Jimmy Butler: “We get, idk, is it ‘bored’ with the process?”
[+videos/interviews/captions/transcripts]
Jimmy Butler, postgame locker room after the Warriors blew out depleted Portland, when asked by Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic if he’d call it encouraging or disappointing that they don’t beat the teams they’re supposed to all the time, the way they just did to the Trail Blazers:
We know what we’re capable of and we don’t do it all the time. We get — I don’t know, is it bored with the process? Like, knowing what works and then we’re just trying stuff just because we can. And we should never do that. Like, we got some good players, got one really, really, really good player, but I think to protect him and to protect everybody in this locker room, you just gotta do the right stuff as often as we can and stick to our strengths, shy away from those weaknesses.
Also, here’s me, more than two months ago:
I don’t think many people know this or really understand physics and cosmology at all, but not all geniuses ever know anything. Albert Einstein was one of the last scientists to accept quantum physics. He also never thought black holes could actually be a real thing.
Accepting that Einstein was a genius of something — but not everything — makes the “basketball impotence” thing, as well as the Jonathan Kuminga saga, a lot more understandable.
I’m looking forward to spending the All-Star Break with some fellow coaches (at every level) and figuring out if there really was a way to integrate Kuminga with one Wardell Stephen Curry in the ecosystem that Steve Kerr built. Bear in mind, this also has to be in the context of winning regular season games October 2025 through January 2026, when the landscape of the NBA turned into incredibly fast pace.
And if my theory of just using JK in inverted pick-and-rolls, as they did successfully at times last season with Curry and even Buddy Hield, gets accepted as a possibility by the coaches I’m going to talk to, then the question turns to, why didn’t Kerr do this more?
I think I know the answer, but that’s worth a whole separate livestream to brainstorm and dissect about, beyond all the things we touched on last night — see timestamps:
All the videos and interviews complete with captions and transcripts are below, including postgame with Steve, Draymond Green, Brandin Podziemski, and Jimmy:
00:00 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME POR-GSW: Horse and Hound is here. Oh, I see, it’s been a few years. Alright.
00:04 Thanks for having me back.
00:05 You’re welcome. Yeah, who’s got a question?
00:07 Steve, what’s it like being on the other side of one of these games where you come in, you’re playing an under-manned team and you guys just dominate them all night?
00:16 It’s a good night to get everybody on the floor and keep Steph (to) 24 minutes, Draymond at 22. So yeah, these are welcome nights when you can get them.
00:31 Steve, a bigger picture question, but we’ve now reached the halfway point of the season. Just where would you assess or how would you assess where this team is right now?
00:40 I think we’re in a pretty good place. We obviously have — we lost some games in the first half of the year that we should have won. We feel like our record should be better, but none of that matters. We gotta just take care of our ourselves right now and do what we can to climb up the standings. We’re playing better. We’re playing pretty consistently, doing a lot of good things right now.
01:06 Melton had 23 tonight in 18 minutes. He had another big scoring game recently. Is that part of his game surprising you a little bit, like the big scoring bursts he’s been giving you?
01:18 Yeah, his shot has really come around. We didn’t expect him to be in rhythm those first few weeks when he came back. He had hardly played for two years. You can see the confidence is rising. He’s a really dynamic player, explosive athlete, and really skilled, fundamentally sound. And it’s fun watching him play and yeah, the guys have total confidence in Melt.
01:46 How much can you guys really use an extra scorer if he’s willing to consistently, maybe not 23 in 18 minutes, but give you a real scoring burst?
01:56 Yeah, it’s a different kind of scoring, too, with Melt. It’s the — you saw some of the attacks to the rim, second half, scoring over the top of big guys. He’s got a different level of athleticism and it’s a welcome kind of addition to our attack, for sure.
02:17 Steve, what makes Gui so disruptive? Defensively, four steals and you guys had 16. That’s a pretty good number. Is he just — or is it instincts and just being in the right place and--
02:28 Yeah, it’s instincts. It’s quickness. He’s not a like a kind of a traditional like, bouncy athletic guy at the rim, but he’s really quick laterally and reads situations well. He’s in the passing lanes, anticipating plays and he gets his hands on a lot of long rebounds as well. So Gui is a really good player for us. He just complements the starters so well when he comes out there with them.
03:02 It seemed like Brandin was a little bit more confident in finishing at the rim tonight. I don’t know if that had anything to do with their rim protecting options, but when he gets into the lane, what do you want to see out of him? What are his options there?
03:16 He’s got good quickness and he reads the game well, so you see sometimes where he runs right through the catch and attacks, beats everybody to the spot. He’s not a guy who’s gonna beat a whole lot of people off the dribble, but he can beat people with his cutting and reading the game. So I thought Brandin was fantastic tonight.
03:38 You guys bounced back after a tougher three-point shooting night last night. What was the difference between the two games?
03:44 Ball just went in. Sometimes it’s that simple. We had some good looks the other night and it didn’t go and you just keep firing and we did that. 58 threes is a lot. Alright, thank you.
—
04:01 (What were) some of the keys were to tonight’s win?
04:04 BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI: Same as Sacramento. Did a good job not fouling as much. Make them take tough, contested shots, forced 22 turnovers, which was nice. But it always helps when you make threes.
04:21 It seemed like you were pretty decisive in the lane and at the rim tonight. When you get — when you break the paint, what does your decision-making process look like?
04:32 First, depends on who’s the low man for them, how early they’re over because once you beat your man, it’s just 4-on-3 and just make the right decision. And sometimes the low man’s not far enough over, so I have a layup. If they are, then just kick it out.
04:48 You guys bounce back after a rough three-point shooting night the other night. Was it as simple as just making open threes or was there more to it?
04:57 I feel like we got a lot more wide-open ones tonight.
05:01 And you and Melton have this good chemistry off the bench. What’s working between the two of you right now?
05:06 We can both score, both facilitate, both play defense, both play hard, so just trying to be sparks off the bench.
05:15 Draymond was just in here talking about how he sometimes thinks about maybe coaching after his career’s over. Do you think he’d be a good coach?
05:24 Yeah, really smart guy when it comes to basketball Xs and Os, how to talk to people, how to be a leader, all things you’d want in a good coach. I think he brings — I could definitely see that in his future for sure.
05:42 How much is — how much has this home stand been good for you guys, just to get some rest and rejuvenate, after a rougher early start of the season with the road?
05:50 I think it’s been nice just to be in a routine, not having to pack a suitcase, finding a rhythm with a game, then a day-off, game, then the day off. So everybody’s just finding their little routine that works and we’re only halfway through it, as long as it’s been. We got four more to get.
06:07 Hello, what do you saw from Gui Santos? He and you always get the highest plus-minus on a game.
06:15 Yeah, I think Gui plays really hard, another player that just understands how to play simple basketball, whether it’s moving the ball by the pass, crash on the glass, he does a little bit of everything out there and it reflects in his plus-minus how he impacts the team.
06:31 Steve and Draymond were talking about managing the dog days of the season. Right now, you guys are in it. How has you as a player managed this stretch of the season?
06:40 I shouldn’t have to. I’m 22, young guy. Just be ready to play it every game, every day.
—
06:50 What inspired the new hair look?
06:51 JIMMY BUTLER: I just took my hair out. That’s normally how your hair look when you take it out from braids. You wouldn’t know that. I
06:56 would not, nah. \
06:58 Jimmy, Draymond said he might want to coach down the line. How do you think he would be as a coach?
07:05 I think Draymond would be great as a coach. His basketball mind is out of this world, actually. Like, he sees all the plays before that happen. He’s always studying the game. He wants everybody to be great, so I actually really do believe he’ll be a phenomenal coach.
07:21 Draymond also has been pretty deep on how tough it is to go through the dog days of the season and how--
07:25 We are in the middle of it.
07:26 Exactly, right? What is that and when did you first feel the dog days and how to get over those?
07:32 It’s always a blessing to be able to play basketball in the best league in the world. Let’s not forget that, but then I think anywhere from after Christmas, somewhat January, all the way up to the All-Star Break, it gets really repetitive and I think you just gotta put your head down and get through it, compete, try to win as many games as you can, but the dog days are amongst us.
08:00 How would you assess just where y’all are at halfway point of the season?
08:03 Mediocre.
08:06 What needs to change?
08:08 We need to win more games, lose less games. That’s just where we are. And I think it’s the worst place to be, is to be mediocre because, yes, it can go either way, but like nobody wants to be just average. Nobody wants to be average.
08:27 What’s Melton giving you right now?
08:30 A headache. That’s what he is giving me because him and Buddy, they being in cahoots. They’re like friends and stuff. So now he automatically on my bad side because he like Buddy.
08:40 What’d he say about me?
08:41 See? You see that? See he eavesdropping. That’s — and now he’s starting to rub off on Melt. The one thing I will say about Melt is he’s making shots right now. He’s being hella aggressive. We like that he’s guarding at a high level and he’s giving us another option that we can rely on, so we want him to keep being that, talk less to Buddy.
09:02 How useful is it — how much does this team need an extra scorer, really, the way he’s kind of scoring?
09:08 Yeah, we need that. We need as many people as we can to put the ball in the basket, but even more important for us, we need guys to be able to get stops. We need guys that’s gonna be able to switch, that’s gonna know and be able to communicate and guard. Everybody know all the coverages and he’s one of those guys.
09:24 I was gonna ask you, actually, about defense and Gui and what he does to get four steals and just be in the right place.
09:32 Gui had four steals?
09:32 He did and career-high and you guys had 16 and what Draymond said, he is a ball magnet. What makes him a ball magnet?
09:41 Gui plays — he just play hard. I think whenever you play hard, you just get in the way at times in a good way. Like, you’re getting your hands on the basketball, a lot offensive rebounds, diving on the floor, loose ball steals. When you play hard and as hard as Gui does, good things normally comes from that. And then it’s even harder to take you off the floor.
10:03 When you look at the game that you put together, you look really good. Is that encouraging that you can do that or discouraging, disappointing that you don’t do it all the time? Not you, I mean as a team.
10:14 Yeah, probably the latter that we know what we’re capable of and we don’t do it all the time. We get — I don’t know, is it bored with the process? Like, knowing what works and then we’re just trying stuff just because we can. And we should never do that. Like, we got some good players, got one really, really, really good player, but I think to protect him and to protect everybody in this locker room, you just gotta do the right stuff as often as we can and stick to our strengths, shy away from those weaknesses.
10:46 Oh, sorry. When you take your braids out, do you — is it just for one game or will those braids be back in on Thursday?
10:53 Honestly, I don’t know. It just depends on how I’m feeling because I really don’t give a damn how I look whenever I go out places. I’m not trying to look cute for anybody. I got kids, don’t nobody want me. I’m not worried about it.
11:06 It takes a while to put back in, too.
11:08 No. I I get Flo down here from Philly. I get Kenny down here to cut my hair. I could be back. I can be back looking like a dime in about two hours now. Y’all watch that.
11:20 Jimmy, I think you guys set a weird record in this game. There were 21 different people who hit a three. Is there anything, as you were out there--
11:27 You said there was 21 different people?
11:28 Who hit a three tonight.
11:29 In this game?
11:30 Yeah.
11:31 Between both teams? Oh, I was gonna say. I know my math not that bad.
11:37 Is there anything as you’re out there that you see--
11:40 Oh, I made one, too.
11:43 That would lead the game to unfold, that that would happen?
11:49 No, but what I will say is normally teams make a lot of threes against us, so I’m glad that we made something to be able to even that out a little bit. So, what, I don’t know how many players made a three tonight for us, but 21, normally teams make them against us, so it’s about time that we made some.
12:08 You joke about you making a three tonight, but you’re shooting it well this year from three. Do you feel like you’re taking the right amount?
12:14 I probably should take more. I finna start shooting more off one leg. That’s what I really want to do. Get a bucket like that.
00:00 DRAYMOND GREEN, POSTGAME POR-GSW: (rapping Big Poppa by The Notorious B.I.G) We rock moves and make moves with all mamis, back at the club sippin’ Moet is where you’ll find me.
00:10 Melton had 23 tonight. He had 22 recently. What he’s doing a little bit more than maybe even in the past as a scorer? What is that kind of giving this team?
00:21 He’s, I think he’s putting the ball on the floor a lot more than he has in the past, but just really having another ball handler, playmaker. He’s starting to shoot the ball really well and obviously we know what he’s capable of defensively, so just adding a different dynamic, especially to that group that he plays mostly with.
00:41 Draymond, just how would you assess this team at the halfway mark right now?
00:46 I think we’re in a pretty good spot, figuring it out, just really figuring out who we are as a team now that we’re healthy and whole. I think it’s starting to come together for us and turn the corner. We’re starting to build an identity.
01:07 On Melton, what’s it been like to see him get back to this level after the surgery and the injury?
01:12 It’s great. We thought he was very important to this team before he got hurt and obviously everything that happened, so for him to come back was a big gift for us and to see how he’s playing. Now that he’s back from the injury, the minutes are starting to go up, although he’s been doing these in under 20 minutes still, although the restriction has gone up. But very happy for him because I know the work that he put in to get back.
01:44 I think you had a sequence where you deflected a pass, recovered to block a shot, rebound, then trail three. How would you describe just like the rhythm that you’re starting to develop here this month compared to last month?
01:56 I think my rhythm is a lot better. I’ve had the ball a lot more, which allows to find a better rhythm and then it’s that time of season where, you start to really get into shape where it’s headed to the All-Star Break and then coming outta All-Star Break, it’s a sprint to the finish line. So everything start to usually come together after holiday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, you start to put it together and I’ve been able to find a pretty good rhythm as of late. Just gotta keep putting the work in, making sure I’m getting my reps, days that we’re not practicing or no games. Just continue to put the work in so that the confidence is there, but overall I feel like I’m starting to find a good rhythm on both sides.
02:52 Draymond, you said that this team is starting to find an identity. What is that identity?
02:56 I think number one, it has to be defense. We have to be a really good defensive team because that then allows us to get out and transition, get some easy buckets, which then allows you to operate better in the half court. And then the other things that’s becoming our identity, I’ll just let the teams figure that out. I don’t want to tell them.
03:22 Draymond, Steve’s referred a couple times recently to these being like the dog days of the season. Number one, do you agree that these are the dog days? And when did you first figure that out, like in your career that these are the dog days and how to push through those dog days of the season?
03:36 Early on in your career, you don’t really know. You just know it’s a little harder at the time and you want to go to the gym a little bit less that day. And the walls start to close in on you a little bit more. I told the guys after last game, I showered and got out so fast after last game and I told them in the locker room, I said, “I just want y’all to know I’m not upset. I’m not mad. I know people gonna see I left quick. I just need to get outta here.” These walls are closing in on me because after that Clipper game, I was beat up. So all last week, every day I was in here two hours, just really getting myself, one day in between games, just getting my body back to a place where I feel good going out on the floor. And that’s, I was a little beat up after that game, so that was a few day process of actually just hammering away at different things. And so even on the off days, like I was here for a couple hours and then after the game it, I sprinted out because it just felt like I was in a casino or jail or something, like the walls was just closing in on me. And so you feel it like, and early in your career, I remember a friend of mine came to my room. We were in LA and he came to my room and it was, I had a 3:30 bus and it probably was 3:05. And I was just sitting there staring at a wall. He’s like, “Man, what’s wrong with you?” I said, “I don’t know, but I’m exhausted.” And you start to figure it out and as you get older you learn how to manage it a little more, but like I bet you Will Richard head is spinning, like he don’t know whether he’s going left or right up or down right now. It just happens. And what it is, for those that don’t know, you can’t quite see the beginning of the season. It was too long ago. Can’t quite see the end. It’s too far away. And All-Star Break also is just a little too far. And those make the dog days for you, so we’re in them. Gotta find a way to get wins in them though, but they suck. Whoo, they suck.
05:59 Speaking of defense, what do you like about Gui? He had four of you guys’ 16 steals. How much does his defense coming off the bench mean to you guys? And do you guys talk about defense? Do you study defense together?
06:13 I think I’m always trying to give tips that can help one be better, but Gui is just a, he is a ball of energy, both sides of the ball. He rebounds. Some guys just have a knack for the ball. And Gui just has a knack for the ball. Like he’s a ball magnet. Whether that’s a deflection, whether that’s a rebound, whether that’s a tapout on the offensive rebounds, he’s a ball magnet. And he’s been very disruptive for our group this year with his rebounding ability and then just being all over the court defensively. He’s a smart player and he reads things before they happen. Gui, we do this thing where you learn about your teammates and they tell their story and he was a point guard his whole life. It makes sense because he understands the game from a different vantage point. And when you start talking steals and just having a knack for the ball, that’s usually a point guard trait and he’s continued to get better, continued to work on this game. He’s built up the trust from not only the coaching staff, but his teammates as well. And the energy that he’s been bringing to the floor for us on a nightly basis has been good.
07:37 Do you get a kick out of giving defensive tips? Is that something that at this stage in your career that you really take a lot of pride in sharing your expertise?
07:47 I’ve always probably talked a little too much, but I do enjoy — you play this game for all these years and then you’re just done. Where does the knowledge go? Where — what did you do? What did you give back to those to keep it moving forward, to keep the game growing? That’s all a part of it. You just take the knowledge home with you and it is dormant forever and that’s always the interesting thing about sports to me, is like you get older, you get less valuable, but the older you get, the more knowledge, the information you have. But when everybody just kick you because your value’s down, so then where does that information go? And then you see young guys coming to the lead their first, second year and they don’t have a clue. But if guys wasn’t passing the knowledge back then everyone’s starting from zero, then how do we even push this thing further and further ahead. So I love giving advice to young guys. Any young guy that’ll listen, I’ll speak to because Pete Myers told me a long time ago, you owe it — you owe it to the game to leave it in a better place than it was when you found it. And I always try to do that.
09:05 There’s a very easy follow up here then, which is I’ve heard you on the podcast a little bit, but are you considering coaching, more now because of all the things that you mentioned than you may have a few years ago?
09:21 As I get closer to the end, I think a little bit more about it and I’m definitely closer than I was a couple years ago. You had asked me two years ago, I just told you hell no. But as you get closer to the end, you start to think, oh man, what is it that I really want to do? And I don’t know that it — it’s not an absolute no anymore for me. As you start to learn more about it and dig deeper into it, as you get older, you get closer with the coaching staff, you start to see more. So I’m not gonna sit here and tell you, “Yes, I’m going to coach when I’m done.” But I won’t tell you no anymore.
10:09 And this is just so we’re clear, this is Michigan State, or this is to stay in the league, assuming that you go that path?
10:18 Michigan State or Golden State. Something with a “state.”
10:22 Wichita State.
10:24 Not Wichita State.
10:25 Washington State.
10:28 Hell no, not Washington State. I’m just playing, but I don’t know. We’ll see. I don’t, I still think I got quite a bit left in the tank to keep playing right now, but like I said, it’s definitely not a no anymore. I think more and more about it as I continue to go.
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