The Golden State Warriors season ended with their play-in tournament to the Memphis Grizzlies. While the roster went toe-to-toe with the Los Angeles Lakers in the last game, they simply did not have enough juice to beat a very spirited Memphis Grizzlies, which was led by what looks like a future superstar in Ja Morant.
There is no doubt that the Golden State Warriors will be disappointed in not making the playoffs, but they overachieved and improbably made the play-in tournament after being written out all year. They have also had injuries to key role players, and depth was an issue all season.
Coach Steve Kerr and DPOY candidate Draymond Green disagreed on how successful their season was. Granted, the Golden State Warriors are former champions. There are expectations for a team with Stephen Curry at the helm. But given the circumstances of the season, they have some things to be happy about. Here is what Green and Kerr had to say.
Steve Kerr views this season as a success for the Dubs pic.twitter.com/L0QQmA8f2X
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 22, 2021
I think this season absolutely was a success We would have loved to have gotten into the playoffs and tried to make a run. We were really a good team over the last 22 games I guess. To put together a stretch like that over an entire quarter of a season, that’s not a fluke, we were the No. 1 defense in the league during that span. To watch Jordan (Poole), Juan (Toscano-Anderson), Mychal Mulder, these young guys grow and develop, that makes this a successful season because of what it sets up for next year.
Draymond Green: "I'm not going to act like this year was a huge success because we didn’t win it. That’s the goal."
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) May 22, 2021
It seems as though Steve Kerr believes that this season was valuable in terms of development, and it seems like an astute perspective from the coach. As a player though, you could see why Draymond Green would view it as a failure, as they didn’t win it all. Regardless, the Golden State Warriors will get Klay Thompson back next season, and that should put them right in the mix once again.
