Category: Golden State Warriors Blog

The 2015 NBA champion Golden State Warriors are the favorites to win it again in 2016. Logic suggests they will an appealing free agent destination for anybody and everybody this upcoming summer who wants to join up with success. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and friends should remain highly competitive for years. But until there’s reason to believe otherwise, we assume Durant will stick with OKC. Anyway, with that said, here’s the San Francisco Chronicle following up on a Yahoo Sports report:

Warriors small forward Harrison Barnes says he stopped following scuttlebutt about NBA transactions after his rookie year trade deadline, so he seemed genuinely surprised Tuesday to hear that Kevin Durant might be replacing him.

“Oh man, that’s part of the business,” Barnes said on a phone call before the team’s plane left New York for Washington, D.C. “He’s a great player. If that’s the move they want to make, you know, hopefully, it works out.”

Hours earlier, Yahoo Sports reported that the Warriors are determined to recruit Oklahoma City’s All-Star forward Kevin Durant when he becomes a free agent this summer. That much was a well-known fact, but the report went further.

According to league sources, Yahoo wrote: “The truth is that (the Warriors are) the most intriguing destination to him. If Durant leaves the Thunder, the Warriors are the significant frontrunners to sign him.”

Here’s the Bergen Record reporting on the Golden State Warriors, who won the 2015 NBA championship and are the favorites to win it again this season:

The stands at Madison Square Garden were crowded two hours before the game began. Kids in Golden State Warriors jerseys and their families waited for a glimpse of the greatest show on hardwood.

And the show arrived. Stephen Curry came out for his pregame ritual of machine-gun-speed dribbling and shots from all over the court — all the way to half-court. When the game began it continued, a stream of beautifully orchestrated passes leading to quick-trigger three-point field goals. Curry was contained for the most part, but the Warriors come in waves. On this night it was Klay Thompson (34 points, 14-of-18 shooting) and Draymond Green (20 points, 9-of-9 shooting, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) who carried them to an easy 116-95 win over the Knicks.

The allure of the Warriors isn’t just the magical display of finesse. To have gotten where they are now, the real magic has been in the hearts and minds of the players, an underappreciated toughness up and down the roster. When they were listless in the first quarter Sunday, coach Steve Kerr huddled up the team, smashed the clipboard, and threw it at the bench.

“Coach Kerr got on us pretty good,” Thompson said. “He had a terrible clipboard throw, but other than that, he was very animated on the sideline. We responded well to it. He told us we were playing very embarrassing and to pick it up.”

Here’s the San Francisco Chronicle reporting on the Warriors, who just finished smacking around the Spurs and are feeling pretty good these days:

The Warriors had a unique video session before Tuesday’s practice.

There were neither highlights of Monday’s drubbing of the Spurs nor reminders about their next opponent, the Mavericks, who pulled off a 23-point upset of the Warriors on Dec. 30.

Instead, head coach Steve Kerr had a video spliced together that offered an ode to Australia Day and included a comedy bit from Conan O’Brien.

“I was pretty disappointed, because I thought we were going to watch film on Dallas,” power forward Draymond Green joked a day ahead of the Warriors’ rematch with the Mavericks. “Terrible coach. … No, this environment is always loose and fun.”

The Golden State Warriors are an amazing 37-4. But two of their losses have come in their last three games. As you’d expect, the squad isn’t exactly worried. Here’s the San Francisco Chronicle reporting:

The Warriors’ post-practice session Sunday started with Draymond Green playfully mocking Luke Walton’s work ethic and ended with Stephen Curry proudly wearing a Carolina Panthers cap while signing the team’s theme song.

If the Warriors are panicking about their declining play during the past 11 games, including an 18-point spanking from Detroit on Saturday, they sure weren’t conveying it before flying to Cleveland for an NBA Finals rematch.

“There’s no need to panic, turn on each other or point a finger. We all sucked,” Green said. “… You want to keep the environment loose. You don’t want to tense up and feel like it’s the end of the world and play like that. Yeah, we have to play with a chip on our shoulder, and we have to play with that fire and intensity, but you don’t want to play like you’re in a panic.”

The Warriors (37-4) will have a good barometer for their keep-it-loose approach during the next five games. They play road games at Cleveland and Chicago before hosting Indiana, San Antonio and Dallas — teams that went into Sunday’s games a combined 131-68 (.775).