The Athletic has live coverage of the 2025 NBA trade deadline. 

SALT LAKE CITY — At some point in the last several days, Stephen Curry had a conversation with Kevin Durant that convinced him a reunion was extremely unlikely, no matter how much the Golden State Warriors ownership group and front office collectively “underestimated” Durant’s coldness toward a return, as one team source put it.

Eventually the decision-makers accepted the inevitable and pivoted their NBA trade deadline plans to Jimmy Butler. Bradley Beal’s no-trade clause locked the Phoenix Suns out of the Butler sweepstakes. That piece of unchanging information allowed general manager Mike Dunleavy, owner Joe Lacob and assistant general manager Kirk Lacob a level of patience, even while Butler postured about his lack of Warriors’ interest in hopes of a miracle in Phoenix, where a longer max extension awaited.

Butler and the Warriors can be viewed as backup plans for each other, a marriage of circumstance between two sides who desired — and probably still do desire — others. But they’re here now. The Warriors used their leverage as the Miami Heat’s best leftover suitor to flip Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schröder, Kyle Anderson and a 2025 top-10 protected first-rounder for Butler, in what they believe is a modest outgoing package for the Curry co-star they so desperately craved.

It was agreed upon in the early evening Wednesday, generating a tricky scene on the ground in Salt Lake City. Wiggins, warming up at half-speed with a spooked look, was stopped on his way back to the locker room for a conversation he’d been dreading. It was the first and toughest of four conversations coach Steve Kerr had with the four departing players. Kerr then gathered the entire team, kicked reporters out and had what Kevon Looney said was “up there” with the most emotional meetings he’s experienced in his decade with the Warriors.

“Wiggs is one of my favorite players I’ve ever coached,” Kerr said. “Just a beautiful soul. Just a wonderful human being. We don’t hang that banner in (2022) without him. Everything he brings every day, the laughter, the smile, the joy. I’m gonna miss him.”

But everything in this ruthless business moves swiftly. How quick? Curry said he’d already started thinking about the Butler fit while simultaneously playing Wednesday night’s game against the Jazz. At halftime, Curry grabbed his phone and sent Butler a welcome text. Butler quickly responded.

“It was a very pleasant message,” Curry said.

Curry and Kerr were kept aware but mostly outside of trade discussions the past week. They’ve had trepidations about the Butler idea. This was a decision orchestrated and executed by Dunleavy (a former Butler teammate in Chicago), Lacob and the front office. Nothing would’ve been done without at least a tepid green light from Curry — so you can bet he gave it — but Curry has never wanted to wield personnel power because, in part, how it would compromise his standing as a rock-solid teammate and leader.

“You knew all the talks that were going on in the last week,” Curry said. “But until the front office pulls the trigger, you don’t necessarily believe anything is going to happen.”

The Warriors are exchanging Wiggins for Butler at the top of their rotation. That turns a durable 3-and-D wing into a higher-usage, higher-upside scorer and tone-setter to take pressure off Curry. Schröder and Anderson were more ancillary players in a crowded rotation. The 2025 top-10 protected first-rounder was viewed as expendable, team sources said, considering the Warriors had scouted the draft and didn’t love the prospect pool in the late lottery and beyond.

So the riskiest part of this trade might’ve been the contractual aspect that bumped it across the finish line. The Warriors agreed to give Butler a two-year, $112 million extension. He declined his player option in the process. So it’s essentially an extra one-year, $58 million commitment to Butler for his age-37 season, lining his contract length up with Curry’s and Draymond Green’s.

That clouds Golden State’s future books, especially considering the looming restricted free agency for Jonathan Kuminga and the front office’s maintained desire, team sources said, to bring Kuminga back at what is expected to be a pricey figure.

But Butler clearly needed an extra level of security for this partnership to get off on the right foot. So the Warriors delivered it.

“Him signing an extension is big,” Curry said. “Knowing he’s committed for this next little run … I know there was a lot of drama down there (in Miami). Who really knows what the story is? We expect to have a motivated, committed Jimmy.

“I can put myself in his shoes. He’s been away from the game for a minute. He’s been frustrated for whatever reason. When you get into a situation that’s a fresh start, it establishes expectations that we’re all used to that we need to win. We all thrive off that energy. Doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy, doesn’t mean there won’t be challenges.”

Steph Curry on Jimmy Butler: “I know there was a lot of drama down there (in Miami). Who really knows what the story is. We expect to have a motivated, committed Jimmy.”

Curry text Butler at halftime tonight to welcome him. Butler text a “pleasant” message back. pic.twitter.com/w9deX8Ohdg

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) February 6, 2025

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The Warriors started to explore the feasibility of the Durant dream late last week and, in the process, Green’s name was floated. It’s plausible he would’ve been sent to Phoenix if some of the theoretical structures materialized. That possibility surfaced in one of The Athletic’s intel reports. Green said he never went to the front office for reassurance he’d stick around.

“No,” he told The Athletic late Wednesday night. “I always talk to Mike. But, no, what’s going to happen is going to happen. Ninety-five percent of the things you worry about never come true. If (I did get traded), then it just is what it is. My worries ain’t stopping it. So I wasn’t worried at all. I’ve been in a place of uncertainty overall. But what’s going to be is going to be. To sit and worry about it, this life is hard enough to worry about what you can’t control.”

With the Butler move and extension, lining up the contracts of all three of their signature players, the Warriors instead sent the opposite signal to Green. This is Dunleavy and Lacob committing to Curry, Green and Butler riding it out.

“One thousand percent,” Green said. “That’s the goal. That’s what they’ve done. We appreciate it.”

There will be immediate questions about how well Green and Butler will coexist. Green brushed it off.

“He win? I win? That’s the fit. Winners win,” Green said. “He’s a winner. Perennial All-Star. Tough as nails. Just f—ing get the job done however it needs to be done.”

Looney, one of the wisest and most respected voices in the Warriors’ locker room, expressed a belief that Butler would fit in well, delivering an ironic twist. Looney has had several conversations with Wiggins about Butler. Wiggins was his teammate in Minnesota and “swears by him,” Looney said.

“I’m super confident,” Looney said. “We’ve had a lot of different personalities, a lot of different guys. It usually works out. From the guys I’ve talked to, the guys who’ve played with him, Wiggs says he’s a great guy. From a player’s perspective, I heard he’s great. All the other stuff, the contract negotiations, you know how that goes. Team spins a narrative, media spins a narrative, player spins a narrative. I don’t want to get into all that. I know he’s a winner. If he cares about winning, he can fit in easy here.”

As for the fit next to Green, Looney has seen his controversial teammate get along with DeMarcus Cousins, Chris Paul, David West, Andre Iguodala and plenty of other teammates with large personalities.

“Guys like that who are dogs, alpha males, they respect other people like that,” Looney said. “They kind of stay out of each other’s way. Draymond is a great connector. He’s a great leader. He makes things happen on the floor and off the court.”

There’s also the on-court questions, which will begin to be answered in the coming days. The Butler trade is expected to be finalized on Thursday, and he is likely to join the team in Chicago before their Saturday night game against the Bulls. There was already talk in the postgame locker room about what type of lineups will work best, including a small-ball closing five that’ll have Curry, Butler, Kuminga and Green on the floor with either Buddy Hield, Moses Moody or Brandin Podziemski.

“It’ll look different than what we are used to,” Curry said. “He can play, I’m sure, a little bit of motion. But he’s a shot creator, a finisher, somebody you have to take into account where he is on the floor. He plays at his own speed. He can get to the foul line, takes advantage of matchups. He’s a competitor at the highest of high levels. I’m excited to see what it looks like. I’m going to watch a lot of Miami film to see some of the sets they like to run for him and what we can transition to our playbook.”

It could work. It could be the final nail in the coffin in a fading dynasty. But it does generate an extra bump of interest for a team that currently sits at 25-25 after 50 games.

“Biggest thing is just it creates expectations, which I love,” Curry said. “I want to be in that kind of environment, whether you get it done or not, that is meaningful basketball that we all love and thrive in. I think we’re all going to be up for the challenge.”

(Photo of Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

San José State University President Cynthia Teniente-Matson has addressed an investigation into the university by the U.S. Department of Education over its handling of a transgender volleyball player. 

SJSU will be investigated for potential Title IX violations over its handling of transgender athlete Blaire Fleming, the DOE told Fox News Digital earlier Thursday.

Teniente-Matson provided a statement to Fox News Digital saying the university is prepared to cooperate in the investigation. 

“San José State University is committed to ensuring that all of our students, including our student-athletes, are treated fairly, free from discrimination, and afforded the rights and protections granted under federal and state law, including privacy rights. 

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“We follow policies and regulations set forth by the California State University system and applicable law, and we recognize that, at times, these laws and policies may intersect in complex ways. In navigating these frameworks, our focus remains on upholding our responsibilities while supporting our students.

“Recently, we were notified that the U.S. Department of Education has initiated a directed investigation related to Title IX in light of President Trump’s executive order with respect to athletics participation. As with any federal inquiry, we will fully engage with the process, follow established procedures and remain transparent in our compliance with all applicable laws.

“While we adhere to legal and regulatory requirements, San José State will continue to act within our authority to uphold the values that define us as an institution. Our focus remains on our values, including fostering an environment that cultivates compassion, where every student has the opportunity to thrive. We remain steadfast in our role as a place of learning, respect and opportunity for all.”

WHO IS BLAIRE FLEMING? SJSU VOLLEYBALL PLAYER DOMINATING FEMALE RIVALS AND ENRAGING WOMEN’S RIGHTS GROUPS

Fleming played three seasons on the women’s team, from 2022-24, as one of the Mountain West’s top hitters, leading the team in kills. However, SJSU administrators allegedly withheld the truth about Fleming’s birth sex from other female players on the team, according to a lawsuit filed by 11 Mountain West volleyball players and a former SJSU assistant coach. 

Former Spartans co-captain Brooke Slusser leads that lawsuit and alleges San José State administrators and volleyball coach Todd Kress actively prevented her from knowing Fleming’s birth sex while assigning her to share bedrooms with the transgender athlete on most road trips during their first season together in 2023. 

The controversy involving Fleming prompted five of SJSU’s opponents in 2024 to forfeit a total of eight matches. The final forfeit was a Mountain West Tournament semifinal against Boise State, which had already forfeited twice to the Spartans in the regular season. 

That forfeit sent Fleming, Slusser and SJSU to the conference final, where they lost to Colorado State. The plaintiffs in Slusser’s lawsuit filed for an emergency injunction in November prior to the tournament in an attempt to have Fleming removed from competition and all losses by forfeit wiped from their opponents’ records. However, federal Judge Kato Crews, who was appointed by President Joe Biden in January 2024, ruled Fleming could play. 

The situation became so volatile the team needed regular police protection for its home and away matches. Slusser previously told Fox News Digital the experience was “traumatizing.”

“This season has been so traumatizing that I don’t even have a proudest moment,” Slusser said. 

Former San José State University assistant volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose, who was let go from the program, was suspended from the program Nov. 2 after she filed a Title IX complaint against the university regarding its alleged handling of the situation involving Fleming. The complaint included allegations that Fleming had conspired with an opponent to have former SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser hit in the face during a match in October. 

Batie-Smoose’s complaint alleges Fleming provided a scouting report to an opponent to ensure a Colorado State competitive advantage and allegedly established a plan to set up an opponent with a clear lane to spike Slusser in the face during a match.

Slusser was never spiked in the face during that match, but Colorado State did win in straight sets. 

A Mountain West investigation into Batie-Smoose’s allegations did not find sufficient evidence to discipline any player named in the allegations.

Slusser’s attorney, Bill Bock, later provided a statement to Fox News Digital insisting that the investigation had been “infected with bias.” 

“Because the MWC’s investigation was inadequate, and anything but thorough, and because the MWC’s close-out letter is riddled with errors, the undersigned is issuing this rebuttal and demands that the MWC immediately and publicly release: (1) the investigative report prepared by its investigator(s), and (2) all documents connected to the MWC’s claimed ‘thorough investigation’ and upon which the MWC’s decision not to proceed further was based,” Bock’s statement said.

Nearly every one of the players on SJSU’s 2024 team that has remaining NCAA eligibility has entered the NCAA transfer portal, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to prevent transgender athletes from competing in women’s and girls sports. The NCAA announced Thursday it is amending its gender eligibility policy to fall in line with Trump’s executive order. 

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

How is it that Ken Norton Jr. has skin in Super Bowl LIX? The former UCLA and NFL Hall of Fame linebacker and longtime NFL and college assistant coach has zero ties to the Kansas City Chiefs or Philadelphia Eagles.

But Norton holds the distinction of being the only NFL player to win three consecutive Super Bowls, starring for the Dallas Cowboys in 1993 and 1994 thumpings of the Buffalo Bills and for the San Francisco 49ers in their one-sided win over the San Diego Chargers in 1995.

The Chiefs are attempting to become the first team to win three Super Bowls in a row after defeating the Eagles in 2023 and the 49ers last year. So any Chiefs player on the roster for a third consecutive season would tie Norton’s record with a victory Sunday in New Orleans.

That would include the megastars in quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and defensive end Chris Jones, among others.

Winning three in a row didn’t seem so exceptional to Norton when he accomplished it. He was jubilant after his third Super Bowl title, feeling like he might continue winning forever.

“I can’t tell you how wonderful I feel,” he told The Times after Super Bowl XXIX. “I’ve got five fingers, so why stop at three?”

He did win another Super Bowl ring in 2014 as a member of the Seattle Seahawks coaching staff in a dominant 43-8 win over the Denver Broncos. He also won a college national championship as an assistant coach at USC in 2009 and nearly advanced to this year’s Super Bowl as an assistant with the Washington Commanders.

Norton became attuned to wins and losses at an early age as the son of heavyweight champion boxer Ken Norton Sr.

“All through the school life, if he won a fight, I was everybody’s friend and everybody wanted to know who I was,” Norton Jr. told ESPN in 2021. “But if he got knocked out or lost a fight, it was, ‘I hate that guy. Your dad sucks.’ Early on, going through grade school, your identity is kind of caught up in the wins and losses and your friends and things like that, so it becomes pretty tough.

“And it’s everybody. It’s the principal, it’s the teachers, it’s the kids that turn their back on you when it’s a loss and they’re hugging you when it’s a win. It’s a pretty strange way to go through it.”

Norton Sr. is remembered mostly for breaking the jaw of Muhammad Ali in a stunning upset in 1973 when his son was 7 years old. His career was bittersweet after two close losses to Ali — including a controversial decision in the rubber match — and a WBC title match loss to Larry Holmes in 1977 at Caesars Palace that Norton Jr. watched on television.

The 15th and final round was epic, with Norton Sr. and Holmes repeatedly pounding each other. Holmes won in a split decision to take Norton Sr.’s title. Norton Sr. had never allowed his son to watch him box, but witnessing his father’s courage on TV “was a turning point for me as a young man,” Norton Jr. told ESPN.

“I was searching for an identity and I found who I was by watching him fight that 15th round. It was a war. It’s one of the best rounds of all time. That round really showed me who he was and … it really made me understand the type of person I am and I have to be as I go into trying to make my way in life as far as my attitude, how I’m going to approach it, who I’m going to be and what my values are going to be.”

Norton Jr. grew up in Southern California, starred at Westchester High as a running back and linebacker and helped UCLA to four consecutive bowl victories from 1985-1988. He blossomed with the Cowboys after moving to middle linebacker in 1991, leading the team in tackles the following year in a season that culminated in a Super Bowl win, Norton Jr.’s first.

The third came with San Francisco, with whom he played the last seven years of his career. Then came a decorated next act as an assistant coach under Pete Carroll at USC and with the Seahawks, followed by stints with the Raiders, Seahawks (again) and a return to UCLA in 2022-2023 before leaving for the Commanders.

Norton Jr.’s career has been studded by showers of victories at nearly every turn. His signature accomplishment is winning three Super Bowl rings in a row, an accomplishment he might soon share with a host of Chiefs.

Mahomes, for one, is looking forward to the opportunity.

“It’ll be something I’ll look back at the end of my career, if we’re able to go out there and get that three-peat,” Mahomes said, “but at the same time, you just treat it as one season and one Super Bowl run, which is always hard to do.”