Warriors forward Jimmy Butler spent six seasons with the Miami Heat before an ugly breakup that saw him traded to Golden State in February 2025.
Despite leading the Heat to multiple NBA Finals appearances, the team felt it was best to bench him in favor of Haywood Highsmith last season. While that undoubtedly left a sour taste in his mouth, Butler suffering a torn ACL against them in January also appeared to add salt to his wound.
When attempting to persuade Florida native and World No. 4 tennis star Coco Gauff to become a Warriors fan, Butler cited the fact that the Heat “hurt” him as a key reason.
“The Heat hurt me,” Butler told Goff while attending the BNP Paribas Open. “I just want to say…Switch alliances and remember Steph [Curry], Steph is on my team now. So, everybody loves Steph.”
“Switch alliances! And remember, Steph. Everybody loves Steph.” — Jimmy Butler trying to get Coco Gauff to switch from a Heat fan to a Warriors fan https://t.co/QqA9eQBaBM
— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) March 9, 2026
After Goff admitted that she “loved” Curry, Butler made sure to let everyone within a shout’s distance that he converted her.
“Coco’s a Warriors fan! She said it! Coco loves the Warriors!”
Before going down with the knee injury, Butler was averaging 20.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.9 rebounds on 51.9-percent shooting from the field and 37.6-percent from deep.
And now when he returns for the Warriors, Butler might have a new fan in Goff.
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