Jimmy Butler says he will play at least one G League game for the Santa Cruz Warriors before he returns to the Golden State Warriors from the torn right ACL that has kept him out since January, Nick Friedell of The Athletic reported Friday. “It may not be for long, but I’m going to play in Santa Cruz,” Butler told Friedell, as carried by Pratham Valluri of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Asked whether he had cleared the idea with general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr., Butler said: “I don’t got to clear s–t with nobody. I’m going. Me and Mike will fistfight. He’s gonna be like, ‘Jimmy, no.’ I’m gonna be like, ‘Mike, yes. I’m going to G League, baby!’” He added, per Josue Pavon of ClutchPoints: “I’m definitely coming down there to play. So good luck to everybody.”
Steve Kerr backed the plan when Friedell asked him about it before Wednesday’s game in Houston. “Oh, hell yeah. I love that,” Kerr said, as reported by Alder Almo of Heavy. “But most guys in the league in Jimmy’s position are, like, too vain to do it — and Jimmy’s the opposite.” Kerr said he would go watch: “As long as we don’t have a game, I will be there.”
Butler tore the ACL in his right knee on Jan. 19 and has been listed out on every Warriors injury report this season. A rehab game in the minor league is routine in baseball and almost unheard of for an NBA player of Butler’s standing, which is the point Kerr was making. He would be coming back to a team that is also without Stephen Curry for the next several weeks.
What is not known is when any of this happens. The Warriors have given no return timeline for Butler, have not said whether the medical staff or the front office has approved a G League assignment, and no date for a Santa Cruz game has been set. Dunleavy has not commented. Butler’s intention is the news; the team’s answer is still to come.
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