After a 129-101 demolition at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kerr addressed the media with a candor that spoke volumes about where his team stands.
“It’s a lot to make up with 22 games left. We don’t even talk about it. It’s not anything that is worth discussing because we just have to try to go out and win and see what happens.”
That’s not the language of a contender. That’s the language of a team hoping to sneak into the playoffs and see what happens.
The Warriors sit eighth in the Western Conference with a 31-29 record. To climb to sixth and avoid the play-in tournament, they need something major to change and quickly.
Stephen Curry is dealing with knee issues. The pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo fell flat. And the Kristaps Porzingis acquisition has raised more questions than answers.
When the Warriors traded for Kristaps Porzingis, they knew about his POTS diagnosis Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, which caused him to miss 14 games with Atlanta this season.
“When I heard about the trade, I read about his POTS diagnosis and then called Onsi Saleh, who was with us, he’s now Atlanta’s GM and he’s a good friend of mine. I called him and I said, ‘is this POTS story real?’
So the Warriors traded for a player whose health issues they may not fully understand—a risky move for a team desperate to maximize Curry’s remaining window.
Curry’s knee issues are the elephant in the room. At 37, he’s still capable of magical performances, but the body doesn’t recover like it used to.
Steve Kerr isn’t sugarcoating anything. With 22 games left, his team is staring at a steep uphill climb.