This has undoubtedly been a tough season for the Golden State Warriors. After a strong 12-3 start to the season, the Warriors have struggled to consistently find their form. But Stephen Curry sees the bright side of things, comparing their struggles this year to their 2021-22 NBA championship season during an interview with Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
“It’s very volatile right now in terms of the emotional roller coaster this year,” Curry said. “Similar to what it was like that [2021-22 season that ended with a championship]. I think it’s a challenge for us to just try to maintain confidence in what we’re doing, what we’re building. And until we run out of time, we have to maintain it.”
“Nobody going into that year thought we were a championship contender. And then we won it.”
The Warriors, at this stage of the season during their 2021-22 campaign, had a 31-11 campaign, which is 10 wins better than their current record of 21-21. While Curry might be insinuating that they were not considered championship favorites in the 2021-22 NBA season, much like they are not this year either, to compare the two campaigns is wildly unfair.
Not just because the Warriors were 10 games better that season compared to this season, but they also had a wealth of talent who were playing at a fairly consistent level and kept their championship core of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson intact.
Whereas this season, the Warriors are relying on a massive 10-man rotation, and not creating a strong seven-man core like most successful championship teams do. Not giving their best players a consistent set of minutes has gone on to hurt the Warriors greatly this season, and has kept them in their difficult position this year.
-Stephen Curry Hopes Warriors Try To Improve Team
Stephen Curry also noted in the interview that he hopes President Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the Warriors front office do whatever they can to make sure the team gets better. And even if the Warriors don’t make a big move before the trade deadline, it isn’t because the team didn’t try, but rather, the right deal just wasn’t off the table.
“[We’re] trying to be a realistic threat in a playoffs series,” Curry said. “If Mike calls and says, ‘Hey, this is an opportunity to do X, Y, Z,’ I give my opinion. My hope is that [if there’s no action at the deadline]it’s not because of a lack of effort. If we don’t have a chance to get better, my whole thing is I want to win, and whatever that means, all efforts are pointed towards that, then I can kind of live with whatever happens.”
Curry has spoken on this issue recently as well, noting that he refuses to accept a mediocre team that isn’t aiming to win. It is clear that there is some frustration with the way the Warriors have been performing. However, it is hard to identify which players, if any, the Warriors will target ahead of the February 6th trade deadline.
Perhaps they could go back to the Jazz, and instead of aiming for Lauri Markkanen, land two of their other strong players, like this mock trade we pitched. Whereas another mock trade could see Golden State finally pull the trigger on landing another All-Star.
Regardless of what move they make, they need to do their best to do it quickly, as the longer they wait, the Warriors will continue to struggle.
