After the social media furor from Golden State Warriors fans expressing their displeasure at ESPN’s Regular-Season projections, sharpshooter Stephen Curry took a shot at the network.
Ahead of the start of the 2022-23 season, the defending champions, per ESPN’s projections, were slated to finish eighth seed with 41.9 wins — a stat that didn’t sit down too well with the fans or Curry.
In a comment on ESPN’s NBA page, Curry also reminded them that they gave the Warriors a marginal number to win the Finals last season, and the team proved them wrong.
Steph already is collecting receipts 😂 pic.twitter.com/lw9D40t0m6
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) October 1, 2022
“14% chance to win the finals last year too.”
The Warriors won 53 regular-season games the last season, good enough to finish third behind the Phoenix Suns and the Memphis Grizzlies.
They ousted the Denver Nuggets 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs and followed it up with a 4-2 win in the semifinals against the Grizzlies. The Western Conference Finals saw them win 4-1 against the Dallas Mavericks and eventually defeat the Boston Celtics 4-2 in the Finals.
Should they surpass the 42 game-mark that ESPN has projected them to win, safe to say, there will look back at the numbers that served as the perfect motivation.
ESPN Analyst Believes The Warriors Will Outperform The Projections
Kevin Pelton, the man behind the projections, was optimistic that the Warriors, despite the sub-par predictions, would rise to the occasion and be the better team and sounded optimistic about their chances.
“Despite these losses, I expect Golden State to outperform this projection and be back near the top of the West.”
At the time of writing, Steve Kerr and his men had notched up a win against the Washington Wizards in the first preseason skirmish. James Wiseman, returning from an injury layoff, architected the Warriors’ 96-87 win in Tokyo with 20 points and nine rebounds. Come the regular season, they will host the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night on October 18.
