Jimmy Butler is trending in the right direction to rejoin the Golden State Warriors on Monday night for the critical Game 4 of their first-round series against the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Butler is “doing everything in his power” to return for Game 4.
“He’s been doing treatment workouts on the court last 24 hours, and then today was a full participant at shoot around,” Charania reported on Monday’s “NBA Today” on ESPN. “I’m told the Warriors and Jimmy Butler are expecting him to make his return tonight in Game 4. The mobility is getting there for him.”
Butler sat out Game 3 as Charania reported on Saturday’s “NBA Countdown” that the Warriors star “was not moving well enough to play.”
The Warriors won Game 3 104-93 behind Stephen Curry‘s near triple-double and solid contributions from veterans Buddy Hield and Gary Payton II off the bench.
Butler sat on the bench and animatedly cheered and coached his teammates.
“But tonight, he does want to play,” Charania said of Butler. “The Warriors are expecting him and are optimistic that he will be able to play as they try to go up 3-1.”
Butler “looked great” at shootaround, Warriors rookie Quinten Post was quoted telling ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk, per SF Gate.
In two postseason games — Game 1 win vs. Rockets and Play-in overtime win vs. Grizzlies — for the Warriors before his injury in Game 2, Butler averaged 26.5 points on 52.5% field goal shooting, 8.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 5.0 steals in 46.0 minutes.
Butler had three points before leaving Game 2 with 1:51 left in the first quarter following a hard fall after he was undercut by Rockets guard Amen Thompson. The MRI result showed Butler suffered a deep glute muscle contusion.
‘Pray for the Bear’
Before Butler’s MRI result came back, his agent Bernie Lee sent a cryptic text to Andscape’s Marc Spears.
“Pray for the bear,” Spears said of Lee’s text message on “NBA Today” on Thursday, April 24.
“Bernie Lee, Jimmy Butler’s agent texts me saying, ‘Pray for the bear.’”@MarcJSpears says Jonathan Kuminga needs to be ready for Warriors-Rockets Game 3, but has “optimism” for Butler’s injury status 👀 pic.twitter.com/YvZbLL4gQS
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 24, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The “pray for the bear” phrase was a reference to the late Kobe Bryant’s defiant message when he tore his Achilles heel in 2013.
“If you see me in a fight with a bear, pray for the bear,” Bryant wrote at the time. “I’ve always loved that quote. That’s ‘Mamba Mentality’, we don’t quit. We don’t cower, we don’t run. We endure and conquer.”
Steph Curry: ‘We Need Jimmy’
Curry led the Warriors with 36 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in their Game 3 win without Butler. But Curry acknowledged they will need a healthy Butler to go deep in the playoffs.
“You’ve got one task,” Curry said of the Warriors finding a way to win without Butler. “Hopefully he’s back next game, or if he’s not, we can still play at a high level, we can win a tough, physical playoff game. I think we all know, we’re trying to win 14 more of these. We need Jimmy to do that.”
The Warriors are 23-7 with Butler since his Feb. 8 debut after arriving from Miami via trade.
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