Lamont Butler continues to play through the pain for Kentucky: 'It's a miracle that he's on the court.'

Immediately after Kentucky’s first-round NCAA Tournament win over Troy, Mark Pope joked with CBS sideline reporter Lauren Shehadi that starting point guard Lamont Butler‘s arms are “hanging on by a thread” and that they’re “actually taped together” just so he could suit up and play for the Wildcats.

The fact that Butler, who has been dealing with a nagging shoulder injury for well over two months now, continues to take the floor tells us everything we need to know (and probably already did know) about the veteran floor general. Someone will have to physically chop off his shoulder to keep him from playing.

“I’m telling you, it’s a miracle that he’s on the court,” Pope told Tom Leach on UK’s postgame radio show. “So he hasn’t had a single live rep — in fact, he didn’t even really run at all full speed until yesterday and hasn’t had a single live contact rep.

“He just wants to badly to be out there and help us, and the good thing is we made it through today. He’ll be much more comfortable just having been on the court and live play, he’ll be much more comfortable two nights from now. It’s really hard to do this without him. He’s making the ultimate sacrifice for his team and I’m really proud of him.”

Lamont Butler: “I made it through.” pic.twitter.com/qO8P8MdGrJ

— Aaron Gershon (@agershon99) March 22, 2025

Butler, who continues to wear a giant brace on his left shoulder, has missed eight total games this season for Kentucky. He saw less than 10 minutes of action last Thursday in the Wildcats’ SEC Tournament win over Oklahoma before appearing to reinjure his shoulder and leaving the game for good. Pope clarified the injury, still in Butler’s left shoulder, was different than the old one though and expressed optimism he’d be able to return for the NCAA Tournament.

With over a full week off to heal up, Butler was able to take the floor in Kentucky’s first-round win over Troy on Friday night. He struggled with his shot, going 0-5 from the field, including a 0-3 clip from deep, but still contributed three assists, two rebounds, and one block in his 22 minutes of action as Kentucky cruised to a 76-57 win over the Trojans. Even without scoring a single point, he led the ‘Cats in plus/minus at +22.

Butler even admitted postgame he was frustrated with his offensive performance, but as someone who’s played on this stage before, he found other ways to make an impact. He also says he didn’t experience any issues with his hampered shoulder throughout the game.

“Just trying to figure out the shoulder, see what I can do without causing any pain,” Butler said in the postgame locker room. “Tonight felt really good, didn’t have any moments of pain. Definitely excited. Me and Brandon Wells, our trainer, we’ve been going after this shoulder for a long time, doing a lot of work. He’s put a lot of work in with me to get to where it’s at and I’m definitely grateful for him.”

Not many players on this Kentucky roster have even played in an NCAA Tournament prior to Friday night, let alone make the national championship like Butler did with San Diego State in 2023. He’s now appeared in 12 NCAA Tournament games during his college career after Kentucky took down Troy. His defensive impact is enough to keep him on the floor, but his guidance as a postseason veteran is arguably even more valuable.

“Troy went on a run in the second half and I was just there to calm everybody down,” Butler added. “We’re up, don’t panic. It’s March. Play us, be us, and we’re going to win this game.”

“He just brings leadership,” Teammate Amari Williams said postgame. “Especially when we see a team going on a run and he just kind of slows the game down to keep our focus and hopefully we get a good possession out of it. We’ve always had a good possession when he’s on the court and those things kind of happen.”

It’s highly unlikely Butler will return to full strength during the remainder of Kentucky’s postseason run. But anything he can provide the ‘Cats when he’s on the court is massive. Pope will need his PG1 to give whatever he can against 6-seed Illinois — which rosters a potential lottery pick at point guard in 6-foot-6 Kasparas Jakucionis — on Sunday night.

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