Jimmy Butler to Kuminga: “You keep smiling”
Is JK the most patient baller ever?
Jonathan Kuminga has got to be the most patient baller ever, at least in recent memory. But he’s had a little (more) help and mentorship from Jimmy Butler, who said postgame against Utah, from the locker room: [entire transcript below, clickable video embed is the article picture above]
He better come to my house tonight, eat dinner, play some Uno and some dominoes. That’s my brother, like, my brother and him, so I could care less if he out the rotation. We hang out. That’s my friend, that’s my brother, and that’s not gonna change. Basketball is basketball. But I love him like a brother and I wish him the best and I still see him in here getting his work in, so his mind’s right…
I’m still gonna call and check in on him, still gonna go visit him. I’m still gonna go to his house, eat his food, play with his kids. His future, that’s between him and whoever else, but the bond and the brotherhood that we’ve built, ain’t no future gonna ever change if that’s my guy…
I tell JK, you be the pro of all pros. Come here, get your work done, you smile, you have a good time because you’re still an NBA player. You’re one of the best people in the world and I’m not even talking about basketball, so you keep smiling. You keep being the great human being that you are.
I know Steve Kerr is a master at mindfulness and, even per Kuminga last time he was interviewed, JK and Kerr apparently still have a strong working relationship… [from December 7, 2025 at Chicago:]
…but in a way, Steve is lucky that this has not turned into something that fractures the locker room or, you know, a trade demand, even though I think mathematically it just makes sense to trade Kuminga — and maybe both sides already know that.
As I’ve been saying on the livestreams, Giannis Antetokuonmpo controls the current trade market, so imo how Milwaukee performs these next couple weeks is the first domino that needs to fall.
Last year, both Miami and GSW were desperate, then the Jimmy deal happened. It takes two desperate franchises to tango, otherwise one team will be asking for too much and you won’t have a fair trade that makes sense, timing-wise.
Overall, I would be surprised if JK weren’t moved because of the report (from Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints) earlier that the Warriors want to ultimately convert Pat Spencer which due to the math of the cap sheet, requires a roster spot to be opened up.
The Warriors are too close to the second apron to waive anybody to open up that spot — and even if they weren’t too close to the second apron line, Seth Curry can’t be traded, either, as there needs to be 90 days that pass after he signed as a free agent at the start of December.
Not a lot of wiggle room, especially when, according to Keith Smith of SpoTrac, Spencer has already been listed as active for 34 games. Therefore as a two-way player, he only has 16 games left where he can be listed as active. That’s a crimp on point guard depth, unless he’s converted at some point. They do have LJ Cryer as another point guard on a two-way, but the Curry ecosystem is a steep learning curve.
Incidentally, all of these little tidbits, I have posted already along the way on our Discord server. You can join for free here: https://whop.com/letsgowarriors-discord-free
Then again, maybe it’s best to keep JK and just be able to retool the roster with a bigger market and more optionality in the off-season, although I think that would be unfair to JK, personally. Let the kid play the game he loves.
Of course, per usual, I could be completely wrong about all of the above.
Maybe it’s a credit to the culture that Steve and one Wardell Stephen Curry have built in Golden State, but I’ve seen blowups in many a basketball gym and locker room — in my personal case, one time it was after Biology class because my teacher happened to be our head coach (it wasn’t a blowup per se, but definitely a tense situation). I’ve had playing time issues with my own players in various traveling tournaments back in the day.
Resentment can build, especially depending on the player’s background. So, I salute JK and the general patience and calm his camp has always displayed.
And with Mike Dunleavy, Jr., I’ll sit back and wait and see what kind of rabbit he can pull out of this hat. Additionally, here are a few ideas Yossi Gozlan of Third Apron came up with, and I’m honored to have been a guest when he presented these:
POSTGAME UTA-GSW (Steve/Jimmy):
00:00 What’d you like more about the second half than the first?
00:08 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME UTA-GSW: Just the level of connection and competition. I just thought the first half we went through the motions, the spirit wasn’t right and, second half, guys really connected, came together and put together a great 24 minutes.
00:24 What’d you think about the Draymond injection?
00:28 I didn’t hear what he said, but it was a quick one. I know he got the T right away and then Kevin (Cutler) tossed him almost immediately, so I don’t know what he said, but I assume it was something that Kevin just wasn’t gonna listen to, so I don’t know anything more about it than that.
00:53 Obviously, two quick ejections and then the other game that he left in the third recently, is that a concern, just him missing large chunks of games recently?
01:03 I’m sorry?
01:03 Is it a concern that he’s been out early in a few most reasons?
01:07 Yeah. Yeah, we need Draymond and I want him out there. And so I think he might be up to about nine techs so he’s gotta — we’re not halfway through the season yet, long way to go and we need him.
01:28 Aside from him just being Steph, what changed as far as getting him in better rhythm in that third quarter?
01:34 Steph?
01:34 Yeah.
01:35 It wasn’t me, wasn’t like play calls or anything. It was just Steph. That’s how good he is, but again, everything felt right in the second half. The spirit, the energy, the level of competitive fight and you’re much more likely to make shots when you have that approach.
01:54 You’ve seen Melton’s defense, but how good is it to get him seeing the three-point shot going early for him and that two-way impact really showing up right now with De’Anthony?
02:04 Yeah, he’s barely played for two years, so we knew it would take him some time to find his rhythm and it feels like he’s really finding it now.
02:19 So in addition to some of the behavioral stuff with Draymond popping up again, the team’s only been positive in two games with him on the floor since the beginning of December. Is there anything you’re seeing in terms of how the team’s playing with him on the floor that’s changed because usually that you guys are great plus minus when he’s out there?
02:37 Yeah, we’ve been a little jumbled this year. We haven’t quite found a rhythm, but I do feel better about the way we’ve played the last couple weeks. I think a lot of the numbers, you get small sample sizes, you get different things happen. I can tell you this, you look at Draymond’s career and he’s just on the plus side in a massive way over and over again. And the last, like I said, the last eight, 10 games, we’ve started the same way. We’ve had a better feel, better rotation and I think we’re overall playing better and I think he’s playing better as well.
03:15 Steve, along those lines, Steph was just talking about morale and it being so high in the locker room. Do you feel like there’s some momentum right now? You just referenced these last two weeks and just maybe the spirits are good, too?
03:29 Spirit’s good. Like I said, first half it wasn’t, but I have to say, Buddy Hield didn’t play and Buddy, his energy on the bench, his communication with players, staying engaged, Buddy was incredible. And I think Draymond said it a few weeks ago, Buddy, he’s like one of his top five teammates of all-time. He’s one of my favorite players I’ve ever coached, for this reason. He’s found himself out of the rotation right now. And he stays upbeat, stays positive, telling jokes on the bench, keeping guys loose. Buddy is an incredible human being and I know his time’s gonna come back around, but this is what it takes to be a good, really good team, is to have everybody bought in. And especially the guys like Buddy who are out of the loop, still being part of it and engaged and he was fantastic tonight.
04:30 Hello Coach, about turnover. I remember a couple years ago, a couple weeks ago, you said like constant, constantly talking about this conversation maybe will affect the players emotionally, but like today they have 10 turnover in the first half, fine the second half. I was wondering how you approach this conversation recently about turnover?
04:53 Which conversation?
04:54 About turnover.
04:55 Oh, turnovers. Yeah. I don’t bring it up anymore and that’s the truth. I’m no longer talking about turnovers with the team.
05:04 All right. About second, about Kevin Love. What’s your impression of him and after all this year continue seeing him out of there and adjusting his roles on the court?
05:17 I love Kevin’s love for the game, the fact that he’s still playing, still effective. I don’t know him well. I coached him briefly with USA Basketball, but I love guys like that who just love the game so much and are great teammates and contributing at an older age and in their careers. He’s had an amazing career and it’s great to see him still out there contributing.
05:44 You were upset at a few of the turnovers tonight, pretty obviously. Steph called it a 10-year problem for y’all, but is it getting to you more this year than maybe in past years?
05:56 They matter more now. It’s pretty obvious. We see it every night. If we take care of the ball, we generally win. If we don’t, we lose. They matter more and I know we’re capable. The one thing I wanna make sure of is that we start getting the ball to Jimmy more down the stretch of games. We’ve lost all these clutch games and there’s nobody better in the league at protecting the ball, getting to the foul line, controlling the game and we haven’t done a good enough job of that, frankly. And that’s on me. I’ve gotta do a better job, but you get him the ball, the game settles and you’re much less likely to give up a transition three the other way because you’re getting the ball in the paint, you’re getting fouled, there’s just a sense of control. We have to utilize that. Jimmy’s one of the best in the league at that and we’re not doing it well enough. Thank you.
—
06:57 You’re joking around with Kevin Love throughout the game. How important is it to have kind of those friendships that go beyond kind of the lines of teams?
07:06 JIMMY BUTLER: Yeah. like I always say, anybody that’s been in the trenches with me on any organization and any team that’s like a brother, a brotherhood for life and he kept me sane in a lot of different ways throughout my career. And I’m very grateful for K.Love. That’s my man through and through, so it’s always good to compete against him.
07:25 Steve said you guys need to get the ball to you more late in the games —
07:30 ANTHONY VEREEN: You can’t do that. You can’t do that.
07:33 — particularly, to lessen the turnovers down the stretch. how important do you think that is, to give you more control at times in the fourth?
07:42 I don’t know. We won, so with me with or without the ball, as long as we win, we all good.
07:49 Do you like how you guys are playing right now, six of the last eight?
07:52 That’s good.
07:52 Yeah.
07:53 I’m not a math guy, but that’s, what’s that?
07:56 75.
07:57 3 of eight?
07:58 75%.
07:59 Don’t you gotta, like, common denominator reduce by — six of eight.
08:04 Three-fourths.
08:05 Three — yeah, something like that. 74%.
08:08 Three of four.
08:08 Yeah, we’re good. It’s good.
08:10 Steph did say that the morale and the spirits are really good around here right now, a little bit of momentum and Steve credited Buddy, even though he didn’t play, for really being lively on the bench. How much do little things like that matter?
08:23 It matters, but Buddy just goofy anyways. Like, whether he playing or not, he goofy. And I think that’s the consistency that we love. Buddy’s gonna be Buddy. And we hope everybody is like that, like, good, bad, indifferent. You have good days, more good ones than bad ones, but I think Buddy is the most consistent. Like, he’s smiling, joking, no matter what. His spirit’s always high and we follow suit in that.
08:48 You’ve been in the league a long time. How rare is that to have a guy, personality- wise, as consistent as he seems to be, day to day?
08:56 Yeah, man, you know what, me personally, because I know so many people from the Caribbean, I know so many people that are from Africa, they’re some of the most humble and grateful people to be where they are and to have what they have. That’s Buddy’s background. That’s who Buddy is. I don’t like Buddy, but I really respect Buddy. I do. I really respect Buddy for what he brings every day, as far as like smiling, being a great teammate and doing whatever you need him to do. And then if you need anything from him off the court or just to hang and just to talk, he actually is a good guy to vent to.
09:35 Do you think he likes you?
09:37 I really don’t care, if we being brutally honest, I could care less if Buddy like me. I’m gonna go pull all his stuff out of his locker right now, just knock it on the floor just ‘cause I can.
09:47 But back to the morale and spirits, do you — are you sensing that beyond, just beyond just Buddy?
09:52 But at the same time, we’ve won seventy — what is it, 75?
09:56 75.
09:56 Yeah. See? Math major. Of our last eight games. When you win, everything is good, but what I will say, when we weren’t winning all the games like we wanted, we were still together, so I think that’s the best thing. Yes, we’re winning now, but through thick, through thin, through the ups and the down, we were still together.
10:16 Did you see the play where Draymond was complaining about the three-second call that didn’t get made?
10:22 Plead the fifth. Fifth!
10:26 What do you guys do? It seems like when he leaves, you guys like find something, dig down and find something.
10:31 Nah, hell no. That ain’t the formula. No, we need 23 out there.
10:36 What happens? Yeah.
10:37 Nothing. We just gotta figure out a way. When you a man down, you really gotta pick up everything and it’s hard to — it’s genuinely hard to cover up what he does on both sides of the floor, the IQ on both sides of the floor. Obviously the defensive, but then to get everybody the ball and then — Dray started off hot tonight, you know what I’m saying? It’s so hard to do what he does, but it’s a collective effort when he is not out there.
11:00 Jonathan’s been out of the mix for a while now. What have your conversations been like with him?
11:05 Same. He better come to my house tonight, eat dinner, play some Uno and some dominoes. That’s my brother, like, my brother and him, so I could care less if he out the rotation. We hang out. That’s my friend, that’s my brother, and that’s not gonna change. Basketball is basketball. But I love him like a brother and I wish him the best and I still see him in here getting his work in, so his mind’s right.
11:26 His future’s gonna really come into question over the next month.
11:29 That don’t got nothing to do with me ‘cause I’m still gonna call and check in on him, still gonna go visit him. I’m still gonna go to his house, eat his food, play with his kids. His future, that’s between him and whoever else, but the bond and the brotherhood that we’ve built, ain’t no future gonna ever change if that’s my guy.
11:49 Do you see that weighing on him at all? You obviously have one of the—
11:53 Nope, not at all. I tell JK, you be the pro of all pros. Come here, get your work done, you smile, you have a good time because you’re still an NBA player. You’re one of the best people in the world and I’m not even talking about basketball, so you keep smiling. You keep being the great human being that you are.
🫶💙💛