The death of Rasual Butler was felt throughout the league, and the Warriors were no exception.
Warriors forward David West was feeling it heavily Thursday.
Butler, 38, and his wife, R&B singer Leah LaBelle were killed Wednesday in a traffic accident in Southern California. The two had been special guests on Wests float during the Warriors championship parade last June.
We were really tight, West said. Just a tough loss, a good dude. He and his wife were good people and its just life.
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West, 36, and Butler were teammates in New Orleans from 2005-09 and were reunited in Indiana during the 2013-14 season.
In Indiana, we had a lot of stuff going on in that locker room. He was one of those guys that held that locker room together, West said. He just was a special kind of dude. Didnt have any enemies.
West described Butler as a sage in my ear, and said Butler was a big help last season, Wests first with the Warriors.
He would tell me to tighten up,' West said. During my first few games, he would call me and say tighten up, tighten up, yo. He was always in my corner.
Warriors forward Kevin Durant got know Butler during off-season pickup games in the Los Angeles Clippers practice facility in Southern California. Durant, then a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder, was struck by Butlers youthful exuberance.
His spirit was great, Durant said. His enthusiasm about the game at that age was kid-like.
Said West: He was so full of life. He lived life, he enjoyed life.