Warriors star Steph Curry made sure TNT analyst Charles Barkley properly respects Jimmy Butler’s talent.
Following the Warriors’ thrilling 95-85 Game 1 win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday at Toyota Center, Barkley asked Curry a question about Butler’s role with the team, to which the two-time NBA MVP had a quick rebuttal.
“Obviously, he’s a heck of a player,” Barkley said. “He’s giving you the ability to rest more. He’s not as great as you but he’s a really nice second closer to have on the team, correct?”
“Jimmy’s nice. Don’t get that twisted,” Curry retorted. “He’s carried teams to the Finals. The idea of what he brings to us is another guy who is just comfortable with the ball in his hands to create for himself and others, no matter what the situation is. You saw plenty times, he kind of made something out of nothing. He is a legitimate ballhandler, where we can give it to him in space, on the post, at the elbow, wherever and teams have to respect him. So if I can space and give him room and keep the defense honest, that helps. And we’ve had a really good chemistry since he’s been here.”
While the Warriors essentially have been playing playoff games for the last few weeks, they got their first official glimpse of Playoff Jimmy on Sunday night.
Butler scored 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting while adding seven rebounds, six assists and five steals, complementing Curry’s 31 points.
Curry and the Warriors know they added another true No. 1 superstar in Butler, even if Barkley doesn’t want to admit it.
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