Stephen Curry Had Cold Reaction to Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler's Season-Long Bet

Stephen Curry had 23 points in the Warriors' win over the Lakers.
Stephen Curry had 23 points in the Warriors' win over the Lakers. / William Liang-Imagn Images

Stephen Curry and the Warriors opened their season with a 119-109 win over Luka Doncic and the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday night that was sealed by vintage long three-pointer by the future Hall of Fame shooting guard.

Jimmy Butler, who is playing in his first full season with Golden State, led the Warriors with 31 points and made all 16 free throws that he attempted.

After the game Butler shared a little season-long bet he has going with teammate Draymond Green. That wager? That he can finish the year with a higher free-throw percentage than Curry, who led the league last year by making 93.3% of his freebies.

Butler revealed that bet during his postgame press conference, which led to some chuckles from the media members in the room.

"I don't think it's a bad bet, but it's kind of a bet bet, with Dray that I've got to shoot a better percentage than No. 30 on our team."

When asked if he thought he could win the bet, Butler said: "Of course I think I can. I'm going to have to."

Curry, who didn't know about the bet until hearing about it after the game, had a priceless reaction to it, saying Butler had "no chance" of beating him.

Butler hit 87% of his free throws last year and has hit an average of 84% of them for his career, so he has some work to do if he wants to win this bet with Green.

The Warriors will be back in action Thursday night when they host the Nuggets. All eyes will be on Butler when he goes to free throw line.


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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.