“He’s carried teams to the Finals. And the idea of what he brings to us is another guy that’s just comfortable with the ball in his hands to create for himself and for others, no matter what the situation is”. Stephen Curry was certainly comfortable enough to hand out praise to Jimmy Butler after the Warriors’ recent win against the Houston Rockets. Why shouldn’t he be comfortable? After all, the 35-year-old brought his ‘Playoff Jimmy’ persona to the spotlight, recording 25 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals in the game to lead the Warriors to victory. Just another example of the increase in confidence Butler has brought to the team. Not just confidence, but a sense of ‘calm’, as two of Butler’s peers recently highlighted.

Following the Warriors’ gritty 95-85 win, Draymond Green hit the podium for the postgame presser — and of course, Jimmy Butler’s name came up. With Butler now rocking a Warriors jersey, a lot of folks expected some friction between the two fierce competitors. You’ve got two alpha personalities, two guys who don’t back down — it was fair to wonder if sparks would fly off the court.

Instead of tension, he praised the shift Butler’s arrival brought to the team. Green didn’t see him as a threat — he saw him as a solution. When discussing the recent game, Green praised his other teammates only because “they did a great job in getting Jimmy the ball, and it always just settles the offense down. Even that last one, he hit over Sengun. Like, that’s what we want, and I think we gotta…. we gotta do an even better job to make sure he was getting the ball. But overall, man, he’s such a calming force for us. Just calm everything down, get us to our spots and get us a good look”.

Unlike the alleged reports being put out about Green, there wasn’t anything that claimed Steve Kerr would be against Jimmy Butler’s acquisition. After all, right from the start, the head coach had nothing but praise for the veteran. It is not every day that you get a player who carries a tag of an ‘over communicator’ and is willing to suggest his plans and plays for the Warriors squad to utilize. We don’t know whether Green and Kerr corroborated before the presser. However, the coach ended up echoing his player’s belief during his Q&A session.

“He has that impact every game. He calms things down, he is very confident, he is very poised,” said Kerr. “He always believes we are going to win. Jimmy is, he is one of the best players in the league, and that is what the best players in the league do. It’s not just about scoring, or stats. It’s about settling the game down, and having the presence, and the nature to compete and win games like this”.

There is no better way to “settle the game down” than to know that it is handled on the offensive front. To know that instead of 1 main scorer, you have 2. That for every Michael Jordan, there is a Scottie Pippen to cover in times of need.

As highlighted by CBS Sports reporter Brad Botkin, Golden State’s defense started picking up right after Butler’s acquisition. The offensive paint pressure also went up, while the free throw attempts saw an upward tick. Butler connected a team that had, through its own reported strength-in-numbers, lost its collective way. The 17.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists he averaged with the Warriors proved that the team does not need to worry about pushing other players like Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga to reach a caliber level that would allow them to cover for Curry when needed.

As the Warriors push deeper into the playoffs, it’s pretty unanimous—Jimmy Butler’s presence has been a blessing. The defense, the shot-making, the veteran poise—it’s all clicking. But when the spotlight shifted to Jimmy, he was asked about his role in this postseason run—Butler didn’t even hesitate.

According to Butler, there’s only one guy on this Warriors squad who can truly be counted on to carry them all the way to the Finals: Stephen Curry.

Jimmy Butler claims Stephen Curry will be the reason “we do win it all”

There is no denying that Stephen Curry was the most important component of the Golden State Warriors’ golden era. He had the support of several star players like Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant. However, the Warriors couldn’t have won 4 championships over 7 years without the 3-point leader. This is why Jimmy Butler, despite knowing his own caliber, was willing to put Curry on a higher pedestal.

“Like I always say, Batman comes out of nowhere,” said Butler after the game. “You never see him coming. Then he just falls from the sky, from a building, behind a door, and does some incredible things. He’s going to be the reason that we do win it all. We all know that. But we got to protect him at all costs”.

Believe it or not, but Stephen Curry did not initially want a player like Jimmy Butler on his team. In fact, he wanted the Warriors front office not to engage in “Desperate trades”. Trades that secure a veteran for now, but come at the expense of trading off young players and the team’s future.

Nevertheless, Butler is here now, and he is glad. Glad to receive the chance to earn his 5th ring and reach the same level as that of Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, and his own head coach, Steve Kerr. Whether Butler’s remarks do turn into reality is something that remains to be seen.