CHICAGO (AP) — Jimmy Butler drew the familiar “oohs” and “aahs” from the Chicago crowd when he cut backdoor for an alley-oop dunk in the opening minute.
He had enough left to take over during Golden State's decisive run with Stephen Curry on the sideline. If his debut with the Warriors is a sign of things to come, they sure will welcome it.
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Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler, left, arrives before an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler, left, arrives before an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler warms up before an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler, left, and guard Stephen Curry, right, warm up before an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler hangs from the rim after dunking during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, left, pats Warriors forward Jimmy Butler (10) on the back during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler (10) and guard Stephen Curry (30) shake hands after an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler (10) goes up to shoot during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Bulls guard Coby White, left, guards against Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler (10) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Butler had 25 points and four assists in his first game since a trade-deadline deal from Miami following a messy split with the Heat, helping the Warriors beat the Bulls 132-111 on Saturday night.
“He's a lion out there,” coach Steve Kerr said.
It was an emotional night for Butler.
The six-time All-Star's first game with his new team came exactly one year after the death of his father. He wore “Butler III” on the back of his jersey as a tribute to his dad and will continue to go by that “forever and ever.”
Butler's first game with the Warriors came in the city where he spent his first six seasons. On top of all that, he hadn't played since Jan. 2. The Heat suspended him three times last month, and he said he lost his joy for the game.
“I knew I was going somewhere, whether they were sending me to Flamengo down in Brazil,” he said, referring to the team in Brazil's premier league that he has said he will join after his NBA career. “But I'm glad that it is here. I am grateful to be able to play basketball for a top organization like this one."
Now, Butler gets a fresh start. In some ways, so do the Warriors.
Butler is looking for his first championship after leading Miami to two NBA Finals in six seasons. Golden State is trying to capture another one to go with the four titles it already has with Kerr, Curry and Draymond Green. The Warriors were 10th in the Western Conference at 26-26 following the win over Chicago.
“We need each other,” Kerr said.
The Warriors paid a big price for Butler, sending Andrew Wiggins to Miami as part of the five-team trade and signing their new star to a two-year, $113 million contract extension. But they see it as a worthwhile investment.
After all, Butler is one of the NBA's best two-way players, someone willing to do whatever is needed to win on a given night. In that sense, they see him as a perfect complement to Curry.
“They say opposites attract in a lot of ways in life,” Butler said. “I don't think I could be a better complement to him and vice versa. They're not leaving him ever. Probably two people would never leave him. There's so much space for everybody else. I get the easy job. I'm playing one-on-one or in so much space."
Before things turned sour with the Heat, Butler had plenty of big moments. He's Miami's regular-season leader with 13 triple-doubles and is eighth on the team’s lists of points, rebounds and assists. “Playoff Jimmy” was at his best when the games mattered most, ranking third on the Heat’s postseason scoring list and second behind only LeBron James in playoff points per game for Miami.
“Timing is everything in this league,” Kerr said. “I think we're getting Jimmy at the right time. His time in Miami expired. It ran out. You could feel it. They felt it, he felt it, so we're getting him at a time that's probably healthy for us and healthy for Jimmy.”
Butler hasn't practiced with the Warriors. He didn't participate in the morning shootaround, either, because some of the players involved in the trade had not passed their physicals.
Butler and the Warriors will need time to get used to each other. Kerr kept things simple for their first game together, giving him about three plays, but he showed his usual explosiveness, even if he was exhausted.
Butler had enough left to take over during a decisive 16-1 run that started late in the third. He scored the first seven points in the fourth, starting with a three-point play off an alley-oop dunk, with Curry on the sideline.
“The game is very, very simple here, and they make it so easy for me,” Butler said.
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Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler, left, arrives before an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler, left, arrives before an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler warms up before an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler, left, and guard Stephen Curry, right, warm up before an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler hangs from the rim after dunking during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, left, pats Warriors forward Jimmy Butler (10) on the back during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler (10) and guard Stephen Curry (30) shake hands after an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler (10) goes up to shoot during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Bulls guard Coby White, left, guards against Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler (10) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a Minneapolis driver on Wednesday during the Trump administration's latest immigration crackdown on a major American city — a shooting that federal officials said was an act of self-defense but that the mayor described as reckless and unnecessary.
The 37-year-old woman was shot in the head in front of a family member in a snowy residential neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, just a few blocks from some of the oldest immigrant markets and about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020.
Her killing after 9:30 a.m. was recorded on video by witnesses, and the shooting quickly drew a crowd of hundreds of angry protesters. By evening, hundreds were there for a vigil to mourn the death and urge the public to resist immigration enforcers.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, while visiting Texas, described the incident as an “act of domestic terrorism” carried out against ICE officers by a woman who “attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him.”
In a social media post, President Donald Trump made similar accusations against the woman and defended ICE’s work.
Hours later, at an evening news conference in Minnesota, Noem didn't back down, claiming the woman was part of a “mob of agitators.”
“Any loss of life is a tragedy, and I think all of us can agree that in this situation, it was preventable,” Noem said, adding that the FBI would investigate.
But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey blasted Noem's version of what happened as “garbage” and criticized the federal deployment of more than 2,000 officers to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul as part of the immigration crackdown.
“What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust,” Frey said, calling on the immigration agents to leave. “They’re ripping families apart. They’re sowing chaos on our streets, and in this case, quite literally killing people.”
“They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense. Having seen the video myself, I wanna tell everybody directly, that is bullshit,” the mayor said.
Frey said he had a message for ICE: "Get the f--- out of Minneapolis.”
Videos taken by bystanders with different vantage points and posted to social media show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward and a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots into the vehicle at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.
It was not clear from the videos if the vehicle made contact with the officer. The SUV then sped into two cars parked on a curb nearby before crashing to a stop. Witnesses screamed obscenities, expressing shock at what they’d seen. After the shooting, emergency medical technicians tried to administer aid to the woman.
“She was driving away and they killed her,” said resident Lynette Reini-Grandell, who was outdoors recording video on her phone.
The shooting marked a dramatic escalation of the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations in major cities under the Trump administration. The death of the Minneapolis driver, whose name wasn't immediately released, was at least the fifth linked to immigration crackdowns.
The Twin Cities have been on edge since DHS announced Tuesday that it had launched the operation, which is at least partly tied to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. Noem confirmed Wednesday that DHS had deployed more than 2,000 officers to the area and said they had already made “hundreds and hundreds” of arrests.
A large throng of protesters gathered at the scene after the shooting, where they vented their anger at the local and federal officers who were there, including Gregory Bovino, a senior U.S. Customs and Border Patrol official who has been the face of crackdowns in Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere.
In a scene that hearkened back to the Los Angeles and Chicago crackdowns, bystanders heckled the officers, chanting “Shame! Shame! Shame!” and “ICE out of Minnesota,” and blew whistles that have become ubiquitous during the operations.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he's prepared to deploy the National Guard if necessary. He said a family member of the driver was there to witness the killing, which he described as “predictable” and “avoidable." He also said like many, he was outraged by the shooting, but he called on people to keep protests peaceful.
“They want a show. We can’t give it to them. We cannot,” the governor said during a news conference. “If you protest and express your First Amendment rights, please do so peacefully, as you always do. We can’t give them what they want.”
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara briefly described the shooting to reporters but, unlike federal officials, gave no indication that the driver was trying to harm anyone.
“This woman was in her vehicle and was blocking the roadway on Portland Avenue. ... At some point a federal law enforcement officer approached her on foot and the vehicle began to drive off," the chief said. "At least two shots were fired. The vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway.”
There were calls on social media to prosecute the officer who shot the driver. Commissioner Bob Jacobson of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said state authorities would investigate the shooting with federal authorities.
“Keep in mind that this is an investigation that is also in its infancy. So any speculation about what has happened would be just that,” Jacobson told reporters.
The shooting happened in the district of Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, who called it “state violence,” not law enforcement.
For nearly a year, migrant rights advocates and neighborhood activists across the Twin Cities have been preparing to mobilize in the event of an immigration enforcement surge. From houses of worship to mobile home parks, they have set up very active online networks, scanned license plates for possible federal vehicles and bought whistles and other noisemaking devices to alert neighborhoods of any enforcement presence.
Dell'Orto reported from St. Paul, Minnesota. Associated Press reporters Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis, Ed White in Detroit, Valerie Gonzalez in Brownsville, Texas, and Mark Vancleave in Las Vegas contributed.
People protest as law enforcement officers attend to the scene of the shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
People protest as law enforcement officers attend to the scene of the shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
A bullet hole is seen in the windshield as law enforcement officers work the scene of a shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
People protest as law enforcement officers attend to the scene of the shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
Photographer King Demetrius Pendleton has his eyes flushed after being hit with chemical irritants in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Ben Hovland /Minnesota Public Radio via AP)
A bullet hole and blood stains are seen in a crashed vehicle on at the scene of a shooting in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Ben Hovland/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)
EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - People protest as law enforcement officers attend to the scene of the shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
A bullet hole is seen in the windshield as law enforcement officers work at the scene of a shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
Law enforcement officers attend to the scene of the shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
People protest as law enforcement officers attend to the scene of the shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
A bullet hole is seen in the windshield as law enforcement officers attend to the scene of the shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
Law enforcement officers attend to the scene of the shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
A bullet hole is seen in the windshield as law enforcement officers attend to the scene of the shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
FILE - Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appears before the House Committee on Homeland Security on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Federal law enforcement officers stand near a roadblock at Portland Avenue and East 32nd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, after reports of a shooting involving federal agents in Minneapolis, where immigration enforcement has been conducting a major crackdown. (AP Photo/Tim Sullivan)
Federal law enforcement officers stand near a roadblock at Portland Avenue and East 32nd Street, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, after reports of a shooting involving federal agents in Minneapolis, where immigration enforcement has been conducting a major crackdown. (AP Photo/Tim Sullivan)
