Jimmy Butler III #10 of the Golden State Warriors attempts a shot against the Houston Rockets in Game One of the Western Conference First Round NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center on April 20, 2025 in Houston, Texas.

Alex Slitz/Getty Images

In his time as an NBA pundit, ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins has gone back-and-forth with his thoughts on the Warriors quite often — and made some infamous claims, too. After Golden State took Game 1 of the first round in Houston on Sunday night, Perkins is speaking like a big Warriors believer.

Perkins made a late-night appearance on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” after the 95-85 Warriors win and said he believes Golden State could “make a legit run to the NBA Finals” during this postseason. Of course, the former Warriors foe didn’t mention that he actually picked the Rockets to win Game 1 on social media just before tip-off. Whether Perkins or anyone else will ever call him out on this new contradiction will remain to be seen.

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But it’s clear the new-look Warriors, with Jimmy Butler in the fold alongside Steph Curry and Draymond Green, have impressed Perkins. He called them the second-best team in the West after they beat the Lakers a few weeks ago and doubled down on the praise for the Butler-Curry duo.

“Jimmy Butler is a Swiss Army knife, he’ll cut you everywhere but loose,” Perkins said. “And it’s not just from scoring, it’s from him going for the rebounds, getting the assists, getting the steals. All of a sudden, he has brought joy and life to Steph Curry and this Warriors organization, and all of a sudden, we see the Steph we’ve grown to love.”

He even said after Sunday’s game that he took the Warriors in the series against the Rockets in seven games and clearly seems to think they can win the next round against the Lakers-Wolves series winner, too. But he added a Thunder-based caveat at the very end, too.

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“This team can definitely make a run to the Finals,” Perkins said. “I’m not putting them up over OKC, but they are legit title contenders.”

April 21, 2025