Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry react to Jimmy Butler’s knee injury

SAN FRANCISCO– It’s going to be a long night for all involved Golden State Warriors while the team is waiting for the concrete Jimmy Butler injury update. The Golden State Warriors’ star forward left midway through the third quarter against the Miami Heat with a right knee injury after landing awkwardly on that leg.

Butler went up to catch the pass, and when he came down, his knee pulled inward, to which he immediately reacted with pain and fell to the hardwood. A hushed, horrified crowd at Chase Center watched as Warriors players pushed over Butler as he writhed in agony on the ground. Butler helped him into the dressing room by Buddy Hield, Gary Payton II and Jonathan Cumminga, with the 36-year-old unable to put weight on his right leg before play resumed.

after the game Steve Kerr Butler said undergo an MRI, with the team waiting with bated breath for the results.

“We’re all really worried, but we’ll know more after the MRI,” Kerr said. “They are all down because of the injury – they are waiting to hear the news.”

Butler had a history of injuries to the same knee — a torn meniscus in 2018 that cost him 17 games that season, and a sprained MCL in 2024 just before the playoffs that ended the season after the Celtics beat the Heat in five.

“You never like to see a situation like that, especially someone as tough as he is,” Stephen Curry he said after the game. “Pray for the best, obviously, with the scans and everything, and we’ll figure it out. But we hope he’s OK.”

According to ClutchPoints’ NBA insider Brett Siegel, sources within the organization declined to comment on Butler’s injury.

A player’s perspective on Butler’s injury from the field

Despite the scary injury, Butler seemed in good spirits immediately after descending.

“It’s kind of funny, he was still joking around there when he was on the ground,” Curry explained. “Tren in true Jimmy fashion. He always knows how to have a good time no matter the situation. I love that perspective and that part of his personality, even at his worst, he was still having a good time. He was trying to get to the free throw line. He said it was two shots.”

Hield, who helped Butler into the tunnel, where he was then wheeled away in a wheelchair, said “Jimmy was Jimmy,” keeping his spirits up during the long walk to the locker room. Hield expressed positive vibes and hope for Butler in his postgame presser.

“I think it’s going to be good,” Hield said. “We can’t talk like that right now; we have to keep his spirits up, you know? We don’t think negatively here. And whatever comes, he’s going to attack it.”

After Butler went down, the Warriors responded with a 12-0 run to take a significant lead on the Heat. And thanks to the hot shooting of Brandin Podziemski, who scored a team-high 24 points, the Warriors came away with their 12th win in 16 games.

Buddy Hield on Jimmy Butler and team spirit after knee injury while undergoing MRI:

“I know he was in a great mood on the pitch when he left. Hopefully it’s low-level, nothing too serious.”

Hield helped him into the tunnel. pic.twitter.com/bdGisiEMMD

— Kenzo Fukuda (@kenzofuku) January 20, 2026

What Butler’s injury means for the Warriors now and long term

Butler’s injury obviously casts a huge shadow over the Warriors’ free agency season. In 38 games this season, Butler is averaging 20.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists on 51.9% shooting and a team-high +185 cumulatively. plus/minus. Along with Curry, he has been the engine that drives the Golden State bus – especially whenever Curry is resting or not playing.

“He’s the alpha, you know?” Kerr said. “He’s one of those guys in the league that everybody else in the gym knows is the guy. And he has that presence, but he also has that game where we can play through him, possession after possession. And so, assuming we’re going to be without him for a while — we’re going to miss him.”

There is hope that Gui Santos will be able to return from a sprained ankle that has sidelined him for the last two games. And he’ll get a boost with De’Anthony Melton and Draymond Green he will likely return to the lineup in the next game. Kerr even said Jonathan Kuminga could get a little run, despite the young forward currently being banished to DNP-CD purgatory.

But the Warriors’ season is in jeopardy if Butler’s injury is the worst-case scenario. Their quest to get the last ring, already a herculean task, becomes almost impossible. Even if Butler’s injury isn’t as severe as feared, just trying to stay relevant will become a difficult trial in itself.

For now, all the Warriors can do is wait. Wait, hope and pray.

“Of course you guys want to know what happened to Jimmy, but I can’t tell you; he’s getting an MRI right now,” Hield said. We don’t know what the results will be. I hope it’s nothing serious, like I said before, but pray for the best, not the worst.”