Jimmy Butler does not wait well. Ten months on from the torn right ACL that cut short his first season with the Golden State Warriors, he has decided his first game back will not be at Chase Center but in Santa Cruz, wearing the jersey of Golden State’s G League affiliate.
He told The Athletic’s Nick Friedell that he does not plan to ask permission.
“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!’”
“Mike” is Dunleavy Jr., the general manager who traded for Butler in February 2025 and the same Dunleavy who was his teammate in Chicago more than a decade ago. The joke lands because they know each other. The eagerness underneath it is real: Butler tore his right ACL against the Miami Heat on January 19 and had surgery on February 9. He is 37 now and has not played a competitive game since. He was averaging 20.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 38 games when the knee went.
Read also: Goalkeeper handed maximum 12-match ban after collision that preceded opponent’s death
The plan he laid out to The Athletic is for live reps against live opponents, not more work in the facility.
“I’m going down to Santa Cruz to hoop. It may not be for long, but I’m going to play in Santa Cruz.”
Kerr backs the detour
Head coach Steve Kerr was asked about the idea separately and did not hesitate. “Oh, hell yeah,” Kerr told reporters. “I love that. Jimmy told you that? I love that.” Kerr, a lifelong baseball fan, compared a Santa Cruz appearance to a minor-league rehab assignment, a chance to test the knee in a real game before stepping back onto an NBA floor.
That framing matters because no established star has used the G League this way. Two-way players move up and down between the leagues; stars of Butler’s level rehab inside team facilities. A five-time All-NBA forward turning up in a Santa Cruz Warriors jersey would be close to unprecedented.
Read also: Reijnders hat-trick and Dumfries double-up sink Greece in Xavi’s biggest night so far
Dunleavy’s own timeline
For all the “fistfight” theater, Dunleavy has been publicly patient about Butler’s return. Speaking to reporters in January, he set a wide window: “at some point during the (2026/27) season he’ll be returning,” and said he expected the comeback somewhere “between now and this time next year.”
Dunleavy also pushed back on any suggestion that Butler’s game would erode, citing the forward’s skill, physicality and feel for the game as traits that should age well.
Kerr said he would attend a Santa Cruz home game himself if the Warriors’ schedule allowed it.
Read also: Manchester United star breaks silence after Roy Keane and Ashley Young criticism
