Jimmy Butler is locked up and prepares for its 15th NBA season, but not the way you might think.
The star of the Warriors recently involved in the rapidly growing sport of Padel, a racket sport played by two or four people in an enclosed court which combines elements of tennis and squash. Butler is the honorary president of Reserve Padel of the Cup Reserve, which is an annual Padel tournament in Spain.
But butler’s involvement in sport is not only for entertainment during the NBA’s off -season, because he explained how Padel really helped him become a better basketball player.
“I have to be better on the basketball field because of this, I mean that,” said Butler on Friday during an interview on the “power lunch” of CNBC from Spain. “Now, listen to me: I like to play so much different sports to train for the coming season. It is another. I would therefore like to say that my biggest investment is that I will somehow go better to basketball throughout me for myself.”
Interesting.
Butler was exchanged in the Warriors during the NBA trade deadline last February, and in 30 games with Golden State, he collected an average of 17.9 points out of 47.6% of the field shots, with 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.7 interceptions in 32.7 minutes.
It is not a secret either that Butler relaunched the hopes of the warriors of the playoffs, while the team posted a record of 23-7 with the six times NBA All-Star in the alignment.
But now, he does everything he can to get involved with the Warriors in his first full season with the organization, which apparently includes Padel, because he also explained how sport could help improve his creek skills.
“Coordination of a look, reflexes, be able to rotate when a ball comes out of the wall,” said Butler. “The whole movement. All the packaging you make. Seeing these guys sweat is super incredible. I don’t know if I have it in me to do it any straight sets, I will not lie to you. But it looks exhausting and it can certainly help on a basketball floor, I promise you.”
Getting involved in any parascultural physical activity always presents the risk of potential injury.
And at 36, Butler cannot take this risk because the Warriors try to go there on their winning-time mantra.
But Butler takes appropriate precautions with Padel.
“Yeah, of course. I’m not going very strong,” said Butler. “I do not know the ins and outs of the game like these pros that I have the opportunity to be there. Yes, I play, but I will not go everything.
“But I like to pretend that I am a pro. I would like to think that very soon, I will be classified n ° 1 in the world.”
The Warriors will need this confident state of mind to translate from the Padel court to hardwood with the opening of the NBA 2025-26 season to about a month.
