Tag: Golden State Warriors

Stephen Curry seems like a terrible friend to Klay Thompson

Klay Thompson’s homecoming was all about him until it wasn’t.

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, Winners. Thanks so much for reading the Morning Win today. We appreciate you giving us a bit of your time.

You ever had a homie take over your birthday party? It’s not fun.

I remember when I was a kid at one of the last birthday parties I can remember. I got Pokémon Gold version —yes, this was a really long time ago, folks.

Everything around me stopped. I just had to play this game. Immediately. So I take it out of the box and throw it into my Gameboy Color — again, this was a very long time ago.

I’m playing it. The homies at the birthday party are watching. But then I come to a standstill. For some reason, I can’t win a certain battle. It’s embarrassing. So, one of the homies offers to give it a shot. And, whaddaya know, he wins! Nice. We can finally move on to the next town.

Except it’s not me who is moving to the next town. It’s the homie.

He just … didn’t give the game back. He kept playing until it was time for him to go. And I’m just watching. Watching someone else play my game and steal my thunder in front of the whole party, which was probably like three other kids at that point. The party was no longer mine — it was the other kid’s.

That was kind of how Klay Thompson’s return to the Chase Center on Tuesday went.

The adoring Warriors fans greeted him with a standing ovation while donning signature Klay Thompson captain hats. Every time he touched the ball, there was a cheer. It sounded like a home game for the Mavericks every time he shot it.

He may not play for the Warriors anymore, but those are still his fans, too. They showed him that much. He got the welcome home he always deserved. And, for a while there, it seemed like it would be his night. He hit six threes! He even did the Steph Curry shimmy after one of them.

Then, Steph took the game from him.

The Warriors’ star closed the game with a personal 12-0 run, punctuated by an absolutely ridiculous 3-pointer over Derek Lively II.  That’s just insane shot-making. He hit the Mavs with the night-night celebration and then reminded us who built the Chase Center.

Y’all can put on captain’s hats and cheer for Klay when he does well and be happy he’s back in the building again.

It might’ve been Thompson’s night, but don’t forget. It’s still all about Steph. It always will be in Golden State.

Colorado controls its own destiny

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The latest College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday with Oregon (1), Ohio State (2), Texas (3) and Penn State (4) rounding out the top four slots.

But that’s not the most interesting story here. Rather, it’s the position Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes (17) find themselves in.

A year ago, Sanders’ team completely floundered down the stretch after a 4-1 start. This season, after a return to the Big 12, Colorado controls its own destiny moving forward. They could win the conference!

Here’s Blake Schuster with more from his latest CFP winners and losers column:

“A week after the committee seemingly told the Big 12 it was only getting one team in the playoff, here comes the Buffaloes to challenge the narrative. Up three spots to No. 17 in this week’s rankings, Colorado controls its own destiny with remaining games against Utah, Kansas and Oklahoma State. None of those are cakewalks, but the Buffs will be favored in each matchup.

If both Colorado and BYU are undefeated heading into the Big 12 championship game, would the committee favor a one-loss conference runner-up over a two-loss SEC or Big Ten team?

Let’s hope we find get to out.”

It’s not completely surprising that the Buffs are here. This team is much better than last season and the schedule is a bit more favorable.

Potentially having this team in the playoff would be a huge win for college football. It can legitimately happen! Let’s see if the Buffs can hold up.

Stick to hoops, CC

(Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

Don’t get me wrong — Caitlin Clark is a solid golfer. She’s been spending her offseason so far golfing.

But maybe this is a sign to chill a bit on the golf! Clark nearly took out spectators at the Annika Sorenstam LPGA Pro-Am with her shot off the tee. It was mostly funny. But look at how close this was!

Sheesh, CC. She can drop 30-foot bombs on the court at a moment’s notice. But getting the ball down the green? That’s a struggle.

El. Oh. El.

Quick hits: Russell Okung’s super late victory lap … Erik Spoelstra pulled a Chris Webber … and more

— Russell Okung waited 4 years to dunk on Bitcoin haters. Someone should let him know people stopped caring 4 years ago. Blake Schuster has more.

— Jalen Rose was all of us after Erik Spoelstra called a timeout he didn’t have. Charles Curtis has more.

— Here’s Christian D’Andrea with his weekly quarterback rankings, including Joe Burrow’s awesome play for nothing.

— Here’s Michelle Martinelli with a look at the CFP bracket if the playoff started today. Justice for Indiana.

— Robert Zeglinski makes the argument that Matt Eberflus is still the Bears’ biggest problem.

— Here’s how you can get a dozen donuts for nothing from Krispy Kreme on World Kindness Day.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading. Have a fantastic day. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

Steph Curry hitting a 3-pointer over Klay Thompson in their first game against each other was surreal

We still can’t believe this actually happened.

Golden State Warriors superstar guard Steph Curry played against his former teammate Klay Thompson for the first time on Tuesday night, which is still such a strange thing to type.

The revered “Splash Brothers” won four NBA titles together in Golden State and will go down in history as one of the great duos on the basketball court.

However, Tuesday night’s NBA Cup game found Curry and the Warriors playing against Thompson and his new team, the Dallas Mavericks.

Very early in the contest, Curry actually hit a nice 3-point shot right over Thompson, which you really must see to believe given how weird it is.

This is going to take some getting used to; that’s for sure.

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Klay Thompson got an incredible standing ovation from Warriors fans in his Golden State return

Alright, this is pretty amazing.

Dallas Mavericks superstar guard Klay Thompson returned to Golden State for the first time since leaving the Warriors this offseason on Tuesday night.

Of course, he was given a hero’s welcome by the Golden State fans in attendance after he joined the team in 2021 and helped bring four NBA titles to the franchise as one of the “Splash Brothers” opposite Steph Curry.

Warriors fans all wore captain’s hats to honor his “Captain Klay” nickname and gave him a wonderful standing ovation before the game.

You could tell just how much the moment meant to Thompson, who will most likely have his jersey retired one day as one of the franchise’s all-time great players.

While he was to play against Golden State after the celebration, this was such a cool moment for Thompson and his former team.

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It really must be 2016 again because the Warriors look awesome

Steph Curry is still cooking, but these Warriors are more than that.

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, folks! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you giving us a bit of your time this morning.

Picture this: The nation is in disarray after a tumultuous and divisive election season. We’re all exhausted. You turn on the TV and, BOOM. There he is. Steph Curry, in all of his glory, shooting 3-point bombs over defenders tightly draped on his jersey.

That’s a sentence you could certainly have typed in 2016 when the Golden State Warriors were at their absolute apex — the Kevin Durant version.

The version of that team that we watched against the Celtics on Wednesday night is not that version — make no mistake about it. But I’d be lying to you if I said this team doesn’t give me that same peak-Warriors feeling I had back then.

I’m not going to lie to y’all: I thought the Warriors were dead. I thought they were done. Cooked, as they say.

Golden State’s golden trio disbanded when Klay Thompson left. He wasn’t good last season, but he was a key part of that team’s identity. I couldn’t believe it when it happened — most of you couldn’t either.

SPLASH BROS 4 LIFE: Steph still misses his buddy.

Usually, when losing a core piece that helped shape a team’s identity for years like Thompson did, it takes a while to recover. You have to find yourself again as a team.

I don’t think anybody had that team pegged as one of the best in the NBA coming into this season. But today? That’s exactly what that team is.

Golden State went toe-to-toe on the road with the reigning champion Boston Celtics and gave one of the best defensive efforts we’ve seen against that team in a long, long time. The Warriors held Boston to 16 second-quarter points — the team’s lowest-scoring quarter this season so far.

The Warriors are impressive again. This looks like a championship outfit. We’re only eight games into the season, but the team’s +15.5 point differential says as much. And, remember, three of those games were played without Steph Curry. He’s the straw that stirs the drink, sure. But the mix of talent is good. It’s working in a way that we all thought couldn’t work again. It’s been fun to see.

There are some caveats to throw in here. The Celtics are not healthy. Jaylen Brown didn’t play for a third straight game because of a hip injury. Kristaps Porzingis has been out all season. If all goes according to plan for Boston, this is not the complete team they’ll be playing with into June.

With that said, this is still a really impressive win. And, it’s way too early for championship predictions, but I know I’d love to see seven more of these things this summer.

Sending love to Pop

Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Gregg Popovich hasn’t been on the Spurs’ sideline recently because of an undisclosed health issue that, quite frankly, has me concerned.

It has our Prince Grimes concerned, too. He wrote about it in Wednesday’s edition of the Layup Lines newsletter (subscribe here!). Prince asks us to keep Popovich in our thoughts the same as he’s kept all of us in his through all these years.

What a beautiful thought. Here’s more:

“It’s obviously too soon to jump to any conclusions, and we can take comfort in interim coach Mitch Johnson saying Popovich will be OK. But today especially feels like a good time to send thoughts and well wishes to Popovich. For one, because it’s the human thing to do. But also because Popovich always seems to have us in his thoughts, with a big emphasis on “US.”

Pop has never been shy about using his platform to speak about the most pressing issues facing our country. Even when it hasn’t been the most beneficial for him to do so, he’s delivered strong messages on social issues in times we’ve seemed most divided — like we do today. Popovich frequently uses his voice to speak for people whose voices can’t reach the places his can. Even if that means sparring with the former and future president.”

Wise words, as usual, from Prince.

Dak may be done

(Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)

The news about Dak Prescott’s hamstring injury has progressively gotten worse and worse with each update.

First, he was shifted to an injured reserve slot for the Cowboys, signaling that he’d be out for the next four weeks at least. Now, it seems, the quarterback might need season-ending surgery on his hamstring, according to the latest from the Dallas Morning News. 

THE REPLACEMENTS: Here are five potential replacements for Prescott, including his current backups.

Prescott reportedly suffered a partial avulsion of his right hamstring tendon. To be frank with you, I have no idea what any of that means, but none of it sounds good. It’s apparently bad enough that team officials are trying to determine whether surgery is the right route to go.

At this point, you might as well, Dallas’ season isn’t going great, anyway. There’s no sense in keeping Prescott around and rushing him back to play on a bad hamstring. Just end the season right here.

Maybe next year will be the year, Dallas fans. Probably not. But you never know!

Quick hits: Carrying Caitlin Clark’s torch … Pope Francis is a Saints fan??? … and more

— Here’s Meg Hall on Taylor McCabe shooting logo threes at Iowa like Caitlin Clark did. This is wonderful.

— Pope Francis keeps tweeting about the Saints and I know he’s not doing it on purpose but it feels like it’s on purpose. Anyway, Charles Curtis has more.

— Cory Woodroof has 10 NFL free agents who could change the second half of the season for a team.

— Steve Kerr delivered a MAGA joke after the Warriors win. If you need a laugh after yesterday, please click.

— LeBron James delivered a heartfelt message about his daughter after the election on Wednesday. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.

— Here’s the Starbucks Holiday menu! Thanks, Charles.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading. We appreciate your time. Have a great day.

Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

Steve Kerr delivered a cheeky MAGA joke about Warriors after Donald Trump won the election

Steve Kerr wasn’t subtle about this one.

It’s no secret that Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is no fan of Donald Trump.

He’s been outspoken about politics for so many years. And that was the same on Wednesday after Trump won Tuesday’s presidential election.

Before the Dubs beat the Boston Celtics, he had this to say: “I believe in democracy. I think the American people have spoken and voted for Trump. I want him to do well the next four years. I want our country to do well.”

Then, he jumped in with some sarcasm before returning to the hope for the United States and the government.

But what was his message to his team?

“I just told them in our meeting this morning,” he added, “‘Let’s make America great again and beat the Celtics.”

Quite the way to walk off.

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Watch: NBA superstar Steph Curry gifts Jayden Daniels his jersey

Steph Curry gifted his jersey to Jayden Daniels after Monday’s game between Warriors and Wizards.

Washington superstar rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels attended his first Washington Wizards game as the Commanders quarterback on Monday night. As you might expect, when the Wizards showed Daniels, alongside his mother, linebacker Bobby Wagner, and minority owner Mark Ein, the crowd went crazy.

Daniels being in attendance was such a big deal that the official NBA X account posted the video of him in the crowd.

A noted basketball fan, Daniels was into the game and rooting for the hometown Wizards against the legendary Steph Curry and four-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

Golden State would win, as Curry led the way with 24 points. Afterward, Daniels would meet Curry, and the two would speak. The NBA superstar took off his jersey, signed it, and gifted it to the NFL’s hottest young quarterback.


The star quarterback has helped lead the Commanders to a 7-2 start, their best start since 1996.

The NBA has a 3-pointer problem

NBA teams are shooting more threes than ever before.

Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Prince J. Grimes.

What’s up hoops fans. The NBA season is a week old, and it feels so good to be back. To get a rematch of the Western Conference Finals on a random Tuesday night in October was just an absolute treat. We should never complain about getting to see some good bump.

However, one thing that stood out to me from the Dallas Mavericks’ win over the Minnesota Timberwolves was the combined 78 three-pointers the teams attempted in the game. It wasn’t necessarily an issue, as they made about 45% of them, but it did follow a trend that may be of concern depending how you like your hoops and who you root for.

Teams are shooting more threes this season than they ever have in NBA history.

On average, NBA teams are taking 37 3-pointers per game this season, which is two more than last season’s average — the largest year-to-year jump since 2019-20 if it holds. It’s an increase of 10 from just eight years ago and 15 more threes than teams were taking 10 years ago when the Splash Brothers won their first title together.

The increase makes sense. Threes are worth more than twos. Of course teams are taking more. Especially after seeing how it benefited the Warriors. The Celtics rode the league’s most attempts to a championship last year. The runner-up Mavericks attempted the second-most.

But smart basketball isn’t necessarily good basketball. And when it’s bad teams trying to cosplay as good teams, it’s not smart or good. Which gets to the heart of my issue.

There is more than one way to skin a cat. The Denver Nuggets won the 2023 championship attempting fewer threes than the league average. Same with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020. Those teams leaned into their strengths. Similarly, the Celtics shoot a bunch of threes because they’re really good at it. Yet, it seems more and more teams are simply leaning into 3-point shooting because the math makes sense. Doing so without the personnel to execute it, though, is fruitless, and ultimately just makes for some unentertaining basketball.

Unless you have a lineup full of All-Stars and legitimately good shooters — which most teams don’t — you can’t be the Celtics. And unless you have players who consistently break defenses down and get them out of rotation, many of those threes are contested and coming off little to no ball movement. In the words of Paul George, that’s a bad shot.

It’s a bad watch, too. Even when the shots are dropping like they were for the Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls Monday when each tied franchise records for threes made in a game. Minus the ball movement, it’s not the most fun to watch when the good teams are letting it fly either. The games become too homogenous, robbing us of all the intricacies and skill that comes from good post play, a mid-range game or simply attacking someone at the rim and daring them to stop you.

I’m not the first person to make this point. Fox Sports’ Nick Wright went so far as to argue the NBA should change its rules after the Boston Celtics tied their franchise record for threes made on Opening Night.

Bomani Jones also said the league needs changes in response to a tweet about how many threes one of the NBA’s best athletes, Anthony Edwards, is averaging through four games (13.3!). “When the game incentivizes Anthony Edwards to play like Klay Thompson, something needs to change immediately,” Jones tweeted.

I’m not sure the best way for the NBA to move forward, or if it’s even something the league needs to address. As it is today, I’ll still watch it. It’s also possible younger fans that grew up watching Steph Curry and Klay Thompson like this style of play. I fully acknowledge I could be old man yelling at clouds here. But I can’t imagine it doesn’t become a problem in the near future if the 3-point shooting continues to increase.

It’s also possible the potential problem corrects itself.

According to Sportico data reporter Lev Akabas, teams have finally adjusted their shot profiles so that threes and twos generate nearly the same amount of points per attempt. Hopefully that means we’ll see a plateau in threes soon. If so, enjoying the NBA may be a matter of your tolerance for about 74 threes per game — 37 each team.

Personally, I’m less invested in the number and more concerned about how teams are creating those shots, and what they’re doing when the three isn’t open. What I’m seeing from a lot of teams today isn’t my ideal brand of basketball.

Chet Holmgren vs. Victor Wembanyama

Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

Speaking of players taking too many three per game, 7-foot-3 phenom Victor Wembanyama is taking about six per game this season despite shooting just 22% on them. But if there’s one thing that might get Wembanyama to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim, it might be tonight’s game between his San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Or more specifically, his matchup with Chet Holmgren.

Wembanyama and Holmgren have somewhat of a rivalry brewing, Mike Sykes wrote, and it’s very competitive.

“COMPETITIVE. In all caps. The games are fun to watch. They both do things we’ve never seen anyone like them do on an NBA court. …

Chet and the Thunder walked away with two wins in their three matchups. But Wembanyama would usually walk away with a highlight or two that made you go, “Wow. Can’t wait to watch more of this for the next 10 years.”

So, look. Maybe this isn’t a rivalry now. But the more these guys see each other, the closer this matchup becomes the real deal.”

Read more from Sykes on why Wembanyama and Holmgren have all the makings of a great rivalry.

Shootaround

— Nick Nurse is already sick of questions about Paul George’s and Joel Embiid’s health

— Netflix’s Starting 5 Season 2 cast is here and NBA fans will love it

— Rudy Gay officially retired from the NBA

— The sculptor of Dwyane Wade’s statue said nobody could’ve done better

That’s all for today. Enjoy tonight’s NBA action, including an Eastern Conference Finals rematch between the Celtics and Pacers.

Will Steph Curry play against the Pelicans? Here’s everything we know about his ankle injury

The Warriors are being cautious with Curry’s ankle injury

Steph Curry injured his ankle over the weekend in a game against the Clippers in the third quarter.

It didn’t look good. He immediately hobbled over to the Warriors’ bench after injuring it. Given the Warriors guard’s history with ankle injuries, this caused quite a stir for fans out there.

After the game, Steve Kerr called the injury “moderate” and said he wasn’t too concerned about it. But he couldn’t give an exact timeline on when the Warriors’ star would return to the lineup or if he’d need to miss any time at all.

Today, we have our answer.

KEEP UP WITH THE NBA: Subscribe to Layup Lines for more top-notch hoops analysis and nuanced perspective from the world of basketball

According to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, Steph Curry will miss the Warriors’ next two games, at least, before being reevaluated on Friday to determine where to go from there.

So Curry will be absent from the Warriors’ lineup until Friday at the very least, but potentially longer. That means he’ll be missing the Warriors’ national TV matchup against Zion Williamson and the Pelicans.

Curry’s long-term health is the biggest priority for Golden State here, so missing games early on in the season is likely OK with the team as long as the ankle is fully healed.

But Curry could miss quite a bit of time already this early in the season.

Steph Curry’s newest shoe – the Curry 12 – is available just in time for the start of the NBA season

How to buy the new Curry 12 basketball shoes:

Just in time for the best seasons of the year, basketball star Stephen Curry has released the newest pair of sneakers in his line of basketball shoes with Under Armour.

The footwear is the 12th edition of Curry’s sneakers and that is reflected in the name, the “Curry 12.”

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The shoes is designed with outer space and “Gravity” in mind, which is the name of the design and color scheme of the sneakers. The look has a light gray upper portion with the sides sporting a green and black look.

While newly released worldwide, the kicks are the same ones that Curry wore during his Olympic gold medal run with Team U.S.A.

The release comes just in time for the start of the 2024-25 NBA season. Curry, a four-time NBA champion, will embark on his 16th season.

And don’t forget, the drop comes just in time for the holiday season, too. It’s the perfect gift to grab for the Curry fan in your life.

The “Curry 12” sneaker lists at $140 and you can grab yours right now:

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We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Warriors Wire operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

Scott Van Pelt delightfully trolled Steph Curry for his Panthers fandom during interview

If you can’t win, you might as well laugh.

The Carolina Panthers are not very good this season, but they’ve still got one famous fan on their side.

While chatting with ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt at halftime of Monday Night Football, NBA superstar Steph Curry closed out the conversation with a “Go Panthers!” to support his favorite NFL team.

Well, Van Pelt couldn’t help himself and trolled Curry with a perfectly timed “good luck with that.”

The Golden State Warriors legend got a big laugh out of Van Pelt’s lighthearted snark, as Carolina fans can only chuckle about the sordid state of affairs in Charlotte.

Perhaps the Panthers will get things going eventually. Until then, the jokes like this will continue.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN. 

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