Jimmy Butler might want to stick to playing basketball after his hilarious coaching debut during the Golden State Warriors’ 138-87 demolition of the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night.
The injured Warriors star, who is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in January, surprised his teammates by showing up in the same white pullover and black joggers worn by Steve Kerr and his coaching staff.
Butler even brought a clipboard, which he used to deliver some rather direct instructions to De’Anthony Melton.
After Melton twice drove into traffic instead of passing to an open Stephen Curry, Butler wrote a reminder on his clipboard telling him to get Curry the ball.
Melton wasn’t particularly impressed with his new coach.
“Man, nah, nah, nah. He gotta go home,” Melton told NBC Sports Bay Area. “The next time he do something like that, he gotta go back home or do something else. Because he trippin’.”
Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg revealed Butler had made his coaching philosophy pretty clear.
“All I learned is once you’re on the court with Steph, give Steph the ball,” Lendeborg said. “Just get the ball to Steph. That’s the most serious thing he said.”
Butler hadn’t told anyone about his plans, leaving Lendeborg confused when he spotted him alongside the coaching staff.
“I think it was during the first timeout. I was walking by, going to ask coach Frank (Vogel) a question and I see Jimmy. Like, what? What are you wearing?” Lendeborg chuckled. “I didn’t realize all the coaches wear the same thing until today.”
Even Kerr couldn’t resist poking fun at Butler’s new role.
“I thought he looked great. Really good-looking sweater,” Kerr said. “He said all the right things. Team fouls. How many team fouls we had. He was really acting the part. But I also realized he was mocking us, so it hurt a little bit.”
Despite Golden State cruising to a 51-point victory, Melton made it clear he wasn’t interested in seeing Butler return to the coaching staff.
“No. Just no,” Melton said with a laugh when asked about Butler’s coaching debut. “I think he just got fired today, which is actually crazy. I’m happy about that.”
READ MORE: Yaxel Lendeborg on Why Steph Curry’s Conditioning Is on Another Level