The Warriors refuse to recognize their real problem, so they keep losing

On December 29, 2024By Littum

Three words tell the world that a team isn’t going anywhere – that they’re done, over and dusted:

Players. Only. Meeting.

The Warriors, down on body and even worse on their collective vibes, held one before Wednesday’s Christmas game with the Lakers.

They lost that game, even with Steph Curry’s heroics. They also lost on Friday, albeit without Curry (or Draymond Green) in the lineup.

There’s still plenty of time for the Dubs, but the players-only meeting remains unbeaten in highlighting irredeemable ineptitude. And I don’t think these Warriors will be the first team in a long time (if there ever was one) to solve their problems in a semi-formal, coach-free meeting.

So expect the loss to continue.

Then again, losing has become so common for the Warriors lately that it’s hard to imagine this team pulling out of this tailspin. The Warriors started 12-3 and have posted a 3-12 record since.

It wasn’t sleigh bells and Christmas decorations outside the Chase Center — it was alarms and red flags.

Something has to change, and yet this Warriors team is mired in the paradox of mediocrity:

The difference between good enough and really good is huge.

The difference between good enough and insufficient is minimal.

The Warriors can attest to that – the last month plus is a testament to how fine that line is.

As such, mediocre teams—petrified of making a change that will knock them down a notch—never make the bold moves necessary to elevate the team.

And let’s be clear about what we’re discussing here as far as the Warriors are concerned:

Either head coach Steve Kerr or 22-year-old forward Jonathan Kuminga must go.

That truth has been evident for more than a year now. Kuminga doesn’t want to play Kerr’s style of basketball (I don’t think he can, but Kuminga’s camp would prefer you say he’s better than the system). Obviously, Kerr doesn’t want to play anyone who plays outside of his system, which has produced four NBA titles.

And then we have a head coach and a player having a back-and-forth, passive-aggressive spat in the media and beyond, with battle lines drawn among mouth-breathers on social media.

But more importantly, what we have is unattractive, losing basketball.

It doesn’t get better either, because neither Kerr nor Kuminga are interested in admitting they are wrong. None of them think they are wrong.

This is unsustainable, toxic and has been toxic for quite some time. Kuminga’s pending limited free agency and the ridiculous gap in contract negotiations last summer only make the situation more combustible. It’s a credit to both Kerr and Kuminga that this whole situation has turned out tame by NBA drama standards.

And yet the Warriors’ front office, led by Mike Dunleavy Jr. with a stronger than ever influence from the Lacob family, afraid to make the big, bold move that could give this team the boost it needs.

They will not commit the franchise to Kuminga – bold move no. 1 – because they know it would be a disaster that would start with firing Kerr and be followed by paying Kuminga around a quarter of a billion dollars.

But they won’t trade Kuminga – the brave alternative – because they’re too scared of what the unathletic 22-year-old power-wing could become elsewhere.

So instead of deciding one way or the other and living with the consequences, they’ll settle for passive-aggressive player-coach showdowns and consistent mediocrity (at best).

I won’t insult your intelligence by saying that Kerr is blameless in this situation — like Kyle Shanahan in Santa Clara, his idealism gets in the way of wins.

But the decision between him and Kuminga is so clear to me that I find it ridiculous that there is even a debate.

On Friday, Kerr called Kuninga’s career-high 34-point performance “one of the best games I’ve ever seen him play.”

The Warriors lost that game by 10, and that score line was far more flattering than the Dubs deserved.

I know what winning basketball looks like. You do too.

None of us have ever seen Kuminga play it. And sure, he’s 22, but he’s also been in this league — and in this system — for four years. Saturday will be his 240th NBA game, and despite an outburst like Friday’s, he doesn’t seem any closer to “figuring it out.”

Yes, Kuminga does just enough to tempt you to give him another shot, but never enough to convince you he’s worth a serious investment.

He’s the kind of player that eats inadequate front offices alive.

This doesn’t mean the Warriors can get anything of similar value back in a trade for Kuminga. As I wrote two weeks ago when the Warriors traded for Dennis Schröder, that was it.

The Dubs made that deal because it was the best they could do this season. Since then, Pat Riley has decreed from on high this week that the Heat will not trade Jimmy Butler. And while Butler was hardly the only player whose trade candidacy had been discussed in the NBA this offseason, I wish you the best of luck with one of the alternatives.

It was Butler or bust, and the latter won again.

But the Warriors should still dump Kuminga. It is strictly an addition-by-subtraction game. He might be the most talented player on the team next to Steph Curry, but as long as he plays on Steph Curry’s team, he’s a square peg in a round hole.

So unless the Warriors want to make this Kuminga’s team and put four corners on all those holes, the answer to what the team needs to do is obvious: cut your losses, trade Kuminga, and press forward.

Of course, that’s not what the Warriors will do—they’ll be crippled by an allegiance to a two-timeline concept that never actually worked, contrary to CEO Joe Lacob’s statements.

They perpetuate mediocrity through inaction – prioritizing hope over action by avoiding resolution of this team’s true conflict.

Originally published: 28 December 2024 at 6:00 AM PST