Warriors prepare to go forward without Jimmy Butler after season-ending right knee injury

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors are still coming to terms with how dramatically their season changes after Jimmy Butler's season-ending right knee injury and how they must depend on their depth going forward without the do-everything guard.

An MRI exam late Monday after the injury revealed Butler tore the ACL in his right knee during the third quarter of a 135-112 victory earlier in the night against his former Miami team and will need surgery. He landed awkwardly moments after catching a pass in the paint following a collision with the Heat’s Davion Mitchell.

The 36-year-old Butler’s surgery date hadn't been set.

“Well, most of all just disappointed for Jimmy. He's having a great year. I felt like the last couple weeks he was really at the top of his game,” Kerr said before a home loss to Toronto on Tuesday. “So for him and for us obviously, for him individually, in the middle of a really great season with a lot of possibilities, a lot of excitement with the team the way was playing, I just feel terrible for him that he's going to miss the rest of the year. It's part of the game, I know, injuries are a part of it, but it hurts for sure.”

Butler’s knee buckled upon his landing and he screamed, grimaced and grabbed at his knee while down for a couple of minutes. He needed teammates Gary Payton II and Buddy Hield to escort him off the court to the locker room after the fall on the Warriors’ offensive end. When he finally got up with assistance, he was unable to put any pressure on his knee.

In just under 21 minutes, Butler had 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting, four assists and three rebounds. He was Golden State’s second-leading scorer this season behind Stephen Curry, having averaged 20 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists.

Golden State had won four straight games and 12 of 16 before falling 145-127 to the Raptors in the final game of its eight-game homestand. But the Warriors are only eighth in the Western Conference, leaving them work to do just to make the playoffs in Butler's absence.

Kerr plans to experiment with rotations and said Jonathan Kuminga “could be” part of the mix despite not playing in more than a month — 16 straight games since Dec. 18 and 19 of 20 overall. He believes Kuminga wants to play and be part of the team despite his recent request for a trade and all of the speculation about him being dealt before the deadline Feb. 5.

Kuminga checked into the game to start the second quarter to a warm ovation, then received more cheers when he went to the free throw line on the way to scoring 20 points in 21 minutes.

“He's been over four years so we’re comfortable with what he can do and how he might fit in,” Kerr said before the game.

General manager Mike Dunleavy said the timing of the injury allows the organization to consider options ahead of the deadline, sharing that “nothing's imminent” as far as trading Kuminga.

Dunleavy called it a "tough 24 hours here” seeing Butler go down — but the hope is he could return at some point around this time next season.

“He has meant so much to this organization since he got here. It's hard to believe he hasn't even been here a year, he's fit in so well,” Dunleavy said. "You hate it for him. The beat goes on, you've got to keep going and I think our team’s playing really good. We’ve been playing some good basketball. That’s the bright spot here. I don’t have a positive twist on the news, it’s not good. ACL injuries are not things that you can be positive about, but this will all come out well in the end and we’ll move forward.”

Kerr expects Al Horford and De'Anthony Melton will continue to play key roles.

“I think we have enough to compete. I think Al and Melt have given us a different dynamic, I think a lot of our young players — Quinten (Post), Will Richard — those guys are ready to contribute, they have contributed,” Kerr said. “We've got depth so we can keep this thing going. Obviously we will miss Jimmy. He's one of the best players in the league, you can't minimize that, trivialize it, but you play with who you have and I like who we have.”

Buddy Hield has been checking on his good friend Butler.

“Jimmy's being Jimmy, he's happy. Of course, injury, he wants to play, everybody wants him to play,” Hield said. “I text him, call him, he's in high spirits. For a person to be in that high spirits after an injury like that it just shows his character.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Golden State Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters before an NBA basketball game against the Toronto Raptors, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Golden State Warriors' Jimmy Butler III dunks in the first half of an NBA basketball game against Miami Heat in San Francisco on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III, middle, is helped up by teammates during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat in San Francisco, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III, middle, is helped off the floor by teammates during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat in San Francisco, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III, second from left, is helped off the floor by teammates during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat in San Francisco, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Golden State Warriors' Jimmy Butler III reacts to a basket and a foul in the first half of an NBA basketball game against Miami Heat in San Francisco on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, left, checks on forward Jimmy Butler III during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat in San Francisco, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The roar was deafening inside the train car as it hurtled off the tracks, then slid down a steep slope, ripping open its frame. And then, amid the twisted metal of the wreckage, the cries of the injured and the silence of the dead.

Surrounded by bodies after the train accident in southern Spain, one little girl somehow emerged virtually unscathed.

Newspaper La Vanguardia reported that a Civil Guard officer found her barefoot on the tracks after she escaped through a broken window.

Relative Juan Barroso told reporters the 6-year-old is in good health after receiving three stitches in her head at a hospital. The mayor of her family's village said he was finding a measure of solace in the fact this girl was out of harm's way.

“There are many people who are very sad for the victims of this terrible accident, but there were also many who survived, like the miracle of the girl who is safe,” Punta Umbria's Mayor José Carlos Hernández told reporters Tuesday after leading a minute of silence for the victims.

Among them were the girl's parents, brother and a cousin. At least 42 people were killed in the brutal accident that has shaken the nation and left the 6-year-old child an orphan.

Her family's last names are Zamorano Álvarez, the town hall said. but The Associated Press is not disclosing her first name.

Punta Umbria has declared three days of mourning for victims including the Zamorano Álvarez family. They were seated in the front carriages that bore the brunt of the impact when a train coming the opposite direction suddenly jumped its track for reasons still unknown.

Mayor Hernández said that the girl is now with her grandparents in a hotel in Cordoba, the nearest city to the crash.

“She has a tremendous family who will do what it takes for her to have a happy life,” the mayor said.

In this grab taken from video provided by Guardia Civil, rescue workers at the scene following a high-speed train collision, in Adamuz, Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (Guardia Civil via AP)

In this grab taken from video provided by Guardia Civil, rescue workers at the scene after a high speed train collision, in Adamuz, Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (Guardia Civil via AP)

Broken windows of a crashed train are photographed at the site of a train collision in Adamuz, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Guardia Civil officers collect evidence next to the wreckage of train cars involved in a collision in Adamuz, southern Spain, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Guardia Civil officers collect evidence next to the wreckage of train cars involved in a collision in Adamuz, southern Spain, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)