Revealed: Jimmy Butler's strange pregame ritual

Jimmy Butler is not wired like the average NBA superstar. He prefers country music to hip-hop and is an ardent fan of tennis and soccer, two sports more associated with Europeans than Americans. 

The Warriors star also has a pregame ritual unlike any of his peers, as Brandin Podziemski, one of his new teammates, disclosed. In a recent interview with 95.7 The Game's "Willard and Dibs," Podz spilled the beans on a little-known fact about Butler.

"I think the biggest thing that stands out to me is he lights a candle in his locker — home or away," Podz said of Butler, via NBC Sports Bay Area. "I've never seen that before. I don't know if it's something spiritual or just a good luck thing, but he does that. I've never seen that. I saw it for the first time in Chicago when we were there, and I was like, 'Wow, this is different.' But, hey, it's working."

It certainly has been working. The Warriors are 15-2 since Butler arrived in San Francisco, jumping from the 10th to the sixth seed within a month. Since the All-Star break, the Warriors have ranked No. 2 in win/loss percentage (85.7 percent), No. 2 in defense, No. 4 in offense and No. 2 in net rating. Pre-All-Star break, they had the 17th-ranked offense in the league and struggled mightily in close games. 

A lot of those issues have been quelled since the arrival of Butler, who is averaging 17.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.2 steals in a Warriors jersey. Butler, along with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, makes the Warriors a legitimate title contender entering the playoffs.