Jimmy Butler failed to carry the Golden State Warriors during the second round and Carmelo Anthony explains the reason behind it.
The Golden State Warriors’ 2025 NBA Playoffs journey came to an end at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second round.
Although the Warriors were the lower seed, fans expected a better result than a 4-1 series defeat from the franchise.
A huge surprise was the lack of aggressive basketball from superstar Jimmy Butler in Stephen Curry’s absence. The 4x NBA champ played in just 13 minutes as he missed Games 2 through 5 due to a hamstring injury.
Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty ImagesCarmelo Anthony on Jimmy Butler’s failure without Stephen Curry
For what it’s worth, the Warriors may not have even made it to the playoffs if it weren’t for the blockbuster Butler trade.
The organization went 23-8 after the trade, but come playoff time, Butler never looked comfortable. Former NBA star Carmelo Anthony shared his opinion on it during the recent episode of the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast.
“When you first get to the team, you have this level of excitement and adrenaline, and like everybody’s excited and it just gets going.
“But when the s___ dies down and settles in, when the house settles in, and now we got to make this playoff run, the excitement is there, the adrenaline is there, but now, you don’t know how Steph Curry operates at that level,” Melo said.
He added: “So the more Steph Curry digs into that well, and you don’t have that experience of Steph digging in that deeper into that well and what happens with that.”
In simple terms, Anthony blames the early exit on the Warriors’ strategy being tailor-made around Curry during the playoffs.
Butler failed in a system made for Curry
Head coach Steve Kerr and Steph Curry have helped the Warriors win four NBA Championships. Evidently, they have a system that has worked in the past.
But what happens when the core of that system gets injured? Well, what happened to Butler is the answer.
“The time period was short, I would say. I’ll give them that. They made a hell of a move. They tried it. We probably would still be talking about them if Steph is not hurt,” Anthony continued.
Melo further stated: “We’ve seen Jimmy at the height of what he can do, his possibilities, his talents, his will to win. But when you implement that to a system that’s a dynasty, and they have the way they play, and no matter what, you have to find your way.
“And that’s not what you do. You don’t shoot threes. You don’t play like that. So now, that level of comfort starts to change.”
In four games without Curry, Butler had just a single 30-plus point game. He failed to breach the 20-point mark in the rest of them.
It was obvious that Butler was struggling in the Warriors’ offense as he also attempted less than 15 field goals in three out of four defeats in the second round.