Warriors veteran Jimmy Butler’s ACL injury coming vs. Heat labeled ‘karma’ by Nick Young

Former NBA guard Nick Young says Golden State Warriors Jimmy Butler’s season-ending right ACL injury against his former team, the Miami Heat, is karma for how things went down last season. Butler and the Heat went their separate ways weeks before his trade to the Warriors in 2025.

For Young, Butler’s disappointing season-ending right ACL injury against his former team is no coincidence, he said, per Gil’s Arena.

“Against your old team too. Somebody not living right. Somebody not living right man. Go pray. That’s just karma. I don’t want nobody to get hurt but that don’t rarely happen against your old team. Steve Kerr treating people bad over there. That’s tough man. I do wish him a speedy recovery but he ain’t gonna be speedy no more. That’s the last time he gonna be speedy.”

It’ll be interesting to see how the Warriors will approach this year’s trade deadline, following Jonathan Kuminga’s trade request, and now, Jimmy Butler’s season has come to an end. Nick Young Butler’s injury is a message from the basketball Gods.

Jimmy Butler’s injury amid Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga trade

The Warriors are reportedly still planing to trade Jonathan Kuminga, but the news of losing Jimmy Butler for the rest of the season does change things. Perhaps the Warriors will aim higher after losing Butler.

In the meantime, Kuminga will take on an increased role in Butler’s absence, as ESPN’s Shams Charania noted.

“The Warriors are back on the roller coaster that is their saga with Jonathan Kuminga, and whether they go all in again with Kuminga to see, can he play in the absence of Jimmy Butler? The focus is going to squarely be on him. He demanded a trade last week, the first day he was eligible to be traded on January 15. My sources tell me the relationship between him and Steve Kerr is fractured beyond repair,” Charania said at the 1:30 mark.

“Do you go back to Jonathan and coming in now, given the state in the relationship, or here in the immediate future, do you try to find a deal out there on the marketplace that can help the Warriors win and compete without Jimmy Butler? That’s a gaping hole for this team. So two teams that have interest in Jonathan Kuminga, the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings. So does a player say, DeMar DeRozan, does that fit the bill of what the warriors could need without Jimmy Butler?”

SportsCenter AM on the Golden State Warriors' crushing blow, a season-ending torn ACL for Jimmy Butler: pic.twitter.com/ZwVBCQsmuJ

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 20, 2026

The NBA trade deadline is February 5.

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