Jimmy Butler has loved his time in the Golden State after being traded to the Warriors from the Miami Heat at the 2024-25 NBA trade deadline in February.
The six-time NBA All-Star elaborated on his joyous Northern California experience in an exclusive interview for NBC Sports Bay Area’s “Dubs Talk” with Monte Poole and Raj Mathai.
Butler first discussed his strong connection with the Warriors and their fanbase.
“Besides the fact that everybody works so hard and is so humble around here, I think they just want to win — this organization, their fanbase and myself,” Butler told Mathai and Poole. “We all just want to win. We don’t care how we get there; we don’t care [about] what it takes; we just want to win.
“I’ve always been for that. And I’ll do whatever it takes, if we can just win.”
Golden State has run the league for the majority of Butler’s 15-year NBA career.
So, as someone who craves victory, it makes sense why Butler fits in with the Warriors and their proven winners such as Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Steve Kerr.
But that’s not all Butler has loved about his Bay Area journey. He also admires how grounded the region is in the present, day-to-day.
“Everybody’s like … here … in the present time,” Butler told Mathai and Poole. “You know, you’re in Miami, everybody’s down there for vacation, and then they leave, and then they come back, duh duh duh. Everybody here — [at] the games cheering, getting coffee, walking their dog, talking to everybody — they’re living in the moment. And they won’t let that moment pass them, which is a good thing.
“So when I get to walk around … I get to see people, and I get to talk — and they’re here; they’re in the moment. ‘How are you?’ … love that. I get to go to a coffee shop and sit down and have coffee, and we’re talking about whatever we’re talking about — that’s in the moment. That’s being here.”
Enjoying the Warriors’ passionate basketball atmosphere — and making fun of Buddy Hield — is just the surface for Butler.
At his core, he loves a good cup of coffee and engaging with authentic locals, which really makes the Bay the perfect place for the 36-year-old.
“That’s what it is about the Bay Area — everybody’s here.”
It is unknown whether Butler will one day finish his tenure with Golden State as an NBA champion. But he certainly appreciates the moment, as do his new neighbors.
Jonathan Kuminga’s tenure with the Warriors soon could come to an end.
Golden State’s young forward, who was a DNP-CD (Did Not Play — Coach’s Decision) in Sunday’s 123-91 win over the Chicago Bulls at United Center, has seen decreased playing time in recent weeks after a hot start to the 2025-26 NBA season, and could be traded soon.
ESPN’s Anthony Slater reported, citing league sources, in a story published Monday that the Warriors are expected to explore Kuminga’s trade market in the coming weeks, with the possibility of a split before the NBA’s Feb. 5 trade deadline remaining “strong.”
Kuminga spoke to reporters in the locker room after Sunday’s game, and was asked about his benching and if it’s something he expects to continue moving forward.
Here’s Jonathan Kuminga’s full five-minute postgame availability on his DNP
“We just switched certain things. That’s all.”
“I’m not really sure (how long it lasts), but as long as things are working out there and we winning, I don’t see the point of switching anything.” pic.twitter.com/Ug6MCHMNsd
“I’m not really sure [how long it lasts],” Kuminga said. “But as long as things are working out there and we winning, I don’t see the point of switching anything, changing. Whenever my number get called, I’ll be ready.”
“We’ve been doing good,” Kuminga said. “Things are working. So, I don’t see the point of taking certain people out of the rotation when we doing good, and things are going well.”
The 23-year-old also reiterated that he has no issues with coach Steve Kerr.
“We have a good relationship,” Kuminga said when asked about Kerr. “We talk and figure out things. We don’t have any problem. I don’t have any problem. Just didn’t go my way. I’m going to stay happy, stay locked in, stay focused, stay positive.”
“I don’t have any problems. I’m going to work out every day, stay ready, because you never know how these things works. I believe in my game and feel good about my game. I just got to be a professional. Things happen. It has happened before.”
Kuminga’s tumultuous restricted free agency over the summer came to an end when he signed a two-year, $46.8 million contract with Golden State on Sept. 30.
He turned heads in the first two weeks of the season, averaging 17.2 points with 7.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists in the first nine games before suffering bilateral knee tendonitis four games later in the Warriors’ win over the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 12 that sidelined him seven games.
Since his return to the court on Nov. 29 against the Pelicans, Kuminga is averaging 7.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2 assists per game in just 19 minutes on the court.
It remains to be seen if, or when, Kuminga will be traded, but the odds are appearing increasingly likely by the week.
SAN FRANCISCO – Considered by some the NBA’s most notorious burner of bridges, Jimmy Butler III says he is delighted to be in a region known for its bridges. And not because he has so many targets to set ablaze.
It’s because Butler senses the Golden State Warriors possess an unrelenting quest for victory that matches his own.
Though Butler did not say his previous stops within the league – Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat – were comfortable with losing, the insinuation is that non-basketball issues and less dedicated circumstances have rubbed him the wrong way.
“I’m always about winning, winning at all costs,” Butler tells NBC Sports Bay Area on the latest episode of the “Dubs Talk” podcast, which debuted Monday. “So, when it doesn’t stay about winning, it can become about many different things. If it ain’t about winning, I’m telling y’all right now, I’m not here for it.
“It’s got to be about winning. Everything we do, it’s got to be about winning.”
Consider that a warning. If things start getting political or subjective within the Warriors, or if they tolerate unseriousness on the roster, Butler might reach for his lighter and start scouting the Golden Gate.
Butler need not worry. All evidence seen and heard during the 15 years that Joe Lacob and Peter Guber have owned the Golden State franchise is that winning is both everything and the only thing. Consider, for example, their early moves, notably bringing in Jerry West and Rick Welts. And their wonderfully executed recruitment of Kevin Durant. And their investment in the cash cow that is Chase Center.
“We had to get better on the basketball court,” general manager Mike Dunleavy told NBC Sports Bay Area in March. “But we needed to get better, emotionally. We’d lost our way. And to be able to accomplish those two things, there’s not many players out there that can do that. And I felt like Jimmy was one of those guys. It’s tough in this league to make trades because there’s very few really good players that are available. And in this case, Jimmy was.”
Butler was available because, turned off by criticism of Heat shot-caller Pat Riley and the lack of a contract extension, he had burned his bridge in Miami. Butler twice led the Heat to the NBA Finals during his five-plus seasons in Miami. The epilogue to his fourth NBA team was a fourth bridge torching.
“If it’s about winning, if it’s about winning it – the championship – I’m all for it,” Butler says. “If it’s not, and there are any other agendas, y’all won’t like it. Because I don’t care. I’m literally just here to win. That’s it. I don’t care about anything else.”
The Warriors, with a disappointing xx-xx record (PLEASE UPDATE), are not meeting their standard. They also are not meeting Butler’s standard and goal. As it stands, he’s a six-time NBA All-Star and very probable Hall of Famer. What he is not is an NBA champion.
That is, as he says, why he is a Warrior. And, yes, he believes it is possible.
“(It’s) the practice,” Butler says. “The work that everybody’s putting in afterwards, and how they care about doing right. It doesn’t always go our way, and we make mistakes, but that’s just the game. That’s just human nature. Nobody’s perfect.
“But the intent is what really matters. If you’re trying to do right, you’re trying everything that you have to win, it’s going to work out more days than not. And I see that amongst our group. I see that in the coaches. They work relentlessly at trying to figure it out. And then we’ve got to go out there and we got to actually do it. But they’re putting us in all the correct situations.”
If there is anything Butler has more faith in than those in the locker room, it is those in the executive suites upstairs. It’s Dunleavy, Butler’s teammate for three seasons in Chicago, who has shown a willingness to make big moves. And it’s Lacob, whose ambition always operates at the speed of light.
Butler has bought into the ways of the Warriors, starting with those at the top. Andrew Wiggins, who went to Miami in the swap that brought Butler to the Bay, never wanted to leave, partly because he won a championship with Golden State and partly because he marveled at the “top-notch” management of the franchise.
Butler, in his 10th month as a Warrior, is in full agreement.
“They would do anything and everything for you to just make sure that you can compete at a high level – whatever it is,” he says. “When your kids are here, your kids are going to be well taken care of. My daughter got every allergy known to humankind, probably, and just to make sure that when she’s around, all her allergy needs or like taken care of goes a long way for me, goes a long way for anybody.
“. . . They have the most incredible people throughout this organization and it’s just always a good place to come into work. You want to be here. You’re smiling. You’re having fun. And then whenever you leave, you’re like, ‘OK, it’s a good day today at work. Can’t wait to go back tomorrow.’ That’s when I knew. I was like, ‘Yo, this place is legit.’ It’s special.”
A joyful Jimmy means the Bay Area bridges are safe, at least for now. But that winning thing, well, it has a lot of work ahead to start fulfilling the promise in which Butler believes.
LeBron James will turn 41 on 30 December [Reuters]
LeBron James and Luka Doncic scored 60 points between them to fire the Los Angeles Lakers to a 112-108 win against the Philadelphia 76ers.
James scored 29 points, along with seven rebounds and six assists, and 12 of his tally came in the fourth quarter.
The 76ers had levelled the match at 105 apiece with one minute and 29 seconds remaining before James scored five consecutive points as the Lakers went on to seal the victory.
Doncic had returned to the Lakers line-up having missed the previous two games in a run of three on the road following the birth of his child.
He registered a triple-double of 31 points - which was a game high - 15 rebounds and 11 assists.
"The end of a road trip, there can be a lot of tired legs," said James, who missed his side's previous game.
"I felt great. I had the opportunity with some pretty good legs to try to assert myself a little offensively."
Tyrese Maxey top scored for the 76ers with 28 points as team-mate Joel Embiid, who made just four of 21 shots, added 16 points.
The Lakers are second in the Western Conference, while the Philadelphia 76ers are seventh in the Eastern Conference.
Returning from a six-game road trip where they dropped two straight games before coming back to San Francisco, the Warriors laid an egg and wasted 38 points from Steph Curry to open a five-game homestand with a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 21.
Those five games where it felt like the Warriors needed to win four, ended with more losses (three) than wins (two). But there were plenty of signs of life in the finale, which wound up being a 12-point loss to the nearly unbeatable Oklahoma City Thunder. The Warriors found a new gear and scored 44 points in the third quarter against the Thunder. They even took the lead three and a half minutes into the fourth quarter.
The opening scenes to the Pat Spencer movie that is playing in front of our eyes began rolling in the second half of that loss to the Thunder when he scored 15 of his then new career-high 17 points. There was a bigger story to that loss, too.
Jimmy Butler did not play the entire second half, making the Warriors’ comeback attempt that much more impressive. An injured Butler also is a bigger deal than two positive quarters playing the best team in basketball. The Warriors already didn’t have Curry, who sustained a quad contusion two games prior in a bad loss to the Kevin Durant-less Houston Rockets.
Then it was Draymond Green’s turn to limp down the tunnel and back to the Warriors’ locker room in Philadelphia when his right foot/ankle was rolled on in the second quarter against the 76ers. Doomsday looked right around the corner for a team that went on the road with an 11-11 record and could have come home three games under .500 if a depleted Warriors squad dropped three straight.
That isn’t the story as the Warriors now have four days between their next game. The Warriors again responded to adversity by picking themselves up and fighting even harder, winning two of their three games on the road, and losing the other by one point in the final second.
“You can feel the energy,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Sunday night in Chicago. “We’re playing with a different level of energy the last few nights.”
Golden State’s battery pack has been on the back of the Wayne Gretzky of college lacrosse.
Spencer followed his huge game against the Thunder by scoring 16 points – 12 in the fourth quarter – with four rebounds and four assists in a 99-98 loss against the 76ers while letting the whole world know he is that motherf–ker. Kerr rewarded Spencer by giving him his first career start and he was even better, finishing with a new career-high 19 points – and another 12 in the fourth quarter – in a huge upset win against the Cleveland Cavaliers where the Warriors were without Curry, Butler and Green, and only had 10 healthy players.
That kind of performance brought Kerr and Gui Santos into the Pat “That Motherf–ker” Spencer lore at the postgame podium. Spencer started again Sunday in the Warriors’ 123-91 win against the Chicago Bulls where they never trailed and was a plus-30 in 27 minutes.
Everything about Spencer is what Kerr wants from his team regardless of status as a star, as a former top draft pick or as someone who has earned it all like his 29-year-old point guard on a two-way contract: Tough, fearless and ready to attack the moment.
The Warriors averaged 340 passes per game during their three-game road trip, increasing the number each game. Their goal always is at least 300. Spencer led the Warriors with total passes in all three games, averaging 58. Those kinds of numbers indicate the kind of offensive flow Kerr dreams of.
Same with the defensive stats the Warriors strung together in that span.
Defensively, the Warriors held their opponent to under 100 points in all three games on the road and have done so in four of their past five games in total. The 76ers, Cavs and Bulls averaged 94.7 points per game. Playing on a string, the Warriors’ defense held them 38.4-percent shooting and 25.8 percent from 3-point range.
“All in all, I think we’re finally starting to figure out who we are,” Butler said Sunday night. “It’s never too early to do that. It’s never too late either. So we just need to keep stringing these things together.”
Just like that, the Warriors have the third-best defensive rating in the NBA (110.7) after producing a 99.0 defensive rating on their 2-1 road trip.
They’re becoming healthier at the right time, and a handful of secondary players have newfound life. Butler returned Sunday from knee soreness after missing the last two games and was as good as always. He was a plus-29 in 29 minutes with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists, taking over and putting the game out of reach in the fourth quarter.
Resting Green and Horford on Sunday was considered precautionary. Both are expected to play Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves. So is Curry. De’Anthony Melton made his season debut from ACL surgery on Thursday in Philadelphia and needed two more hands to wipe the smile off his face after playing 21 minutes off the bench and scoring 14 points.
The Warriors are taking Monday and Tuesday off. They will then practice Wednesday and Thursday ahead of Friday’s game, and play six games over the next 20 days, as well as nine the rest of the calendar year.
Instead of dropping below .500, the Warriors now are one game above. At 13-12, the Warriors are the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference, making them four games back of the No. 4 seed and three back of the No. 6 seed.
Going on the road could have turned to catastrophe for the Warriors. The outcome was an identity being molded and momentum mounting with the hardest part of their schedule behind them.
“We’re starting to feel like the team we’re supposed to be,” Kerr said. “But we have to back that up and follow the momentum we have right now with a good stretch.”
Lakers star Lebron James controls the ball in front of Philadelphia's Dominick Barlow during the first half of the Lakers' 112-108 win Sunday. (Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
The Lakers superstar scored 10 consecutive points late in the fourth quarter to seal a 112-108 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, helping the Lakers (17-6) nab two wins out of their difficult three-game road trip.
Lakers star LeBron James dunks in front of Philadelphia's Joel Embiid, left, during the first half Sunday. (Chris Szagola / Associated Press)
After knocking down a 20-foot fadeaway over Quentin Grimes, James held both hands low to the ground, signaling “too small,” before placing an imaginary crown on his head and punctuating it with his signature silencer celebration. James, who sat out of the Lakers’ last game in Boston because of sciatica and left-foot joint arthritis, finished with 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists, including 12 points in the fourth quarter to hold off the 76ers. Philadelphia (16-7) came back from a 10-point deficit in the third quarter and tied the score with 1:28 remaining on a shot by Joel Embiid.
Luka Doncic returned from a two-game absence to record a 31-point, 15-rebound, 11-assist triple-double. Now a father of two daughters, Doncic rejoined the team in Philadelphia on Saturday after he and his fiancee welcomed their second child, Olivia.
Despite traveling from Slovenia, Doncic didn’t miss a beat Sunday. He scored five of the Lakers’ first seven points and took the most shot attempts of anyone on the Lakers. With 10 points, five rebounds and four assists in the first quarter, Doncic was already flirting with a triple-double after 12 minutes.
The Lakers erased a 10-point deficit in the first quarter only to find themselves down by 10 again in the second. After Austin Reaves hit a corner three — just his second basket after he missed his first eight attempts from the field — to bring the Lakers to within two points, the 76ers answered with a 10-2 run that pushed their lead back to 10 with 38.9 seconds remaining in the half.
Reaves, who was averaging 41 points a game without Doncic, had just 11 points. Deandre Ayton had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Knicks will find out the extend of Miles McBride’s ankle sprain on Monday. McBride underwent an X-ray on Sunday after hurting his ankle. It came back negative. He will get an MRI on Monday, which will give the Knicks and McBride a more definitive timeline on a potential return to the court.
It would be surprising if McBride plays on Tuesday against Toronto. After that game, the Knicks will either play on Saturday or on Sunday. So McBride will have some time to heal.
Any stretch without McBride will be tough for the Knicks.
The 25-year-old is averaging a career-high 12 points per game and is shooting better than 45 percent from beyond the arc.
The Knicks could lean more on Tyler Kolek during McBride’s absence. Maybe they go more point-guard-by-committee off the bench.
New York has had some experience in navigating injuries this season. Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby have missed multiple games due to injury. Same goes for Landry Shamet.
Mitchell Robinson has been held out the lineup for precautionary reasons. Karl-Anthony Towns missed Sunday’s win over Orlando with calf tightness.
Through it all, the Knicks have held up pretty well.
They’ve won 13 of 14 at home and are 16-7 overall. On Sunday, New York went to Ariel Hukporti and the second-year center delivered.
Hukporti had seven rebounds, three blocks, two assists and hit all four of his free throw attempts.
Mikal Bridges was impressed by Hukporti on Sunday, but he wasn’t surprised.
“It’s tough,” Bridges said. “We’ve got a lot of talent out there, a lot guys who can play, and one of those situations where we’ve got KAT, Mitch, Yabu (Geurschon Yabusele) can go small, so sometimes he might not get out there, but he’s definitely talented and smart enough to play, so every time he gets his opportunity he’s gonna do really well. Definitely a big game from him tonight.”
Hukporti earned Mike Brown’s Defensive Player of the Game after the win.
“He was really good with his vertically, he came up with four 50/50 balls,” Brown said. “And then he had a play in transition where he showed one of his superpowers, which is his speed. He raced down the end and got a block when he was completely out of the play.”
New York also got big performances from Anunoby and Bridges on Sunday. Anunoby hit five of his seven triple attempts and had seven rebounds and four steals. Bridges had seven assists and led a strong effort by New York’s defense.
Brown was asked after the game about All-Star candidacies for Bridges and Anunoby.
“I think both of those guys are deserving. OG probably hadn’t played enough games yet but Mikal’s numbers are out of the roof here,” Brown said. “Obviously, KAT, in my opinion, is a no-brainer. Jalen is a no-brainer. But for us, the way that we’ve been playing, especially with the record that we have, I think have to start looking at other guys on the team; this is not a two-man band here.
“We have other guys who have stepped up and are having career numbers in certain areas. So hopefully this year, everybody will see that it’s Kat, it’s Jalen, it’s Mikal, if OG gets enough games it could possibly be OG. But trying to get those guys in when they quote unquote may not look sexy all the time, is the right thing to do because they impact winning and their numbers speak for themselves.”
They may not be looking at the right numbers, though. Anunoby’s advanced stats and shooting are strong. But it’s difficult to fully quantify his impact on defense with a number.
“I think when people look at like a box score, they look at points, more usage, more points you score, and they think those guys are the All-Star players, but I don’t know,” Anunoby said. “Winning is what matters, so I think maybe one day it’ll come, hopefully.”
The Sixers came out on the wrong end of a back-and-forth tussle with the Lakers on Sunday night.
They fell to a 112-108 loss at Xfinity Mobile Arena, dropping to 13-10 on the season. Los Angeles improved to 17-6.
Tyrese Maxey had 28 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Luka Doncic posted a triple-double with 31 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists. LeBron James tallied 29 points on 12-for-17 shooting, seven rebounds and six assists.
The Sixers remained without Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee LCL sprain) and Trendon Watford (left adductor strain). Marcus Smart (left lumbar muscle strain) was the one player sidelined for the Lakers.
The Sixers won’t play again until they host the Pacers on Friday night. Here are observations on their loss to the Lakers:
Doncic drained a mid-range jumper for the game’s first basket and Maxey replied with a catch-and-shoot three-pointer. Maxey made his first four field goals and scored 10 first-quarter points.
He was quite comfortable with a quick pace in the early going. As a team, the Sixers had the sharper start. Paul George scored a transition layup, Maxey hit a pull-up three and the Sixers went up 19-9 on a pair of Dominick Barlow free throws.
Everyone on the floor seemed to begin the night with more intensity than they’d have for an average regular-season game. That included Maxey, who had a brief courtside chat with Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens, the ceremonial pregame bell ringer. Maxey was assessed a technical foul late in the first quarter for his animated disagreement with an official’s no-call.
The Sixers had a cold patch to close the first quarter and the Lakers made a run that featured James hammering in a powerful dunk. His slam caused a big pop of noise from the many Lakers fans on hand. Rui Hachimura’s corner three on the Lakers’ last play of the first tied the game at 30-all.
Nightmare Embiid shooting
Embiid was 2 for 15 from the floor through three quarters. That was initially 1 for 14, but he was retroactively credited for a tip-in late in the second quarter. His final numbers were 4 for 21.
For the most part, he took reasonable shots early in the game and got tough bounces on mid-range looks he often makes. Embiid did force up a couple of awkward leaners when he appeared to expect a foul call. He also settled for some jumpers early in the shot clock instead of putting greater pressure on the Lakers’ defense. Whatever he tried, his shooting touch was absent.
As the misses piled up, Embiid was exasperated. He stared at the ceiling and raised his arms in dismay after failing to hit a shot from just inside the foul line on the Sixers’ final possession of the second quarter.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves had similar struggles. Reaves, who entered the game averaging 29.2 points and shooting 52.5 percent from the field, opened 0 for 8. Maxey and the Sixers guarded him well.
Though Doncic didn’t have a great jump shooting start, he frustrated the Sixers with his typical foul drawing trickery. The five-time All-Star finished the evening 11 for 14 at the foul line.
James still clutch
The Sixers’ bench decisively outplayed the Lakers’ in the first half. At halftime, the Sixers’ second unit had an 18-2 scoring advantage.
Jabari Walker picked up where he left off Friday in the Sixers’ win over the Bucks, swishing a three on his first touch. Jared McCain made two long-range jumpers and a driving layup early in the second quarter.
To begin the second half, the Lakers’ starters were much stronger than the Sixers’. James drilled three jumpers early in the third quarter. Deandre Ayton’s alley-oop dunk gave L.A. a 68-67 lead.
The Sixers fell behind as many as 10 points late in the third quarter, but they eventually pushed back. VJ Edgecombe and Maxey sunk threes and the Sixers cut their deficit to 87-84 entering the fourth quarter.
The Lakers maintained a slim lead through much of the fourth and benefited from several Sixers defensive breakdowns. The Sixers defended gamely against the Lakers’ stars, but they had issues both communicating and fighting through screens.
James nailed two important jumpers to put the Lakers up 105-100. Embiid subbed in for his final stint with 3:23 to play.
The Sixers blitzed Doncic down the stretch and had success with that strategy. After he tossed a pass out of bounds, Embiid hit a mid-range jumper to even the game at 105 apiece.
James had more heroics left in the tank.
The 40-year-old superstar continued his late-game takeover by canning a contested three and a fadeaway mid-range bucket.
None of the jumpers the Sixers flung up in the last minute dropped until a desperate Maxey three with seven seconds left that cut the Lakers’ lead to 110-108. However, Doncic iced the game with a pair of free throws.
The Knicks (16-7) defeated the Orlando Magic (14-10) by a final score of 106-100 on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
Here are the key takeaways...
-- The Knicks were without Karl-Anthony Towns, as the big man was ruled out before tipoff due to calf tightness. Towns, who went for 35 points and 18 rebounds against Charlotte on Wednesday night, is the team’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, so the Knicks were obviously missing a very important piece.
With Towns out, Mitchell Robinson started alongside the usual starting group.
-- Franz Wagner, Orlando’s leading scorer on the season averaging 23.4 points per game, went down hard in the first quarter. On an alley-oop attempt, Wagner was fouled by Ariel Hukporti and landed awkwardly, appearing to injure his left knee or ankle. Wagner had to be helped to the locker room, putting no weight on his left leg.
The Knicks then suffered an injury scare of their own in the third quarter, when Miles McBride went down and ended up limping off the floor. Shortly after the game, the Knicks announced he hurt his left ankle and they would share more information on his status Monday. McBride, who has been an absolute spark for the Knicks this season, had four points and two assists in 21 minutes.
-- Coming off a 33-point night against Utah,Jalen Brunson led the charge for the Knicks once again. Playing at an MVP-level this season, Brunson had 16 points and five assists in the first quarter alone, attacking the rim and playing well in the mid range. The Knicks led by four points at the end of the first quarter. After getting a rest to start the quarter, Brunson ended up going scoreless in the second frame, as both teams dialed up their defense.
After a back-and-forth first half, the Knicks started the second half on a 9-0 run and went on to outscore the Magic 28-18 in the quarter, with Brunson scoring 10 points.
The All-Star guard finished with 30 points and nine assists.
-- OG Anunoby, playing in his second game back from injury, once again had his minutes limited. But when he was on the floor, he was in All-Star form, finishing with 21 points, seven rebounds, and three assists in just under 28 minutes. His fourth three of the game came early in the fourth quarter, pushing the Knicks' lead to 16 points. Anunoby was a difference-maker on both sides of the floor.
--The story of the game for Orlando, even before Wagner left the game, was attacking the Knicks in transition. Orlando players beat the Knicks down the floor after made baskets multiple times early on, but the Knicks' defense adjusted and stifled the Magic, holding them to 38.3 percent shooting on the game. Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane, Anthony Black, and Paolo Banchero all finished in double digits, but it wasn't enough.
-- With Towns out and Robinson dealing with some foul trouble, Josh Hart stepped up and was all over the glass. The veteran finished the game with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Hukporti also gave the Knicks some strong minutes off the bench, finishing with six points, seven rebounds, and three blocks.
-- The Knicks have now won eight of their last nine games, and are now 2.5 games behind Detroit for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Game MVP
Anunoby, whose two-way play, even in limited minutes, played a huge role in the New York victory.
The writing might have been on the wall, but it’s still wild to see.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr used 10 players in the first quarter Sunday against the Chicago Bulls. Jonathan Kuminga wasn’t one of them. Gary Payton II started the second quarter and made it 11 Warriors to see the floor, the same number that saw time in the first half. Kuminga still wasn’t one of them.
Kuminga rode the bench the entire second half, too. The 23-year-old who signed a two-year, $48.5 million contract in restricted free agency to return to the Warriors a day into training camp received his first healthy DNP-CD (Did Not Play — Coach’s Decision) of the 2025-26 NBA season in a 123-91 wire-to-wire road win against the Chicago Bulls.
“Just got to keep going, just like everybody else who’s in this position,” Kerr said after the game. “And it happens to everybody, pretty much, other than the stars. Guys come in and out of the rotation depending on who’s available, how the team’s playing.”
There were several factors that Kerr went into about why Kuminga was leapfrogged in the rotation Sunday. From a positional standpoint, he mentioned wanting to give more minutes to Gui Santos after the impact he made the previous two games. Santos was a plus-15 in 11 1/2 minutes on Thursday, and scored 14 points, including five clutch points in the fourth quarter, on Saturday.
Kerr did not elaborate about his conversation with Kuminga on his decision to keep him out of the rotation against the Bulls.
“All that stuff is private,” Kerr said.
Kuminga spoke with reporters in Chicago for a little more than five minutes after the Warriors’ win. There wasn’t any animosity towards Kerr. Kuminga chose a mature approach, saying “we don’t have any problems,” and noted that he’ll work every day to be ready for his next opportunity.
“As long as things are working out and we’re winning, I don’t see a point of switching anything or changing,” Kuminga said. “Whenever my number gets called, I’ll be ready. But I don’t see the point [of changing]. We’re doing good. We’ve been doing good, things are working really well.
“I don’t see a point of taking certain people out of the rotation when they’re playing well and things are going good right now. I don’t see a point.”
“We don’t have any problems.”
Jonathan Kuminga talks about his relationship with Steve Kerr, his mindset and more after not playing in the Warriors win in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/GoCec9xHt5
A numbers crunch was sure to come Sunday in Chicago. Along with the absence of Steph Curry, who didn’t join the team on the three-game road trip as he continues to rehab a quad contusion, the Warriors on Saturday also were without Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton and Seth Curry. Only 10 Warriors were healthy, and all 10 played.
Kuminga was one of them, and he was in the starting lineup after coming off the bench his previous four games. But he scored just four points on 1-of-10 shooting in 21 1/2 minutes. Kuminga missed his first seven shot attempts and was held scoreless in the first half.
“Some of the guys that played tonight aren’t going to play tomorrow,” Kerr said Saturday night after the Warriors’ short-handed win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. “That’s got to be OK. For them, for everybody. It’s what it takes to be a great team. You have to be able to sacrifice for the good of the group. Some nights are yours, some nights aren’t.
“Fortunately, we’ve got really good guys one our team and they’re committed to each other, and I feel confident going forward we’ll have a lot of guys who are going to contribute and every night will be a little different.”
Despite being extremely depleted, Warriors had their best feel-good win of the season Saturday by beating the Cavaliers on the road.
Then came the Warriors’ reinforcements. Butler and Melton returned Sunday against the Bulls. A healthy Seth Curry was back but also received a DNP-CD. His older brother is expected to return Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Chase Center, as are Green and Horford.
Kuminga played nine minutes and 18 seconds in the second half Saturday, and a lowly two and a half minutes in the fourth quarter. His role being reduced in the more important parts of the game has been a recent trend. He sat the entire fourth quarter of their 12-point loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, and again Thursday in their one-point last-second loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
As Kuminga watched the entire fourth quarter from the bench against the Thunder, his agent, Aaron Turner, posted his disapproval of Kerr’s decision on X. He also reposted somebody else who was against the decision as well.
Restricted free agency between Kuminga and the Warriors dragged to the very last minute. And it didn’t just affect him. The Warriors were stuck in limbo and weren’t signing other players until knowing what the final number on Kuminga’s contract was going to be. In the end, Kuminga came back, but not on the contract he expected going into the summer, and the final deal didn’t include his preferred player option.
Turner took a public approach to Kuminga’s restricted free agency and joined multiple outlets to speak on the situation, including NBC Sports Bay Area.
“Can he be the player he wants to be here, right now, with this roster composition? No. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to win and he’s not willing to sacrifice for the group,” Turner said to myself and Monte Poole on the “Dubs Talk” podcast in September.
Earlier that same day, Turner was on 95.7 The Game’s “Steiny & Guru” and hit on where things stood between Kuminga and his coach.
“The last point where we ended with Steve was, I can’t play this guy big minutes with what I have now. I don’t think that can’t evolve or can’t change but that’s where we are right now, until we see differently. That’s got to be the worst sales pitch to a 20-plus million dollar free agent in the history of basketball,” Turner said.
Kuminga began the 2025-26 NBA season doing all the things the Warriors asked from him and was a big reason why they started the campaign 4-1. The Warriors then went 2-5 over their next seven games, all with Kuminga in the starting lineup. He was dropped to a reserve role in San Antonio on Nov. 12 and left the game at halftime with knee soreness before missing the next seven to bilateral patellar tendonitis.
Before Sunday night’s DNP, Kuminga has played four games since returning from his knee issues and has averaged 7.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 30 percent from the field and 30.8 percent on 13 3-point attempts. Kuminga in those four games has as many turnovers (eight) as assists.
The Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline now is less than two months away. The first day Kuminga can be traded is Jan. 15, and Sunday’s healthy and loud DNP is the latest development in a rocky relationship.
Maybe it was knowledge that they would have Monday and Tuesday to themselves, but the Warriors on Sunday delivered one of their zestiest performances of the 2025-26 NBA season.
After an inspiring victory Saturday night in Cleveland, they floated into Chicago and cruised to a tip-to-buzzer 123-91 triumph over the Bulls at United Center. It was the first game this season where the Warriors led the entire contest.
The Warriors moved back above .500 (13-12) behind Jimmy Butler’s all-around play, with an efficient 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals.
Six other Warriors scored in double figures, led by Brandin Podziemski coming off the bench to put up a game-high 21 points. Quinten Post finished with 19, De’Anthony Melton had 13, Pat Spencer scored 12, with Moses Moody and Will Richard each totaling 11.
The Warriors poured in 22 3-pointers, the third time this season they’ve drained 20 or more in a game. They dominated the glass, outrebounding Chicago 51-38, more than offsetting the 21 points they gave the Bulls off 17 turnovers.
The Warriors, whose 25 games are tied for the league high, return home with an opportunity to get healthy and reset. Their next game is Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and that will the first of two games over a 10-day span.
Here are three observations from the finale of a three-game road swing through the Eastern Conference:
Jimmy Grabs His Cape
The Warriors maintained a double-digit lead from the final minutes of the first quarter, hiking the advantage as high as 24, before the Bulls rallied late, going on a 17-1 run to pull within eight (87-79) with 11: 24 remaining.
There was no Stephen Curry to stop the onslaught. There was no Draymond Green to cool Chicago’s offense. There was no Al Horford, either. All three were out with injuries.
To whom would the Warriors turn to restore order? Butler.
Clearly sensing a threat, he reached for his cape, scoring eight of his points during a 16-2 run that closed the door and pave the way for Golden State to outscore the Bulls 36-12 over the final 11 minutes.
Butler did so much work, so quickly, that he managed to post a plus-16 in five fourth-quarter minutes before taking a richly deserved seat with the Warriors up by 27 with a 6:31 to play.
Hello, Chicago!
After introducing themselves during the opening tip, the Warriors immediately made themselves at home inside the United Center, racing out to leads of 11-2, 23-10 and, by the end of the first quarter, 38-25.
Showing no ill effect from their late-night arrival from Cleveland, the Warriors made six of their first eight shots and nine of their first 12. They shot 68.2 percent in the quarter, including 61.5 from deep.
After losing the tip against Bulls big man Nikola Vučević, Post made three consecutive 3-pointers within the first five minutes to finish the quarter with nine points. Six different Warriors drained triples in the first 12 minutes.
In another show of early energy, Golden State outrebounded the Bulls 12-6 in the quarter and limited them to 44-percent shooting from the field, including 30 percent from beyond the arc.
Latest Chapter In The Book Of Kuminga
Eleven different Warriors participated in one of Golden State’s most decisive wins this season, and none of them was Jonathan Kuminga.
One night after making his first start in 25 days in a win over the Cavaliers in Cleveland, Kuminga never left the bench in Chicago. He was not listed on the injury report, so this DNP-CD makes a curious statement.
Kuminga, inconsistent all season, didn’t exactly help his cause in Cleveland. Making his first start since returning last Tuesday after missing seven games with an ankle sprain, he grabbed seven rebounds but scored only four points on 1-of-10 shooting from the field, including 0 of 3 from distance.
In the three games since his return, Kuminga is averaging 7.0 points per game, shooting 25 percent (8 of 32) from the field, including beyond the arc.
Though Kuminga won’t be trade eligible until Jan. 15, it will be very interesting to see how the Warriors manage him over the coming weeks.
Just as the Magic get Paolo Banchero back comes this potentially troubling news.
Orlando forward Franz Wagner left Sunday's game against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden after going to the ground when, on a first quarter transition opportunity, New York's Mitchell Robinson came in to block a pass to Wagner, and the German went to the ground and instantly grabbed his left knee. He stayed on the ground for a while before being helped back to the locker room by his brother, Mo Wagner.
Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner landed awkwardly and held his left knee in pain for a while. Wagner was helped to the locker room by his brother, Moe Wagner, and another Magic player. pic.twitter.com/x66iqwcPOU
The Magic only said that Wagner would not return to the game due to a "lower left leg injury" and "will be re-evaluated upon the team's return to Orlando."
Wagner had been playing at an All-Star level for the Magic, averaging 23.4 points and 6.2 rebounds a game, shooting 35.4% from 3-point range. He had been the best player on the team through the Magic's run of elite play in recent weeks.
Charania’s report came after Antetokounmpo appeared to have removed Bucks-related posts and mentions from his Instagram account.
Warriors icon Draymond Green discussed the situation and explained why Antetokounmpo would be a challenging player to center a possible trade around in the latest edition of his “Draymond Green Show” podcast.
“We all know that Giannis wants to compete at the highest level,” Green said. “A lot of people made a lot of noise about him deleting all Milwaukee Bucks references off of his Instagram account. If you’re Giannis and you’re trying to press the team to do something, those are the types of things that you would do in order to make the team realize, ‘I’m not happy … It’s going public now. Y’all better figure it out.’
“What I will say is, it’s not the easiest to trade someone that makes $50 million, because, in most cases, you usually have to depete your whole team, just to even make the salaries work; it limits the amount of teams that Giannis can go to. He’ll have a list of clubs that he’d be comfortable going to, that he’ll share with the team, and I think they’ll try to make it happen.”
Antetokounmpo is on the books for $54.13 million during the 2025-26 NBA season and is under contract through the 2027 campaign. As Green explained, that number isn’t easy to work with — or around.
The Warriors, for example, could offer the paint-dominant Antetokounmpo one of the more intriguing on-court fits across the league next to the floor-spacing Steph Curry. But considering Golden State already is paying Curry and Jimmy Butler over $50 million each, it would be extremely challenging to deal for Antetokounmpo.
However, the financials would be complex for most teams.
Antetokounmpo has spent his entire 13-year NBA career with the Bucks. But with Milwaukee sitting at 11th in the Eastern Conference as of Sunday afternoon, it’s clear the franchise is a shell of its 2021 finals-winning self.
Green believes the Bucks would “try” to fulfill a potential trade request from Antetokounmpo, should he desire an exit. Regardless, any potential deal involving the two-time NBA MVP would be a blockbuster.
Steph Curry’s return to the Warriors might be right around the corner.
Golden State’s superstar point guard, who has been sidelined five games (including Sunday vs. the Chicago Bulls) with a left quadriceps contusion sustained in the 104-100 loss to the Houston Rockets on Nov. 26, is progressing in his rehab and could return to game action later this week.
The Warriors provided an official update on Curry’s rehab on Sunday, stating that the 37-year-old is making “good progress” and has started individual on-court workouts in the Bay Area and could participate in segments of the team’s practice back home on Wednesday.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr shared a brief update on Curry prior to his team’s 99-94 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday and stated that Curry returning for Friday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Chase Center, which the team initially was targeting, still is realistic.
The Warriors are 2-2 in the four games Curry has missed with the quad injury, and with numerous other Golden State players dealing with injuries, the four days off after Sunday’s game come at a good time.
The murmurs surrounding a potential Giannis Antetokounmpo trade have heated up in recent days, which has naturally thrust the Knicks — now at 15-7 and winners of seven of their last 10 — into the rumor mill.
Despite having seven different champions in seven different seasons, one thing stayed constant about modern NBA champions: employing a generational superstar. Now while Jalen Brunson deserves every superlative in the book, including MVP candidate, Antetokounmpo is undoubtedly in another tier of greatness.
For reference, Giannis is averaging 29.9 points, 11.8 rebounds and six assists on 57.7 percent shooting from the field — over the last seven seasons. He was off to an even hotter start this year before injury.
He’s only five seasons removed from an NBA Championship and Finals MVP, and another year from back-to-back MVPs. He’d have more hardware if not for other rising stars and the Bucks roster slowly disintegrating around him.
So it’s easy to imagine this peak-Shaq-esque production in an improved context and not really gripe much about the cost. Care about losing Karl-Anthony Towns and you’re replacing him with an equally threatening scorer, care about losing OG Anunoby and you’ve replaced him with another Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner.
A Giannis trade will likely have to cost two of them or other key rotation pieces, along with draft capital, a predictable and necessary pill to swallow to pair him with Brunson. Doing so maximizes your championship ceiling, which has been the ultimate goal of the Leon Rose era in New York.
Concerns about filling out the rest of the roster can be addressed at the trade deadline and by calling on current fringe rotation guys to step up. Last year’s Thunder were an aberration with their impressive depth, built up by years of tanking and trading — most recent champs grinded it out with a core eight-man rotation.
Those worried about Antetokounmpo’s fit with a smaller guard after the Damian Lillard combination blew up should note that Brunson’s younger and much more adept at screening and being a threat off the ball. Lillard also needed a year to adjust to his new surroundings, and the Bucks went through a midseason firing trying to right the ship.
The Knicks have a far stronger foundation to build a winner around Brunson and Antetokounmpo, with even their ill-fitting assets being valuable enough to swap if need be. You can nitpick fit and asset management to death, or you can trade for a top-five talent in the league and live with the results.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) dribbles as New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) defends during the second half at Madison Square Garden / Vincent Carchietta - Imagn Images
The case against trading for Giannis
Unfortunately, the concerns with an Antetokounmpo fit are more than nitpicky. Almost any variation of this trade, save for moving Brunson, leaves more basketball questions than answers.
Dealing Towns leaves New York’s center rotation down to an ailing Mitchell Robinson, Ariel Hukporti and Trey Jemison III. Outside of the overall talent, none of them can space the floor for Antetokounmpo, a long-standing must out of his frontcourt mate.
Antetokounmpo never spent more time at the five than he had to in his youth, and likely won’t want to do it more now that he’s past 30. Assuming the trade is Towns and a wing, you could trade one of Josh Hart or Mikal Bridges for a five to help smooth out the starters, but it’s impossible to ignore how thin the rotation looks after all these moves.
If the Knicks deal “Wingstop” for Antetokounmpo and manage to keep Towns, they’ll be in a similar glut on the wing, forced to rely on Hart, their guards, potentially Kyle Kuzma, Mohamed Diawara and whatever a potential Robinson trade could bring. Even if that’s addressed, the on-court chemistry may take longer to materialize than people expect.
Towns hasn’t found his full rhythm in this Mike Brown offense yet. How would that go with a second alpha in front of him on the touch ladder? Defensively, would he still be able to anchor things come playoff time without the strong defensive depth once surrounding him on this team?
There’s also more to the Brunson-Antetokounmpo question than simply dismissing the Lillard situation at face. Antetokounmpo captured his title alongside two big guards in Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday that ran a ton of pick-and-roll with him as both handlers and screeners.
Even with his off-ball game, it’s not clear Brunson can replicate that formula, especially making the tough passes to Antetokounmpo when crowded on screens at his size. Those were also relatively low-usage guards that could defer to Giannis at any time, while Brunson, though flexible, primarily needs his hands on the ball.
Finally, the cost of the trade is going to eat the Knicks' present and future chances of winning, for only a small bump to their championship ceiling. The Spurs and anybody with a similar asset pile is ready to offer up the boat for Giannis, and to match New York will have to part with every remaining scrap of its draft capital and rotational depth.
You do that for a sure thing, and while Antetokounmpo is as close as you’re getting, he’s 31 years old with a battery of injuries down his resume and a ton of questions to answer once he arrives. This doesn’t even get to the opportunity cost of such a trade.
Right now, the Knicks are a favorite to get out of the East, and few of their counterparts have the juice for an Antetokounmpo trade. That means New York can stand by, count its wins, watch him likely leave the conference and only have to worry about a bunch of teams they’ve already bounced out of the playoffs in years prior.
Why sacrifice that, and this impressive core that’s coming together, in a midseason blockbuster trade? The Knicks are in contention mode, not desperation mode, and this move reeks more of the latter than the former.
