Speaking on the “Willard & Dibs” podcast, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr provided some interesting insight into why he continues to lean on the players who are struggling this season. As Kerr explained, he’s just not yet willing to give up on the guys who won a championship together just a year and a half ago.
“We won a championship a year and a half ago. The guys who are going to drive us to win a title or not, we know who they are. They’re Steph, Draymond, Wiggs, Loon, and Klay. We know those are the guys that are going to have to perform at a high level if we’re going to compete for a title.”
"We won a championship a year and a half ago. The guys who are going to drive us to win a title or not, we know who they are. They're Steph, Draymond, Wiggs, Loon, and Klay."
– Steve Kerr tells a story about why he sticks with the veterans through tough times on @WillardAndDibs. pic.twitter.com/Ubgqqu7AsQ
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) November 30, 2023
Kerr goes on to tell a story of the 1996 NBA Finals when he was having a particularly rough shooting series. He explains a conversation that his wife had with the former Bulls owner, who told her that Kerr didn’t need to feel bad about this poor play. Instead, the owner (Jerry Reisendorf) pointed out that it wasn’t Kerr who was swinging the series, it was actually dependent on the play of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman. In the same way, Kerr believes that the key to another title rests in the hands of the guys who have gotten there already.
A Slow Start In Golden State
The Golden State Warriors have looked like a shell of themselves so far this season and there’s nobody to blame but Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, who have been struggling to carry their share over the past few weeks. In the case of Klay, career-low shooting numbers from him suggest that his days as an elite perimeter shooter could be over after a prestigious career. For Draymond, his increasingly volatile behavior is taking a major toll on the organization and his play on the court no longer seems to be overshadowing his out-of-control antics.
All of these issues, combined with a deep Western Conference, have resulted in a rough start for the Warriors, who are 8-10 and 11th in the West despite holding championship aspirations. And no matter how much Klay, Draymond, and Andrew Wiggins struggle to get it going, Steve Kerr is going to ride or die with those guys until the very end.
Was The 2022 Run A Fluke?
With largely the same core they had back in 2022, the Warriors should be one of the best teams in basketball. Unfortunately, times have changed for the Warriors. Klay Thompson isn’t as good as he was back then, and Andrew Wiggins is also struggling to find his rhythm. The worst part of it for the Warriors is their lack of size, which completely exposes them against the NBA’s bigger teams.
Even so, despite how things look now, nobody can take away what the Warriors were able to accomplish with this core and it makes sense why Kerr and the entire organization would want to stick by those guys until they decide to call it quits. But if things don’t shape up soon, it could leave the Warriors in a difficult place to end the Stephen Curry era.
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