Golden Disappointment: Defending NBA Champs and Their Season of Mediocrity
Breaking down the current state of the 2023 Golden State Warriors
17 out of 75 years. That is how many times a NBA team has successfully defended an NBA championship, winning back to back titles. If you remove the 8 straight championships from the Boston Celtics from 1959-1966, there are only 9 out of 68 times where a team has successfully defended a championship, which is a little over 13%. 13% doesn’t leave much room for error, but defending a championship is an achievement which is familiar to most of the Warriors brass. 2017 and 2018 is the proof that this group can defeat the odds that 87% of NBA champions could not. (Although this team would be in a different spot if #35 was still in Blue & Gold).
The 2022 Warriors were not the team that the 2017/2018 Warriors was. Those teams were expected to win a title, and last year, that was not the case. The Warriors had just failed to make the post-season by losing back to back play-in games, Klay Thomson was returning after missing over two years due to injury, two rookies were expected to contribute to winning, Otto Porter Jr, Andre Iguodala & Kevon Looney were large health risks, and there were many more questions surrounding the team. Instead, the Warriors struck gold with their minimum signings (Porter, Bjelica & GP2), team chemistry was at an all time high, and health struck amongst the players at a perfect time. The Warriors ended the season as the 3 seed in the West (53-29) and coasted their way into the NBA Finals (a few hiccups in Memphis along the way). Going into the Finals, all the experts, prediction models, and consensus indicated that the Boston Celtics were the better team and a terrible matchup for the Warriors. It looked shaky as the Warriors were down 2-1 with a pivotal game four in Boston, but Steph Curry would not let the Warriors lose. He put up arguably the best and most important game of his career with 43 points and 10 rebounds on the road in Boston. This was the catalyst that led the Warriors to beat the Boston Celtics in 6 games, capturing their 4th title in 8 years.
After witnessing such an impressive performance on the biggest stage, and huge contributions by vets all across the Warriors roster (Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton, Otto Porter Jr & Kevon Looney), the Warriors seemed to have found the recipe to surround the core three (Steph, Klay & Dray). Veteran role players and switchable defenders with high basketball IQ. That is what all of these role players who were so crucial in the 2022 title run had in common. None of the young core contributed a great amount in the 2022 playoffs besides Jordan Poole. This is the root of the problem for the 2023 Golden State Warriors. There are a few other issues that will be discussed, but the main problem this season is that the front office abandoned the recipe that worked so well just a season prior, when they won the NBA Championship.
Issue one: Instead of surrounding the core with high basketball IQ veteran players, the Front Office built out the back half of the Warriors roster with six players under the age of twenty-three. Four of those players were twenty years old or younger. The Warriors have one of the most expensive rosters in NBA history and the highest luxury tax of all time, so it is understandable that a rookie minimum contract is their cheapest option, but vets were needed and have been sorely missed this season. Three of the guaranteed contracts on the roster this season have spent the majority of the season on the bench or with the Santa Cruz Warriors (Patrick Baldwin, Ryan Rollins, Moses Moody). Not ideal.
Issue two: The Front Office assumed the “Second Timeline” was ready to fill major roles. The idea of two timelines blending together was admirable, but the Front Office may have been too much optimistic for the Warriors own good. Most championship rosters are constructed of one or two stars, surrounded by proven veteran role players. There are cases in recent NBA history where Champions have had young players contribute to winning (Andrew Bynum 2010 Lakers, Kawhi Leonard 2014 Spurs, Draymond Green & Harrison Barnes 2015 Warriors), but for the most part, everyone playing in an NBA Finals is either a star or a veteran role player. Kuminga, and especially Wiseman and Moody, were not ready for the large roles they were handed at the beginning of the season, which was a large reason why the Warriors started 3-7.
Issue three: Injuries and Wiggins’ leave. Last season, the Warriors were relatively healthy. Yes Steph and Draymond suffered injuries that cost them multiple games, but for most of the season, the team was at full strength, especially when it mattered most. This season, there have been injuries to Steph, Wiggins, Draymond, Wiseman, JaMychal Green, Kuminga, Andre and the team acquired an injured GP2. Injuries are normal for any team in the NBA during the season, but it has been a rough go of it for the Warriors. It has seemed like injuries happened to key players as soon as they had just started to gain momentum (Wiggins, Wiseman, Andre, etc). Wiggins has also missed the last 20 games for personal reasons. I will not speculate on what he is going through, but missing the team’s second most important player from the season before hurts the Warriors’ chances to compete at the highest level.
Issue four: From ownership, to the front office, coaching staff and to the players, this year for the Warriors has felt unstable, unconnected, and not very Warriors-like. There are a lot of factors that could contribute to the feeling surrounding the team. Draymond punching Poole during practice, contract extensions for Poole and Wiggins, but not for Draymond, the vets being unhappy with all of the young players on the roster, Bob Myers’ contract situation, lack of urgency to win regular season games, etc. It’s hard to pinpoint the main culprit, and it is likely a combination of all these reasons, but the good vibes the Warriors have been known for has been missing all season. It shows with their attitude on the court. This issue also highlights the importance of the veterans on the bench last year that brought energy, passion, and swagger such as JTA, Damion Lee and GP2.
Defending an NBA Championship is very hard. The odds are not in your favor and history shows it takes a special team to do so. But, when you have a generational pantheon player like Stephen Curry and a championship-proven coach, system, players, and organization, you must do everything you can to maximize those opportunities even if that means mortgaging some of the future. Ask the Chicago Bulls how things have gone since Micheal Jordan retired. Look up the Cleveland Cavaliers playoff appearances without LeBron James. The grass is not always greener and if the Warriors brass believes that once Steph is gone this level of success will be continue and the second timeline will pick it back up, they must not know their history.
Even with all the missteps of the summer, and the unpredictable circumstances of this 2023 NBA season, I am still betting my money on the Warriors to be successful this postseason. If they are able to get Gary Payton and Andrew Wiggins back at full health before the playoffs, I believe they should be the favorite to come out of the West. At full strength, they are a team that is well-proven and battle-tested. It also helps their chances that the Western Conference is the weakest it has been in many years. Time will tell. I just wish that there was a little more urgency and commitment to the greatness of Stephen Curry and the Warriors core.
Great article!
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