Warriors React to Postgame Handshake Between LeBron James and Jimmy Butler…

It’s no secret LeBron James and Jimmy Butler have had several battles in the past. The two were on the opposite ends of the 2020 NBA Finals, when Butler was still with the Miami Heat. With that said, their handshake after the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors’ game on Thursday naturally drew plenty of attention. The Dubs visited James and the Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena in their final meeting before the regular season ends. Star guard Stephen Curry led the way for Golden State, exploding for 37 points to lead the Warriors to a 123-116 win. Butler, for his part, contributed 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals. On the Lakers’ side, James notched 33 points, five rebounds and nine assists in 40 minutes on the court. Austin Reaves added 31 points, while

Luka Doncic tallied 19 points, eight boards and seven dimes. After the match, the Dubs posted a video of James and Butler shaking hands and hugging it out on the court. The team captioned it with a handshake emoji, highlighting the respect that the two players showed. The game was the first time James faced a Warriors team with Butler in the lineup, so the moment between the two was definitely special. Right before the trade deadline this year, the Warriors acquired Butler from the Miami Heat in a five-team deal. In exchange for the All-Star wing, Golden State sent Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson and a protected first-round pick to the Heat. With both teams projected to make the playoffs this season, it will be interesting to see if they’ll meet again in the postseason.

NBA issues warning to Hield Morant…

Bahamian professional basketball player with the Golden State Warriors Chavano ‘Buddy’ Hield has avoided a significant setback when the National Basketball Association (NBA) decided on Thursday that it will not penalize Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant or Hield for hand gestures that can be construed as shooting a gun, as reported by multiple outlets.

Instead of any suspension or fine, the league decided to issue a warning to both teams and players. They were notified that the gesture is inappropriate and they are urged not to make those symbolic signs moving forward.

According to reports, the Grizzlies have been performing that gesture as a celebration all season long, and other players make similar gestures, especially after making a three-point shot. In the case of Morant, he has been suspended twice previously for showing a handgun on social media. He was banned eight games without pay in March 2023 for brandishing a firearm in an Instagram live video, and then missed the first 25 games of the 2023-24 season for conduct detrimental to the league after he brandished a firearm during an Instagram live stream on his friend’s account.

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For the duration of Hield’s career, he has stayed clear of disciplinary actions for something the league deems inappropriate and unacceptable.

As far as the game is concerned, the Warriors won 134-125 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee, on Tuesday.

At the time of the incident, Jimmy Butler had just made the second of two free throws to give the Warriors a 132-125 lead with 20.8 seconds left. As both teams headed to their respective benches after a Grizzlies’ timeout, Morant made the gesture at Golden State’s bench and Hield responded with a similar gesture. They were both given technical fouls.

After a meeting with NBA officials and both players and team representatives on Wednesday, it was decided not to penalize Morant and Hield.

“NBA issued warnings — no further penalties — to Grizzlies’ Ja Morant and Warriors’ Buddy Hield along with both teams for gestures on Tuesday night, sources tell ESPN. League ruled the celebrations were not intended to be violent in nature, but inappropriate and should refrain,” said NBA insider Shams Charania on X, formerly Twitter.

In the game in which the incident occurred, Warriors’ guard Stephen Curry went off for 52 points, including 12 three-pointers.

Morant had a side-high 36 points for the Grizzlies on 14-for-22 shooting from the field, 5-for-8 from deep. He added six assists, three rebounds, and two steals in a little over 33 minutes on the floor. Hield came off the bench and had eight points on 2-for-7 shooting from the field for the Warriors, with both shots from three-point land. He added three rebounds and a steal, but had a string of three straight double-digit scoring performances come to an end. Hield played a little over 20 minutes, and is averaging 11.3 points, primarily off the bench, while shooting 42 percent from the field and 37 percent from three-point range this season.

The Warriors (44-31) moved past the Grizzlies and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the standings in the Western Conference of the NBA. The Grizzlies and Timberwolves were tied for sixth in the west with identical 44-32 win/loss records going into last night’s games. At one point this season, the Warriors were in the 11th spot in the west with a 25-26 record, in danger of not even making the play-in tournament of the NBA playoffs.

Now, they are in prime position to advance to the playoffs and there is less than two weeks remaining in the season.

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