Warriors star Jimmy Butler out for season with torn ACL, team confirms
Warriors Jimmy Butler suffers injury. Jan. 19, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO - As feared, Warriors star Jimmy Butler will be out the remainder of the season due to a knee injury he suffered on Monday night against his former Miami team, Golden State announced on Tuesday.
What we know:
Butler, who underwent an MRI, tore his right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), according to the team, which said he will have surgery "at a to-be-determined date."
The Warriors forward was helped off the court at the 7:41 mark of the third quarter of a 135-112 victory against the Heat.
The crushing injury came moments after catching a pass in the paint. He went down hard and awkwardly following a collision with the Heat’s Davion Mitchell — who was called for a foul.
Butler’s knee buckled upon his landing and he grimaced and grabbed at his knee while down for a couple of minutes. He needed teammates Gary Payton II and Buddy Hield to escort him off the court and to the locker room after the fall on the Warriors’ offensive end. When he finally got up with assistance, he was unable to put any pressure on his knee.
"It’s something you hadn’t seen before, usually you expect him get up and even if he can’t finish the game just get off the sideline. I just told him to take his time and figure out what he needed in that moment," Stephen Curry said.
'True Jimmy fashion'
Despite the injury, Curry said, the injured teammate stayed true to his positive spirit as he praised Butler for his resilience.
"It’s kind of funny he was still cracking jokes over there while he was on the ground in true Jimmy fashion. He’s always going to have a good time no matter the situation is," Curry said. "I do love that perspective and that part of his personality, even in the worst of moment he’s still having a good time. He was trying to get to the free-throw line, he said it was two shots."
Dig deeper:
In just under 21 minutes, Butler had 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting, four assists and three rebounds. He is Golden State’s second-leading scorer behind Curry, having averaged 20.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists entering the week.
"He’s an alpha. He’s one of those guys in the league who everybody else in the gym knows that’s the guy," Coach Steve Kerr said. "He has that presence, but he also has that game where we can play through him possession after possession. So, assuming we’ll be without him for a little bit, we’re going to miss him, we’ve got a lot of players who can play and we’re showing our depth right now. We’ll just wait for the news to figure out what’s next."
Butler appeared in 38 games this season. Since the Warriors acquired the 15-year NBA veteran almost a year ago last February, the Warriors own a 50-29 record and have achieved a season high with six games above .500 at 25-19, the team said.
KTVU contributed to The Associated Press' story.