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SAN FRANCISCO — Brace yourselves.
That’s been the theme of the message coming from the Warriors since the day they reported for training camp. The golden years are long gone, but at least Golden State’s brass has the courtesy to tell us all.
Coach Steve Kerr hasn’t hidden the fact that championship expectations are pretty much out the door for the first time under his watch. Instead, he said, success will be judged on process.
One of Kerr’s best qualities is his transparency, and he dropped another truth bomb this week.
A ticket to see the Warriors is not the same as a ticket to see Steph Curry. Buyer beware.
“I would just come out and tell the fans out there to be mindful when you’re buying the tickets of the schedule,” Kerr told reporters after practice Thursday. “Take a look.”
Kerr’s warning was ostensibly an attempt to get ahead of the curve on a problem that has plagued the Warriors — or, well, really well-meaning ticket buyers — for years now. Fans drop big money to catch the Warriors when they come to town, and all they get to see is Curry’s fashion sensibility on the bench.
Even an athlete of Curry’s caliber isn’t capable of keeping up with the NBA’s 82-game schedule at age 38, entering his 18th season. It’s in the Warriors’ best interests to keep him fresh for the long haul. They play 15 sets of back-to-backs this season, tied for the second most in the league.
It’s not just smart money to bet Curry won’t play both legs in many, if possibly any.
It’s just smart basketball.
“We’ve got not just Steph but multiple vets we are going to try and manage,” Kerr said. “Because it’s the only way we can do this.”
Last season, the Warriors were in a similar pickle. They had an old roster full of veterans who would need to be managed to make it through the season. Three games in, Kerr had a decision to make: Play the long game and rest his vets on their first back-to-back of the season or chase a win against the Trail Blazers in Portland after beating the Nuggets in overtime the night before.
He went for the win, and the Warriors lost by 20.
Golden State faces an almost-identical schedule this season, only with the second half of the back-to-back coming in Phoenix, rather than Portland. If Kerr has learned his lesson, then, well, sorry Suns fans hoping to catch a glimpse of Curry, you can’t say he didn’t warn you.
Heeding Kerr’s advice and looking further down the road, fans in Dallas or Memphis (Nov. 18-19), Los Angeles (Dec. 23), Phoenix (Dec. 28), Portland or Utah (Jan. 27-28), Chicago or Boston (Feb. 9-10), Houston or Dallas (March 1-2) and Oklahoma City (April 8-9) seem likely to get the short end of the stick in terms of who will actually be in the black-and-gold uniforms they paid to see.
The Warriors typically try to avoid sitting their stars at home, but some tickets are riskier than others (Nov. 1-2; Dec. 22, 27; Jan. 6-7, 12-13, 21-22; March 9, 16-17, 24-25).
All told, that makes up more than one-third of the schedule with games fans can’t go to the box office with confidence in who’s going to be on the court. That’s a larger issue for the NBA, and Kerr has repeatedly pushed for shortening the regular season to 72 games.
But his attempt at managing fans’ expectations only served to underscore the realities the Warriors are facing this season. There’s a reason why nobody, not even the perennially positive Curry, was preaching championship or bust before their first preseason practice.
At the end of last season, Kerr said the Warriors couldn’t do the same thing again. Al Horford appeared in only 45 games. Kristaps Porzingis missed more games than he played in after being acquired in February. Curry’s knee flared up and caused him to miss two months.
And yet, here they are again. General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said his options over the summer came down to availability or fit, and he leaned toward the latter.
Porzingis is out indefinitely. The only active player older than Horford is LeBron James, and he won’t play back-to-backs again this season. There will need to be built-in rest days for Draymond Green, 36, as well as Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody when they return from knee surgeries.
Curry will also be handled differently this season than ever before in an attempt to keep his runner’s knee from barking. Part of that adjustment has meant a slower ramp-up than normal in the preseason. He only played 25 minutes for the first time in their final exhibition.
With only a few days to go until Opening Night, Kerr couched expectations one more time.
“He’s not yet where he wants to be,” he said of Curry. “But he’s on track.”