{"id":554912,"date":"2026-01-23T06:23:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T06:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/554912\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T06:23:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T06:23:30","slug":"steph-curry-doesnt-want-to-get-existential-on-warriors-post-jimmy-butler-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/554912\/","title":{"rendered":"Steph Curry doesn\u2019t want to get \u2018existential\u2019 on Warriors\u2019 post-Jimmy Butler future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section 415 email newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to the Section 415 podcast wherever you listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

DALLAS \u2014 Jimmy Butler\u2019s season-ending torn ACL threw the Warriors\u2019 season into disarray. Although head coach Steve Kerr and general manager Mike Dunleavy believe this current group is better equipped to compete without Butler than the team was last year before acquiring Butler, Golden State is in a similar position. <\/p>\n

And last season, before acquiring Butler, Steph Curry was vocal about how unwise it would be to make \u201cdesperate moves that deplete the future.\u201d <\/p>\n

Asked after Thursday night\u2019s 123-115 loss to the Mavericks, Curry declined to share his thoughts on the direction of the franchise in the wake of Butler\u2019s injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not talking about that right now,\u201d Curry said. \u201cWe\u2019re just trying to win a game on the road. Lot of time before [Feb. 5], there\u2019s a lot of time before the playoffs. Don\u2019t need any existential thoughts right now.\u201d <\/p>\n

Curry scored 38 points on 27 shots in the Warriors\u2019 loss, shouldering an increased offensive responsibility without his running mate. <\/p>\n

Before Butler\u2019s injury, the Warriors had won 12 of 16 games, generating momentum leading up to the Feb. 5 trade deadline. It\u2019s unclear exactly how Butler\u2019s injury will impact the front office\u2019s approach ahead of the deadline. <\/p>\n

Kerr\u2019s pregame message to the team centered around re-energizing and re-focusing on the court without Butler. It also involved how he plans to experiment with lineup changes, a necessary action after losing such an important piece. <\/p>\n

1 day ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

6 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Tuesday, Jan. 13<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Golden State started Draymond Green at center against Dallas in an effort to open up the floor more for Curry. Green struggled, registering a -15 plus-minus and fouling out late. <\/p>\n

Kerr also kept Jonathan Kuminga in the rotation, a change that took place in the Warriors\u2019 first game after Butler\u2019s season-ending injury. Kuminga looked excellent in the first half, scoring 10 points in his first nine minutes, including two and-1s. He was perfect from the field and foul line, but twisted his left ankle on a breakaway \u2014 a play that also banged up his left knee. <\/p>\n

Kuminga will likely get an MRI in Minneapolis on Friday, Kerr said. <\/p>\n

\u201cSuch a shame, he was playing great,\u201d Kerr said of Kuminga, who has scored 30 points in as many minutes over the past two games. \u201cThat definitely hurt as well, not having him available for the second half.\u201d <\/p>\n

Kuminga was in line to be a major factor in replacing Butler\u2019s scoring output. His absence could make adjusting to life without Butler even more challenging. <\/p>\n

\u201cObviously a tough situation,\u201d Curry said of Butler. \u201cFirst and foremost, you think about him and his recovery, his spirits. Just try to be there for him as a friend and teammate. Basketball wise, we have to make the necessary adjustments and try to keep a semblance of the identity we were forming with him as part of that push. These last two games have been difficult in making that adjustment, but emotionally, we have to kind of move on as fast as possible to not let things spiral in the wrong direction.\u201d <\/p>\n

Kerr said Curry is \u201ccrushed\u201d about Butler\u2019s injury, which will require surgery on a to-be-determined date. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe knows what it means to our team,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cAnd that part really hurts him. But he\u2019s still going to go play and enjoy the game and enjoy his life, because he\u2019s got it all figured out.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Warriors are 0-2 since Butler\u2019s injury. They\u2019re 25-21 \u2014 safely in the play-in picture and three games out of sixth place. <\/p>\n

Kerr and Dunleavy each mentioned the presences of Al Horford and De\u2019Anthony Melton, as well as developments from Brandin Podziemski, Quinten Post, and Moses Moody as reasons why this group can compete even without their six-time All-Star. <\/p>\n

Curry cited a different reason. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as I\u2019m out there, I\u2019m always confident we can win,\u201d Curry said. \u201cAnd until proven otherwise, you have to carry that mentality. It\u2019s what this league requires. It\u2019s not really fair to try to project too far down the road, because we have work to do right now to answer the call of what this team, without Jimmy, needs to do to win.\u201d <\/p>\n

Even if everything is on the table<\/a> for the Warriors\u2019 front office, the team is focused on finding solutions on the court to win games. That\u2019ll require limiting turnovers, increased energy, a more focused defense, and an uptick in scoring production from players like Podziemski, Moody, and Melton. <\/p>\n

It also probably calls for staying in the moment instead of thinking ahead. Getting existential probably isn\u2019t productive, even if it might be pragmatic. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo secret, it\u2019s difficult for everybody trying to accept the reality of what\u2019s going on,\u201d Curry said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554913,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3786],"tags":[7,479,164,4025,4024,6,66,932,255],"class_list":{"0":"post-554912","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golden-state-warriors","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-golden-state","10":"tag-golden-state-warriors","11":"tag-goldenstate","12":"tag-goldenstatewarriors","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-steph-curry","16":"tag-warriors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115942982739313405","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}