There was a period of time when Jimmy Butler played with the Miami Heat when he felt invincible.
He doesn’t feel that way any longer as the 2026-27 NBA season gets underway and Butler now plays for the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors start their season on Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers. They’ve still got Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, but they’re operating without Butler, at least for now.
The guy who seemed like he never had to come out of a game when he played in Miami now is going to miss a bunch more games as the Warriors try to make do without him.
Why Isn’t Jimmy Butler Playing Tonight?
Butler isn’t playing to open the season for the Warriors because he’s injured.
He tore his ACL in late January while playing, ironically, against the Heat.
Butler didn’t play the rest of the 2025-26 season after that injury.
How Long is Jimmy Butler Out?
Butler is likely going to miss the first few months of the new season, at the very least.
An ACL classically has a recovery time of a full year, although some players in recent years have come back sooner than that.
Still, Butler’s injury was late-January. A nine-month recovery would take him to late-October, and he doesn’t seem likely to be back close to that soon.
If Butler played while it was still 2026, that’d be at least a bit of a surprise.
This is what ESPN’s Anthony Slater wrote in an article before the season began:
“Butler could be back in the January-to-February range. Butler said the next step in his rehab is landing from a game speed-type jump without issue or concern.”
That’s a full year recovery for Butler. At his age, and with so much mileage on his legs, that probably makes sense.
When Do Heat Play Warriors?
The Heat and Warriors will play two games during the 2026-27 NBA season.
The first is when Miami goes to Golden State on Nov. 5. Butler isn’t going to be back for that one.
He’s got at least a chance at the second. Miami hosts the Warriors on Jan. 17.
Obviously, the Warriors won’t rush Butler back just to face his former team. But Heat fans would certainly enjoy the chance to be one of the first teams to welcome Butler back to the floor after his injury last season.
How Long is Jimmy Butler Out? Why Ex-Heat Star Isn’t Playing for Warriors