Coming off their fourth NBA championship in eight years, the Golden State Warriors went into final season seeking to get one for the thumb.
As a substitute, their 2022-23 season devolved into an enigmatic, inconsistent mess.
They performed very nicely at house, however outdoors of San Francisco, they went simply 11-30 whereas giving up a whopping 122.5 factors a sport.
All of it culminated in them dropping within the second spherical of the playoffs to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.
One thing was clearly not proper with Golden State final season, and Draymond Inexperienced, their emotional and religious chief, stated they weren’t absolutely collectively.
“Chances are you’ll break one man, it’s possible you’ll break two, however you may’t break this crew and that is what made us unbeatable. I believe our tradition, the material was a bit of off final 12 months.”
Draymond Inexperienced on how the Warriors can get again to being NBA title contenders ????pic.twitter.com/UIgX6luPGX
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 12, 2023
For nearly the previous decade, the Warriors had seemingly been the envy of the remainder of the NBA from prime to backside.
They possessed star expertise and a head coach in Steve Kerr who helped change the best way NBA basketball is performed by using a fast-breaking, fast-moving offense whereas making them into an elite defensive squad as nicely.
Organizationally, their entrance workplace was additionally seemingly forward of the curve.
However the feeling after their loss to L.A. was that they have been getting too previous and wanted an infusion of youth and power.
They’d introduced alongside younger gamers resembling Jordan Poole, James Wiseman, and Jonathan Kuminga, however they’ve traded each Poole and Wiseman prior to now 12 months whereas bringing in 38-year-old Chris Paul.
Paul is clearly in decline, and the crew must begin to cut back the workload of Inexperienced, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson, particularly through the common season.
As well as, Thompson isn’t fairly the identical participant he was earlier than the ACL and Achilles accidents he suffered a number of years in the past, particularly on protection.
After years of being forward of the posse, maybe groups such because the Lakers, Phoenix Suns, and the defending world champion Denver Nuggets have left the Warriors within the mud.
NEXT:
Draymond Green Has Big Message For Chris Paul Ahead Of The Season
