The Golden State Warriors have been in a state of flux all season. The team has stagnated, sitting at the eighth seed with a 14-15 record, despite Stephen Curry having his highest scoring season in three years. And that’s where Jimmy Butler comes in.

When the Warriors asked their fans to vote for him to be in the All-Star game this year, Butler had an unusual reaction. In the comments of the Instagram post promoting him, Butler wrote:

“don’t vote for me guys. instead somebody create a gofundme to send me to Barbados. Thanks in advance. GO WARRIORS.”

In just a few lines, Butler rejected the very thing most players chase, swapping those individual honors for humor, honesty, and a vacation fantasy that felt far more genuine than any All-Star push could. This was classic dry, self-aware Jimmy Butler, entirely uninterested in pretending that he’s motivated by individual accolades.

With Butler averaging 19.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.8 assists, on top of being the second-best player on the team, an All-Star selection seems unlikely to begin with, and it appears like Butler is doing his part to make sure he doesn’t have to pack his bags for Los Angeles.

Butler, brought in at last season’s trade deadline, helped the team close out last year with a 23-8 record as one of the hottest teams in the league. He last made the All-Star team in 2021–22, and the following year, after being snubbed, he didn’t sound too worried.

“I’ll see you all when I see you all,” he told reporters, being happy about then-teammate Bam Adebayo‘s selection. “As for me? I’m happy I get a vacation.”

While fans may find Butler’s response hilarious in the moment, they can’t ignore how their team is faring this season, with the struggles becoming increasingly evident.

Steve Kerr admits the Warriors are stuck between lineups as early-season fuzz continues

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr knows the team is in an uncomfortable middle ground where things aren’t broken beyond repair, but far from functioning clearly. After the team’s game against the Phoenix Suns, which they ended up losing, Kerr told the media:

“We were not finding enough spacing within the five-man combinations that we put out there. As a result, we’re far too dependent on [Stephen Curry] and [Jimmy Butler]. And we’re obviously trying to solve that.”

The problem Golden State has faced early in the season has been the team’s inability to convert threes at an elite rate—something they’ve always excelled at. This year, apart from Curry and Butler, only three starters have been able to hit over 40% of their threes: Pat Spencer, Brandin Podziemski, and Will Richard.

Of these players, Spencer takes an extremely small volume of shots, leaving Podziemski and Richard as the only wing options who can convert them at an elite rate. Both have split starts throughout the season, starting 11 and 12 games, respectively.

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With Draymond Green almost always in the starting lineup due to his chemistry with Curry, the team is often at a disadvantage when it comes to spacing, and that’s where Kerr and his staff are focusing their work. What’s clear is that the current balance isn’t good enough, and until the team finds answers beyond Curry and Butler, the margin for error is razor-thin.