At a crossroads: Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry, and the Golden State Warriors dynasty Joe Lacob paced the corridor in the basement of Chase Centre, right outside the room where the Golden State Warriors have their postgame news conferences, following another sad setback.
The Warriors’ coach, Steve Kerr, was yet to arrive. After blowing an 18-point lead, Nikola Jokic’s buzzer-beating half-court heave led the defending champion Denver Nuggets to a 25-4 comeback victory. In a season marked by them, the loss was yet another setback. Draymond Green was 11 games into his second indefinite suspension for the Warriors. As a result of their disappointing seasons, uncomfortable rumors about Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson’s futures began to circulate throughout the nation. The Warriors were falling, ranking 11th in the Western Conference.
The minutes passed by. Lacob, the Warriors’ owner, walked back and forth. When Kerr finally arrived, Lacob entered. He was positioned near to the back. His club had lost for the fourteenth time in a row after playing its 27th clutch game of the season, in which the final score was decided by five points in the final five minutes. One additional game was given away.
Kerr noticed Jacob from the dais, leaning against a wall in the back, near the door where he typically exits before anyone sees him. Since Lacob hired Kerr in 2014, the two have led the team to an incredible series of successes, including four titles and six Finals appearances, as the franchise has developed.
Despite this setback,
brought attention to a situation that mirrored years of internal struggle and, tragically for Denver, manifested in the form of Jonathan Kuminga.
Despite scoring 16 points in 19 minutes against the Nuggets, the third-year wing was rested for the final 18 minutes. Since he had supported Kuminga since the Warriors selected him with the seventh overall pick in the 2021 draft, Lacob was surely aware of the fury the decision had caused among the team’s fans. Jacob now confesses that he knew Kuminga would require time to develop—possibly a few years—before he could influence the outcome. However, Kuminga’s rapid growth—or lack thereof—had caused internal strife within the team, as doubts about Kerr’s level of trust in the young players appeared.
Leave a Reply