] is fantastic. It’s a testament on hard work and dedication. This one feels great,” Warriors forward Draymond Green told the media after Golden State eliminated the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the 2022 Western Conference finals.

“I’ve always said all along, no one has proven they can beat us yet when we’re whole,” Green continued. “That is still the case.”

The Warriors have arguably the best trio in the NBA in 2022 conference finals MVP Steph Curry, comeback player of the year Klay Thompson, and first-team all-defensive player Green. The triumvirate has been powering Golden State’s machine for a decade, winning three NBA championships in a five-year span. The Golden Trio have an opportunity to add to their Hall of Fame credentials by winning a fourth title and adding the Boston Celtics to their hit list.

The Dubs being back in the Finals stage is one of the best stories of the NBA’s diamond anniversary season. Most basketball pundits thought the Dubs’ dynasty was done in 2019. Kevin Durant left for Brooklyn and Thompson was dealt with two devastating injuries. The last time the Warriors’ Big 3 were in the NBA Finals together, Thompson had to be helped off the floor after suffering an ACL tear. Thompson’s comeback was derailed the following year after he tore his Achilles’ tendon during the offseason. It took almost three NBA calendar years before Curry, Green, and Thompson were finally reunited on the court, but once they were whole again the Warriors became the Warriors again. Just like Bruce Wayne became the Dark Knight again after climbing out of the pit.

Golden State finished with a 53-29 regular-season record and earned a No. 3 seed in the West. Even though the Warriors didn’t finish ahead of Phoenix or Memphis, they were clearly championship contenders and used the regular season as a warm-up act for a big playoff push.

“I can’t say coming into this season that we’ll be in the NBA Finals, but we always believe with us three we have a chance,” Green said.

Green and the rest of the Warriors understood the bigger picture. They know what it takes to win a championship, and their mindset has always been that they’re still one of the best teams, if not the best, as long as they avoid the pitfalls of an 82-game grind.

“Most teams in the NBA just aren’t that good,” Green said. “You can win games in the regular season, that means nothing. We understand that. We don’t chase wins during the regular season, we chase improvement during the regular season.”

The Warriors posted a 42-17 record prior to the All-Star break, but faded down the stretch and went 11-12 without Green and Curry. Green suffered a lower back injury in January, while Curry sprained his ankle in March that forced him to miss the last month of the regular season.

Green told Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill that the last two years have been “miserable.” Despite being cast aside like an aging rock band, Green and the Warriors never wavered and stuck with the plan. The plan was to lean on Curry’s offense and Green’s defense while Thompson worked his way back into the rotation, and prepare Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole for bigger roles.

The constant figure in the Warriors’ rehabilitation was Curry. The NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers — who has put together back-to-back MVP-worthy seasons — said the team never lost faith despite a mountain of injuries and an overhauled roster, understanding the difficulty of the climb to the top after falling off it.

“I think internally we are all extremely proud of what it took to get back here. Yeah, it’s definitely sweet based on what we went through,” Curry said.

Curry believes the Dubs started climbing out of their two-year dark hole late in the 2021 season, winning 15 of 20 games and making the play-in game. Even though the Warriors lost both play-in games, the foundation was established for the next season.

Thompson returned to the lineup in January after two arduous rehab seasons from ACL and Achilles surgeries. In 32 games this season, Thompson averaged 20.4 points per game and shot 42% from the field. Those numbers are just a shade under what he averaged (21.5 PPG and 46.7% FG) in 2018-19 when he played 78 games.

Thompson is still not completely back to All-Star level, but the old Klay is starting to return as we get deeper into the 2022 playoffs. He punctuated the Warriors’ domination of the Mavericks in the conference finals with 32 points in the series-clinching Game 5, including eight 3-pointers. After the game, Thompson was just grateful to be back on the big stage after missing two full seasons.

“I’ve dreamt about this every day,” Thompson said about being back in the NBA Finals.

“I got really in touch with music [during rehab],” he added. “It would help me through a lot of those sessions. Just the appreciation of moving my body again. I thought about those days I couldn’t run or jump, how lucky we are to do what we do.”

Green, Curry, Thompson and Andre Iguodala are in rarified air in NBA lore. Advancing to six NBA Finals in eight years has only been done by legendary teams. Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics teams won eight straight titles from 1959-66. Jerry West’s L.A. Lakers teams made seven appearances in The Finals in nine years. Magic Johnson’s Lakers in the 1980s reached The Finals eight times during the decade. Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls teams won six championships in eight seasons in the 1990s.

As Curry previously stated, this year’s trip to The Finals is sweet because of it it took to get to this point. Only four players remain from their first championship roster in 2015. Key pieces on their title teams like Shaun Livingston, Leandro Barbosa, Harrison Barnes, and Andrew Bogut are no longer around. And Kevin Durant’s heart is no longer in San Francisco. It’s in Brooklyn.

The faces may have changed but the core players and the standard they set for themselves remain the same. And a fourth championship for the remaining members of Golden State’s “Death Lineup” will surely put them on a different stratosphere in the NBA pecking order.

“We’re happy to be [in the NBA Finals], but it would help our legacy a lot if we completed the mission and won the whole thing,” Thompson said.

LeBron James and Draymond Green get into an altercation during the second half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals. (GETTY IMAGES)

President George W. Bush famously said, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me, can’t get fooled again.”

When Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green “accidentally” kicked Oklahoma City Thunder Steven Adams in the groin during Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, most of us gave Draymond a pass. So did the NBA.

Green claimed he didn’t mean to drop a front kick to Adam’s crotch. He said he was trying to draw a foul, and as he flailed to sell the call he hit Adams.

The league upgraded Green’s foul from a flagrant 1 to a flagrant foul 2, with a $25,000 fine attached, but no suspension.

Fine. Dirty deed was brushed aside to allow the Warriors to advance to the NBA Finals.

Fast forward to Game 4 of the The Finals in Cleveland. Green finds himself in the middle of another groin-related controversy. Green, while setting a moving screen for Stephen Curry, got tangled up with LeBron James near halfcourt. It sparked an altercation that led to Draymond going Kung Fu Panda on Bron, as he threw a right hammer fist to the Cavs star’s private parts.

LeBron obviously didn’t like the fact that Draymond went down that road. The two exchanged words and things got a little physical from there.

Green later claimed he felt disrespected after LeBron tried to step over him during their dustup near the end of the third quarter. “I don’t disrespect you on the court. Don’t disrespect me. There’s no love lost. It is what it is. It’s a battle out there. I’m going to battle with whoever it is,” Green wrote in his playoff diary.

Funny how Green is calling out LeBron for disrespecting him. This is coming from a guy who admits he purposely pokes, prods and agitates opponents to get them off their game. He does primal screams just about as often as Tarzan. And he flexes both his arms almost every time he makes a good play. Disrespect? Draymond should know. It’s OK for him to do it, but when someone does it to him he feels wronged.

The league wasn’t fooled by Draymond’s latest actions. It slapped the Dubs’ defensive stalwart a flagrant 1 foul, which means a one-game suspension because it was his fourth flagrant foul point of the postseason. Had the league upgraded the foul to a flagrant 2 then Draymond would have missed two games.

Green is the classic basketball bully. When he’s getting his butt kicked and outplayed — like what Adams was doing to him during the entire Golden State-OKC series — he resorts to kicking or punching a guy while he has his back turned.

Whether LeBron stepped over Green intentionally or not, it doesn’t and shouldn’t give Draymond the green light to punch him in the groin. That is beneath someone like Green. He made the All-NBA second team and got the second-most votes for Defensive Player of the Year. A true NBA star does not punch people in the groin. You leave that up to the role players.

If Draymond wants to be treated like a basketball superstar then he should start acting like one.

The Golden State Warriors will throw different defenders at LeBron James, including Draymond Green. (GETTY IMAGES)

LeBron James won’t guarantee an NBA championship in Cleveland this year, but he did make one proclamation. “I guarantee that we will play our asses off,” he said about the Cavaliers’ showdown with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.

James and his Cavaliers have been playing their butts off this postseason, especially on the defensive end. The Cavs own the top-ranked defense in the playoffs, holding teams to 92.6 points and 28.1 percent from the 3-point line. But now comes the true test. the Cavs are facing the most explosive and efficient scoring machine in the NBA Finals. The Warriors led the NBA in points per game (110), 3-point field-goal percentage (39.8) and assists (27.4). They have the best shooting backcourt in the world in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, who combined to make 525 threes; far and away the most by any duo in the league.

Curry and Thompson present a whole different animal for the Cavaliers. You may be able to slow down one but not both. The Cavaliers need to hold the line and keep the Splash Brothers from going trey crazy.

This series could boil down to how well the Cavs play on the defensive end. They need to disrupt the Warriors’ ball movement and make the game stagnant because they won’t be able to win in a shootout. This will require paying attention to detail: running shooters off the the 3-point line, making them drive to the basket, and putting a body on Steph and Klay at all times. Cleveland must turn this into a scrum and make Golden State uncomfortable.

The Warriors love to run floppy sets for Steph and Klay. They start on the block and run off screens from Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green. The Cavaliers must stay attached to Steph and Klay, and force them to drive instead of stopping and popping for threes. They will make their share of threes, but try to limit their attempts by making them put the ball on the deck.

When Curry has the ball at the top and calls for a ball screen from Bogut or Green, Cleveland has the option of blitzing Curry or switching the screen. The better option would be to switch on the screen even though it will likely expose Cleveland’s big men. Switching the ball screen forces Curry to keep the ball in his hands and stops the ball from moving. If Curry gets cooking, the Cavs can always switch LeBron on him to try to cool him down.

Here are other key matchups to watch in the NBA Finals:

LeBron vs. Barnes, Iguodala, and Draymond

The Warriors are a basketball anomaly. They are bucking the conventional thinking that you can’t win a title shooting jump shots. But these Warriors are a different breed. Sure, they win games by shooting lights out from behind the 3-point line and running teams out of the gym. But what made them a 67-win juggernaut during the regular season was defense.

GSW arguably has three of the 10 best defensive players in the league. Klay Thompson is an elite perimeter defender, Andrew Bogut is a beast in front of the rim, and Draymond Green finished second to Kawhi Leonard as the defensive player of the year. Add Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala into the mix and you can see why teams struggle to score against Golden State.

In The Finals, the Warriors will face their greatest test. They’ll be going up against the most powerful force in basketball. The last time Golden State and Cleveland met, LeBron dropped 42 points in a 110-99 Cavaliers rout on Feb. 26.

LeBron poses matchup problems on the perimeter and in the paint. He’s capable of ruining any defensive game plan Warriors coach Steve Kerr will draw up. The book on Bron is to deny him driving lanes and force him into shooting jumpers. That’s what the San Antonio Spurs did the last two seasons, so expect Kerr, who played under coach Gregg Popovich, to copy that plan. Kerr will likely start Barnes on LeBron first then rotate different bodies on him. Iguodala is physically strong enough and athletic enough to stay with LeBron, so he could spend the most time on him. Green should also see No. 23, but he may have his hands full with Tristan Thompson. We’ll get to the Draymond-Tristan matchup later.

Steph vs. Kyrie

It is unfortunate Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving is running only at 75 percent because this would have a delicious point guard matchup.

Curry and Irving are not only the two most complete point guards in the NBA but they also possess some of the best handles in the biz. Kyrie better stretch his sore knees because Curry will surely test them.

Despite being hobbled in the Eastern Conference finals against the Atlanta Hawks, Irving still managed to make an impact in Game 4. In The Finals, he’ll go up against the MVP. No disrespect to Hawks point guard Jeff Teague but he’s not even close to being in Curry’s league. Few players are in Curry’s league.

Steph and Kyrie know each other well. They were both on the U.S. men’s national squad coached by Mike Krzyzewski that took home the gold medal at the 2014 FIBA World Cup. Irving served as Team USA’s point guard, while Curry was the shooting guard. Even though they started in the backcourt, you know they went at each other in practice.

Irving doesn’t need to match Curry point for point, but if he can give the Cavs anything close to his regular-season numbers (21.7 points and 5.2 assists) then Cleveland has a great shot a winning the title.

Bogut and Draymond vs. Mozgov and Tristan

The Warriors have mainly stayed with a conventional center-power forward frontline for most of the playoffs, but if Kerr decides to go small he probably use a lineup of Curry and Klay Thompson in the backcourt and Iguodala, Barnes and Green in the frontcourt. If Golden State goes with that lineup, Cleveland coach David Blatt will likely counter with Irving and Iman Shumpert in the backcourt and LeBron, J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson in the frontcourt.

We already broke down the Curry-Irving matchup and the LeBron vs. the Warriors matchup. The Cavs will most likely stick Shumpert on Klay, and Iguodala or Barnes will take on Smith. That leaves us with the battle in the paint between two power forwards playing center, Draymond and Tristan.

The NBA championship may rest of the shoulders of two lunchpail guys who could command major dollars during the offseason when they become free agents.

Draymond is arguably the reason why the Warriors own the best record in the NBA, and the Cavs could argue that they wouldn’t be in The Finals without Tristan, who replaced the injured Kevin Love in the starting lineup. Golden State and Cleveland switch most pick-and-rolls because they both feel they have the players who can guard multiple positions. Another reason why both teams don’t like to switch on screens is because they are confident in the abilities of Draymond and Tristan to guard perimeter players. What could decide this matchup is the battle under the basket. Tristan has been a beast on the offensive boards, and he’ll have a height advantage over Draymond.

Kerr could throw a wrench into the mix by sticking with Bogut and Draymond in the frontcourt. That could force the Cavs to go with Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson in the frontcourt. However, if you’ve been paying attention to the Cavs throughout the playoffs they’ve been consistently going with LeBron at power forward and Tristan at center, and those two have been punishing teams on the boards.

Whichever team wins the rebounding battle could be the one hoisting the gold trophy at the end.

Kent Bazemore made the all-tournament team at the Las Vegas summer league. (GETTY IMAGES)

LAS VEGAS — When you win the NBA championship you get to hoist a gold trophy, receive a $100,000 ring, and enjoy a championship parade. When you win the Las Vegas summer league you get to hoist a gold trophy, receive a cherry flavored ring pop from Rick Mahorn, and if the team is extremely generous there could be a parade at the buffet line.

The Golden State Warriors may not be greeted with a championship parade when they return to the Bay Area, but they accomplished something special this summer by going undefeated and winning the inaugural Vegas summer league tournament title.

Two players who truly benefited from the summer circuit were Kent Bazemore and Draymond Green.

Both are second-year players who saw a lot of action during the 2013 playoffs, especially Green. The former Michigan State standout was part of a frontcourt rotation that powered the Warriors to a Western Conference first-round playoff series win over the Denver Nuggets and pushed the San Antonio Spurs to six grueling games in the conference semifinals.

Green looks fitter and slimmer this summer and it showed on the court, bumping his point average from 6 to 12 and appears quicker to the ball. His defense is what earned him major playing time for the Warriors as a rookie, and that part of his game has only gotten better. Look for head coach Mark Jackson to rotate the 6-7, 230-pound Green with David Lee and Harrison Barnes at the forward position.

Prior to emerging as one of the stars of the Vegas summer league, Bazemore was mostly known for his towel waving skills from the bench and token appearances on the court. He did make a memorable reverse layup that put the Warriors ahead during Game 1 of the Spurs playoff series, but was overshadowed by Manu Ginobili’s spectacular 3-pointer in overtime.

With supersub Jarret Jack now in Cleveland, the 6-5 Bazemore should get a long look as the backup point guard as well as shooting guard, and may even play some small forward if Jackson decides to go extra small. The Warriors coach told NBA TV’s David Aldridge that Bazemore will be ready when called upon.

“He’s gonna get a serious look,” Jackson said of Bazemore, who averaged 18 points a game in 30 minutes and was named to the Vegas all-tournament team.

“At the end of the day we’re loaded. We’ve got five perimeter players that are better basketball players today,” Jackson said. “Kent’s a guy who continues to improve, works extremely hard, and he’s gonna stay ready. We’ll see how it pans out, but he’s a guy with a lot of confidence and he has separated himself this summer.”

Bazemore was overlooked coming out of Old Dominion. He went undrafted in 2012 and was the 499th ranked player in 2012-13 according to ESPN.com. To put that into better context, there were only 450 active players in the league last season. That wasn’t lost on Bazemore as he marked “499” on his shoes to remind him of that insult.