Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green and the bond that stabilized the Warriors - ESPN

AS JIMMY BUTLER boarded his first team flight with the Golden State Warriors the day before his Feb. 8 debut against the Chicago Bulls, he had something in his carry-on that he rarely travels without — his dominoes.

It's an integral part of some of his fondest memories with his late father, Jimmy Butler Jr., who died a year earlier. His father drove an 18-wheeler and spent long days on the road but still had time to introduce his son to the world of dominoes. He educated Butler on strategy, how to always pay attention to the surroundings and the opponents' tells, and most important of all, how to become a winner.

«It's funny because that's how me and my dad would hustle people,» Butler told ESPN. «We would play against some grown folks and they'll bet five dollars.… And my dad would be like, 'All right, I'll take my son.' And everybody would be like, 'Oh man, come on man! That's no challenge! We gonna beat up on y'all.' Sometimes we would lose, but majority of times we would win.»

Butler remembers how his father displayed the dominoes in the exact way they were during the previous defeat and explained his mistakes.

«His mind was so good with numbers and dominoes,» Butler said. «Like mine is now, which is definitely what I got from him.

»I'd be like, 'How the f--- would I remember what I did two hours ago [let alone two weeks ago]?' And he was like, 'If you'd been paying attention, this is what you should have done and then we can run the board and we can win.'"

Butler has transferred these same practices to the basketball court, watching everything from opponents' frustrations with their coach or a referee to their limps and winces that he can use to his advantage.

«It's from the person that made me Jimmy Butler III,»