JIMMY BUTLER WAS at a padel event in Marbella, Spain, when Jonathan Kuminga reached out in mid-September.

Butler had organized a player-led gathering to be held at his house in San Diego the following week. The veterans wanted everyone there, particularly Kuminga, who Butler planned to work with individually, believing in the human and the basketball talent.

"I f---ing love him," Butler told ESPN. "I know he has fans, but I'm his No. 1. Because he got all the tools to be great. Somebody just needs to show him how to utilize these tools."

Kuminga had called Butler to break the news that negotiations with the Warriors remained stalled . A contentious restricted free agency was bleeding toward training camp. He wouldn't be in San Diego. His relationship with the franchise was too sha

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