Head coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors looks on during the second half of a game against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center on Feb. 5, 2025, in Salt Lake City.
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The massive trade the Warriors orchestrated for Jimmy Butler on Wednesday night unfolded in real time just before Golden State was set to play against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City — and made for a surreal scene for the reporters covering the team.
On the “Warriors Plus-Minus” podcast, the Athletic’s Marcus Thompson asked his co-hosts, Athletic teammate Anthony Slater and San Francisco Standard columnist Tim Kawakami, to break down what the pregame atmosphere was like in the locker room for the Dubs.
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As Slater was out on the court watching warmups and working on breaking news of the trade, Kawakami was inside the locker room for the 30-minute window where the doors are open to media members. He called the scene “wild” as he broke down when he knew a trade was coming.
“I see Steph [Curry] go out for his workout, then I see him back in, and it’s like, ‘That’s different. I don’t normally see that,’” Kawakami recalled. “Then I see [Steve] Kerr in the weight room, which is off to the side, and he’s gathering people, and that’s different.”
Slater wasn’t in the locker room at the time but rather out on the court. While he watched Andrew Wiggins finish his warmup, he saw a Warriors staffer walk up to Wiggins and talk to the player who was about to be traded. Slater began to walk back to the locker room himself alongside Lindy Waters III when Kerr stepped out to grab Waters, which Slater said he “could tell” was about to be a message to Waters that he was being traded, too.
Once inside the locker room, Slater noticed Wiggins’ locker didn’t have a jersey hanging in it as Kerr grabbed Kyle Anderson for a chat. The veteran Warriors beat writer noticed one thing about Kerr.
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“This whole time, Tim, I’m sure you can attest, Steve Kerr is like distraught,” Slater said. “You can tell he’s like teary-eyed almost.”
The columnist also noticed people going over to Wiggins, who he said was sitting in the corner at his locker. To Kawakami, the sense of what was coming was apparent — and became clear once the Warriors asked media members to leave the locker room.
“That’s when we knew something large was happening — and clearly, it was not going to be a little thing,” Kawakami said. “It was going to be something relatively large. It was going to be multiple players traded.”
With the reporters waiting outside the locker room, Kawakami noted some Warriors personnel — including assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse — also waited outside the locker room, not wanting to interrupt the meeting. Once it concluded, the normal pregame routines were completely shot.
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“It was crazy. It lasted so long that Draymond, who usually warms up really late, tried to go out and warm up,” Slater said. “And I swear, he took like four shots and had to go back to the locker room because it was like 10 minutes to tip or something.”
Kawakami added that when Curry went back out after the meeting, he was “stony-faced” and could sense the emotional meeting that had just transpired. After the game, Kawakami asked Kerr if the coach was able to do any of the usual pregame routine and game-planning. Kerr said no. (Perhaps that played a role in the Warriors blowing an 11-point lead with three minutes left to the lowly Utah Jazz.)
They weren’t alone, either. Shortly after the trade deadline passed, ESPN reporter Ohm Youngmisuk went on “NBA Today” and discussed what he saw from inside the Warriors locker room, too.
“I’ve been covering the league since 1997. I’ve seen a lot of crazy things happen,” Youngmisuk said. “Nothing like last night.”
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Of course, both Kawakami and Slater also noted the chaotic evening disrupted their routines, too. Neither ate dinner.
This story has been updated.
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