Category: Golden State Warriors Blog

Warriors blog -Golden State Warriors blog

Klay Thompson recovering from injury, now reportedly training without restriction

Warriors guard Klay Thompson’s comeback from injury continues. Here’s NBC Sports Bay Area reporting:

Klay Thompson has reached the next phase of his return.

The Warriors star guard has been training without restriction on his knee and has been ramping up workouts over the past few weeks, The Athletic’s Anthony Slater reported Friday, citing sources.

Per Slater, Thompson’s knee was medically cleared a few weeks ago and he has been running, jumping, dunking and doing everything he’s permitted to do during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He’s been going through his diligent shooting workouts but has yet to return to the Warriors’ San Francisco facility since it reopened. Thompson instead has been working out in Los Angeles and in Oakland.

The Warriors’ season, which Thompson compeletely missed, is over. With a 15-50 record, they were one of the eight teams the NBA did not include in its plans to resume the season this summer.

Warriors forward Eric Paschall says Stephen Curry never stops moving

Everyone knows that Warriors guard Stephen Curry is an awesome player, but it’s always fun to hear the precise wording other players choose to use when discussing him and other greats. Especially when it’s a teammate sharing their particularly unique perspective. Here’s NBC Sports Bay Area reporting:

Eric Paschall didn’t get to share the floor with Steph Curry a lot during his rookie season, as the Warriors star played just five games after breaking his non-shooting hand in October.

But that doesn’t mean the Villanova product didn’t get an up-close look at how true greatness works and operates. In the mere five games that Paschall played with Curry, he was able to see what makes the Warriors star so hard to defend.

“He does not stop moving,” Paschall told Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck on “The Full 48.” “It’s kind of crazy, like, you just see him like, move, move, move, move, move. It kind of messes you up because you’re not used to it especially as a rookie but when you play with him you start to understand where he’s going and what the plays are. I felt like I ended up getting an understanding and seeing what it’s like to play with him and it’s pretty fun.”

Eyes will be back on the Warriors during the 2020-21 offseason. It’ll be a pivotal free agency period for a squad that is back to revolving around famous trio Steph, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, plus Andrew Wiggins, who was acquired last season. Paschall was a big bright spot for the Warriors last season, and should certainly be in the rotation going forward. But more roster work is needed heading into 2020-21 if the team aims to be true championship contenders once again.

A look back at the 76ers trade for Wilt Chamberlain

Here’s NBC Sports Philly with their take on what might be the best trade in 76ers team history:

Connie Dierking, Paul Neumann, Lee Shaffer and cash to the San Francisco Warriors for Wilt Chamberlain:

Shaffer retired shortly after the trade, while Dierking and Neumann both had some solid NBA years left. Neither player, however, was in Chamberlain’s stratosphere. Chamberlain averaged 27.6 points, 23.9 rebounds and 6.8 assists in three-plus seasons as a Sixer, winning the championship in 1967. He probably shouldn’t have been dealt for anything less than multiple All-Stars — or perhaps an All-Star and a heap of first-round picks — but the Warriors were struggling financially and gave up a player who’d led the league in scoring for five consecutive seasons.

It would be cool for more Wilt footage to pop up someday, somehow.

Some quick words on a few Steph Curry NBA accomplishments

Here’s NBC Sports Bay Area reminding the world of some of Stephen Curry’s style of play, and a few of his lofty accomplishments:

When Curry is on the court, he is a head-hunter. He lives for the kill shot and — like MJ and the others — is haunted by his misses. Don’t fall for the veneer, the displays of glee, the easy grin and the honey-colored skin. This genuinely joyful soul with scripture on his sneakers has spent most of his career as the league’s most prolific undercover executioner.

Over the past seven postseasons, Curry has beaten every MVP, or MVP candidate, that has beaten him. Only Kawhi Leonard, who as a member of the San Antonio Spurs played only 24 minutes over nine postseason games against the Warriors, can be argued as an exception.

Curry is 3-1 against LeBron James in The Finals and 4-0 against James Harden in the playoffs. He’s 3-0 against Damian Lillard. In the lone instance when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook represented the roadblock, Curry took them out.

There’s much more to say about Steph — namely his historic shooting from three-point range — but the above certainly speaks volumes.

With the Kevin Durant era over in Golden State, but the team presumably at full health by the time NBA play eventually resumes, it’ll be great fun seeing what Steph accomplishes in 2020-21.

How Steve Kerr learned to not yell at Klay Thompson

Different players react to coaching and motivational methods in different ways. A huge part of being a basketball coach is learning how to share information and instructions to players in a manner that the player will understand and, just as importantly, accept.

As for the Warriors, here’s NBC Sports Bay Area reporting on head coach Steve Kerr and what he learned about coaching shooting guard Klay Thompson:

“My very first season, I lit into Klay. I took an early timeout, lit into Klay, and he didn’t respond very well,” Kerr said on the Runnin’ Plays Podcast. “And he went out and was kind of rattled, made a couple mistakes.”

Confused, Kerr solicited advice from folks around the eccentric guard, then in his fourth NBA season, and found that Thompson is more receptive to a different style of coaching.

“I kind of checked that box,” Kerr said. “I said, ‘Klay’s not a guy who’s going to respond to yelling.’ ”

The adjustment worked.

After racking up multiple championships, then seeing the departure of Kevin Durant, all while suffering a big stack of injuries, the Warriors were at the bottom of the league in 2019-20. It’ll be interesting to see what they’re able to do in the next offseason in building up a supporting cast for 2020-21.

To Warriors coach Steve Kerr, the NBA season feels over

The NBA season has been put on hold since mid March. But it hasn’t officially been canceled. Though, it certainly won’t surprise anyone if that’s what winds up happening. And soon. Here’s ESPN.com reporting what Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said on Tuesday:

As the NBA continues to try to find ways to salvage the end of its season as the world deals with the coronavirus pandemic, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr acknowledged that his team is operating as if its season is over.

“It feels like the offseason,” Kerr said during a video conference call in conjunction with the University of San Francisco on Tuesday. “And, in fact, we had a Zoom call, Bob Myers and I got on a Zoom with our players, our whole roster last week. And it was just a chance to check in, but it was also a chance for Bob to update the players on his contact with the league and the latest news, but it also kind of felt like our annual team exit meeting. Our coaching staff and I have been undergoing staff evaluations, offseason plans, so we are absolutely in offseason mode right now.”

As other teams in playoff contention try to keep their teams focused on a possible resumption of play, Kerr said that though the Warriors remain in communication with all their players and staffers, the team isn’t concerned about a possible resumption, given that Golden State had a league-worst 15-50 record when the season was suspended on March 11.

Clarity on the matter will likely come sometime in May.

Michael Jordan could have played for the Oakland A’s, says former GM

Here’s NBC Sports Chicago reporting on some interesting insight into a turn Michael Jordan’s brief pro baseball career could have taken:

Michael Jordan’s departure from his life as the greatest basketball player in the world to play minor league baseball with the White Sox is the stuff of Chicago legend.

But it might have gone quite differently. And with a different organization altogether.

Former Oakland Athletics general manager Sandy Alderson told ESPN’s Buster Olney on a recent edition of the Baseball Tonight podcast that he offered Jordan a spot on his major league roster in 1994.

“You recall when Jordan stopped playing basketball and decided to try baseball, and ultimately went down to the Birmingham Barons — the Chicago White Sox affiliate,” Alderson said. “When I heard that was happening, or about to happen, I called his agent right away and said, ‘Hey look, I understand he may be going to Double-A. I don’t even know who the 25th man is on our major league team right now, I will sign him and put him on the major league roster. He’ll be part of our 25-man team. Tomorrow.'”

Just speculating here, but unless Jordan had somehow magically been better at the major league level than he was in the minors, he’d still probably have wound up back in the NBA around the same time as he did. But this could have potentially been an even more fascinating detour.

On Andrew Wiggins and the Warriors

Here’s NBC Sports Bay Area reporting on Andrew Wiggins:

Wiggins came to the Warriors in the February trade that sent D’Angelo Russell to the Minnesota Timberwolves, in large part for his better-perceived fit alongside Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. A talented but inconsistent wing, Wiggins had worn out his welcome in Minnesota following four years of failed expectations and sub-par defense.

But he was successful in his short time in the Bay Area, averaging 20.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists over his last five games. In a 112-106 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Feb. 12, he finished with 27 points, four rebounds and five assists and four blocks. Three weeks later, in his first game playing with Curry, he notched 20 points, 10 rebounds and two assists against the Raptors.

In 12 games played for the Warriors, Wiggins averaged 19.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.4 blocks per game, shooting 45.7% from the field.

The Warriors this season were short-handed. The real test — the chemistry test — comes in the future when the squad is healthy and at full strength.

Jayson Tatum says Stephon Curry is a top 20 NBA player of all time

Ranking the best NBA players on just about any best-of list is always a fun but tough challenge. And it’s especially hard choosing where to place players whose careers are still ongoing on an all-time list. Here’s young Celtics star Jayson Tatum talking about Stephen Curry’s place in NBA history, as reported by NBC Sports Bay Area:

One of Curry’s peers, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, believes Curry is the best point guard in the NBA right now.

Then Tatum backed that up with some high praise for the only unanimous league MVP.

“Steph’s a top 20 player of all time, bro,” Tatum said this week during an Instagram Live interview with Pep Stanciel, a basketball skills coach and consultant.

“Steph changed the game bro,” Tatum said. “They don’t want you to shoot mid-range no more.”

It’s definitely debatable why mid-range shots have declined. And crediting any single player for it would be a real stretch. But Steph is definitely a legendary, all-time NBA talent.

The next offseason is a pivotal one for the Warriors

Teams around the league are all dealing with the same key issue — the coronavirus. But getting more specific, here’s the Mercury News focusing on the Warriors:

In what will be a pivotal offseason for a Warriors organization aiming to vault back into contention next season, the fallout of the coronavirus could impact the quality of its draft pick, how much it is willing to spend on free agents and more.

Beyond the health concerns and the Warriors’ bottom line, this will also impact next season’s salary cap, which is based on a negotiated portion of basketball-related income. Without gate revenue, the league as a whole could stand to lose as much as $500 million, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Meanwhile, with seven home games at Chase Center likely lost, the Warriors could lose as much as $25 million in revenue, according to a source familiar with the Warriors’ finances. There are also television, radio and advertising partnerships to consider.

Steph, Klay and Dray obviously proved able to do big things together in the past. It’ll be interesting to see who their supporting cast is once the next offseason’s player movement results are set.

Of course, we’re all still hoping to see the rest of this currently-paused season played. But these Warriors are all about the future.