The Warriors went all in this year. It's not working
A critical moment in the season arrives now
Here’s a fun fact. It may be a yawn to you NBA insiders, but it was at least a mild surprise to me.
The team with the highest payroll in the NBA — in fact in the history of the NBA — is the Golden State Warriors at $208.2 million.
As this story reminds us, the salary champ is not the defending champion Nuggets, who were eighth-highest when they won last year’s title. Nor the Bucks, who were seventh when they won the 2020-21 championship.
Nope, it is the Warriors who have set an all-time spending record. Partly because, per the above Forbes story, the player with the largest salary in the league, Steph Curry.
What that says is it wasn’t just some over-caffeinated fanboys who thought this team had a shot at another championship. It was the franchise too.
They pushed all their chips in, stood pat (except for adding 38-year old Chris Paul) and bought into what can be the iffiest bet in sports — hoping they’ve got one more run in them.
And that can work. The vets suck it up, play with fire and let their big game experience kick in. Seasons like that (and the 2022 Warriors title can be included) are miraculous.
But often, maybe more often, it can be a miscalculation. Every year at various training camps a grizzled veteran comes back and announces he’s in “the best shape of my life.”
Sometimes he is. And sometimes we are reminded that Father Time is undefeated.
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After a 5-1 start had everyone turning cartwheels, the Dubs faced a parade of reality checks — young, eager, athletic, tall teams. The results were not promising.
Cleveland beat them twice. So did Phoenix. Oklahoma City won back-to-back games. So did Minnesota.
The result? They are sub .500. Poor Klay Thompson is agonizing over his on-and-off shooting. Andrew Wiggins can’t seem to get it going.
And — heresy alert — even Curry is looking distressingly human at times. He’s still good for a head-shaking 40-point game, but he’s had his jumper blocked more than once.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander posted a cheeky Instagram of him blocking Steph and taking the ball the other way for a layup.
And there was also this:
All of which leads up to right now. For all of you who have been saying, “Of course the team is struggling, Draymond Green has been out,” this is the moment.
Green’s five-game suspension for choking Rudy Gobert is over and he’s back.
But it is pretty clear this is a different dynamic. Until now he’s been Draymond, the passionate team leader. But the technical fouls, kicks and The Punch have added up. Publications have taken to making lists of his suspensions. It is not a short list.
It was funny to see Green parodied on Saturday Night Live, but there’s truth there. This is how the rest of the country sees him now — a guy with an uncontrollable temper who offers no apologies.
When SNL’s Michael Che points out that Green choked a player, the actor playing him says, “Yeah, but I was trying to kill him. So if you think about it, I showed restraint.”
Ha-ha. But that’s not a successful brand. We’re not hearing much about Green’s broadcasting career lately. He hasn’t posted a podcast since July.
Instead he gave an interview in which he complained that it was unfair the league was basing punishment on past behavior.
Which, you’d have to think, is the opposite of how the NBA sees it. You’d imagine their theory is you did these things and the punishment was supposed to be a warning — knock it off.
Instead, he stomped on Domantas Sabonis’ chest in the first round of the playoffs last year.
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And besides the salary record, that’s the other bet the Warriors made. They signed Green to a four-year, $100 million contract. They’re going to ride or die with him.
Now, apologies but we’re going to bring up an unpopular topic. You know all the hand-wringing this year about how no one but Curry could score 20 points?
It has to be said the team traded away 20 points a game — average 20.4 in fact — when they shipped out Jordan Poole. Yes, infuriating, out-of-control and constantly-falling-down Jordan Poole.
But he was the second-leading scorer on the team and played every game. He was a screwball, and now that he’s in Washington he’s acting like a fool. (You played with Curry all those years, and this is the behavior you took away?)
But he has talent. As for his behavior . . . isn’t that what coaching is for?
It’s water under the bridge now.
There’s a new reality. The season starts right now. Green is back, the team has to be motivated and a run must be made.
Otherwise this could get ugly. And expensive.
Contact C.W. Nevius at cwnevius@gmail.com. Twitter and Threads: @cwnevius
Like the Giants, it's sad to watch a team grow old. That's what's is happening with the Warriors. Klay is a cool cat, but his defense is not what it was before his injury. He was a lock down defender. Dramond story has grown old and his antics are dragging the franchise down. I don't know what the immediate answer is, but it's time for the Warriors to look to the future