The Golden State Warriors are off to a great start in the 2021/22 NBA season, boasting a 9-1 league-best record, sitting at the top of the Western Conference standings. After two seasons full of struggles the Dubs are finally back, ready to compete for the NBA championship again.
Some folks think they are the clear favorites to win the Larry O’Brien trophy next year, but not everybody is buying that. The Warriors do have a great team, a terrific leader in Stephen Curry, a great supporting cast, and an excellent head coach in Steve Kerr. They have shown good things in the first 10 matches of the season, yet, some people don’t think it’s enough to call them favorites.
While Stephen A. Smith ‘officially’ picked them as his favorites to win the title, JJ Redick doesn’t think they are as strong as they’ve looked in the first weeks of competition. The former sharpshooter believes it’s too early in the season to claim what team will win the championship while pointing out that the Warriors have had easy matches.
“Here’s the thing about the Warriors, though. First of all, it is ten games into the season, so let’s have some perspective. They have had the eighth easiest schedule so far, two games left in this homestand, nine of their first 12 games will be at home; they have no signature wins other than opening night against the Lakers.”
.@jj_redick calls Stephen A. dubbing the Warriors title favorites "irresponsible."
"They've had the eighth easiest schedule so far. … They have no signature wins other than opening night against the Lakers!" pic.twitter.com/QOIhrW1SQd
— First Take (@FirstTake) November 9, 2021
Redick is right when he mentions the team’s calendar. Besides the Lakers, the only strong teams they faced were the Atlanta Hawks and the Kawhi Leonard-less Los Angeles Clippers in the second match of the season.
Still, that doesn’t take anything away from this team. They have a very good group of players and have collected wins without Klay Thompson and James Wiseman on the court. Once these two returned to the floor, the situation will get better for the Dubs.
Perhaps it’s too soon to label the Warriors as favorites, but this team is on the right track to be one of the contenders in the West.
