Jimmy Butler Makes Bet With Draymond Green, Goes 16-For-16 From Free Throw Line
Oct 23, 2025
Before Jimmy Butler came over to the Golden State Warriors, there were concerns that his temperament would clash with the team’s strong personalities. In particular, there was no way for Warriors fans to tell if the fiery Draymond Green would explode upon interacting with the mercurial Butler.
Fast forward to the Warriors’ 2025 training camp. Butler, who apparently gets along well with his latest squad, had made an interesting bet with his buddy Green.
“It’s kind of a bad bet with Dray that I gotta shoot a better percentage than Number 30 on our team,” Butler told reporters after the Warriors’ 119-109 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night. Number 30, of course, is none other than Steph Curry, perhaps the most iconic shooter in the history of the NBA.
One reporter then asked Butler if he’s up to the challenge that he set for himself. “Yeah, I think I can,” the six-time All-Star responded. “I have to.”
Butler then pointed to two stats in the Warriors-Lakers game that showed he could put his money where his mouth is. First, he shot perfectly from the foul line in that game—16-for-16, to be exact. Meanwhile, “Number 30” went 8-for-8, meaning that Butler matched Curry’s flawless shooting clip while also doubling his teammate’s free-throw attempts.
In other words, there was a greater chance that Butler would mess up. But he didn’t.
The 6-foot-6 forward finished with 31 points, five rebounds, four assists, and one steal in the win against the Lakers. Butler led the Warriors in scoring, while Curry (23 points on 6-for-14 shooting) came in second. Curiously, just four players on the Golden State side took free throws in this game: Jonathan Kuminga and Draymond Green missed some bonus shots, while Butler and Curry had no misfires from the charity stripe.
Going perfect from the free-throw line on one night is one thing, but keeping up a top-notch percentage throughout the season is another. So far, so good for Butler, but he’ll have his work cut out for him if he is to do better than a career 91.2% free-throw shooter.
