Jimmy Butler is never one to miss an opportunity to have a little dig at his Warriors teammate Buddy Hield.
After Steph Curry put the Butler-less Warriors on his back and led them to a cracking 104-93 win over the Houston Rockets at Chase Center on Saturday night, Butler wasted no time jumping onto Instagram to celebrate the big result.
Butler shared a video showing the bat signal lit up with Curry’s logo in it but it was the caption that had everyone talking. “thanks batman and team. excluding buddy.” Classic Butler.
Even though he was sidelined with a left pelvic contusion, Butler still found a way to be part of the action. Meanwhile, Hield actually had a decent outing himself with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting and was a plus-14 in his 29 minutes on the court. Not bad numbers at all.
Still, there was one thing Hield did that Butler simply cannot stand dribbling too much. And on Saturday night it definitely came back to haunt him. Officially, Hield was charged with two turnovers but it felt like he lost the ball a lot more than that. Butler was seen coaching him up about his dribbling at one point from the sidelines not that Hield seemed to be listening all that closely.
When reporters asked Hield about Butler’s advice after the game, he kept the banter rolling. “Terrible, terrible advice,” Hield said, laughing. “Terrible advice. I was just tuning him out the whole time. Nah, he’s been good. He’s been positive. He’s telling me how to read drives, except that one time I got picked by Steven Adams, he’s giving me a look and I’m just like ‘Yo, don’t even talk about it.’ But he’s been good, just talking and just encouraging everybody.”
Hield went on to say Butler was being properly vocal especially when Draymond Green picked up a technical foul something that Butler saw as a positive spark for the team. According to Hield, Butler made it clear that moment fired everyone up and really swung the game in their favour.
Since Butler arrived in a blockbuster trade back in February, he and Hield have been trading playful jabs non-stop. It’s become a regular bit between the two and it looks like it is here to stay for as long as the Warriors keep stacking up the wins.
The Warriors pulling off the victory without Butler in the lineup was impressive enough but with Curry delivering and Butler keeping spirits high even from the sidelines the good vibes seem to be just getting stronger in Golden State.