The Golden State Warriors forward who spent five-and-a-half seasons with the Heat, will return to Miami Tuesday for the first time since the early February trade shipped him out West. Speaking to reporters Saturday night after Golden State’s 124-115 loss against the Hawks, Butler opened up about the trade and his first game against his former team.
‘We was alright,’ Butler said of his tenure with the Heat. ‘We didn’t win nothing like we were supposed to. So, I don’t know, we made some cool runs. We had some fun. I think that’s all we did.’
Butler helped lead the Heat to a pair of NBA Finals appearances, one in 2020, in the season that was completed in Orlando because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the other in 2023. The Heat lost both, though Butler widely became a fan favorite during his time with the team.
Yet, the relationship soured this season, as Miami suspended Butler several times for ‘multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team.’ Upon being traded to the Warriors, Butler inked a two-year, $121 million extension with the Warriors.
‘Not really, don’t make no difference,’ Butler said when asked if he was curious about the reception he would receive at the Kaseya Center in Miami. ‘I’m a member of the Golden State Warriors. I love that fan base. They showed me a lot of love while I was there, but I’m here to win now. I’m on the opposing team.’
Butler, for his part, said he was approaching it as just ‘another game’ when he faces the Heat Tuesday. Yet, both teams are headed in opposite directions; since making the trade, the Warriors are 16-4 and the Heat are 4-17 over that span and currently on a 10-game losing streak.
‘Yeah, I was traded from there, yada, yada, yada,’ Butler said. ‘Yeah, it didn’t end the way that people wanted to, yada yada yada. But that’s so far behind me now. I don’t even think about it. I don’t pay attention to nothing except for the trajectory of this squad.’