After a statement-making 123-116 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, things continue to go swimmingly for the Golden State Warriors amid their new partnership with Jimmy Butler.
The Warriors are now 20-5 since Butler's arrival in early February, including 19-2 in games where the 6x All-Star and Stephen Curry are both in the lineup.
NBA insider sends stern warning to Warriors on Jimmy Butler experience
But you only have to look at Butler's history to see that it's not overly surprising that Golden State are better upon his arrival. The veteran forward almost always makes teams immediately better, which has once again been the case with the Warriors despite some initial concerns on his fit.
It's not necessarily about the start of Butler's tenure with teams, but more so about the end. NBA insider Israel Gutierrez has issued a stern warning to the Warriors, suggesting on The Dan Le Batard Show that we'll eventually see a similarly unceremonious ending in the Bay as we saw in South Beach earlier this season.
Gutierrez pointed to Butler's somewhat hostile return to Miami last week, particularly in comparison to how former Warrior teammates embraced Andrew Wiggins when seeing the former All-Star for the first time since the blockbuster trade.
"Steph Curry who had already gone back to the locker room came back out to talk to Andrew Wiggins. Why? Nice guy. People love him," Gutierrez said of Curry. "Like, how is that not so telling? We enjoyed this Jimmy Butler experience for five years (in Miami). It was always that because that's who he is. I'm sorry for the Warriors but at some point, he's going to be that there, too."
For starters, Butler's issue with the Heat stemmed from the fact they didn't want to extend him to a new max contract. The Warriors eroded that issue by giving him a two-year, $111 million extension, and by the time that concludes when Butler is nearly 38, he probably won't be asking for anywhere near the same money again.
Regardless, perhaps the Butler-Golden State experience does end in similar fashion. Yet that's not to say that both player and franchise don't still have plenty of time to ensure that isn't the case. What did Wiggins do at the Warriors that Butler didn't with the Heat? Win a championship.
Ask almost any championship-winning athlete in professional sports, and they'll tell you that it creates a bond between teammates that lasts for eternity. Hence why there will always be love between Wiggins and the Warriors where in contrast, Butler and the Heat couldn't overcome the last hurdle on two separate occasions.
That's the one obvious cure to any danger of Butler's tenure in Golden State ending in an unfriendly manner. Go win a championship and that will link both player and franchise together forever more.