During the entire 2019 NBA offseason, there were questions about how the Warriors would respond after losing the NBA Finals to the Toronto Raptors. When will Klay Thompson return? Can Stephen Curry carry a team with only Draymond Green? How do you replace Kevin Durant?
No matter the answers people drew up, the results in the 2019-20 Warriors season are something only a few could imagine.
Through 35 games, the Golden State Warriors sit with only nine wins and are located at the bottom of the Western Conference standings. A dramatic change for a franchise that’s made five straight trips to the NBA Finals.
Although the Warriors were going through a transition period without Durant, losing Curry to injury early in the season set the Warriors down a path their core has little experience with.
Managing it all from right in the middle is coach, Steve Kerr. The Arizona Wildcat product registered eight total championships from the time he was a player to a coach. Pilling up losses is a new territory for Kerr.
Through Kerr’s first three seasons as the head coach of Golden State, his squad only racked up 39 total losses. In years four and five for Kerr, the team combined for 49 losses, but each season ended in a deep playoff run.
The most regular-season losses Kerr and company registered was last season when they finished 57-25. Now in 2019, the Warriors have already surpassed the most losses in the Kerr era with 27 through only 36 games.
While the Warriors are racking up losses, a majority of them came early in the season when the team only had eight healthy players at times. On top of losing both Curry and Thompson, several other Warriors have missed significant time.
D’Angelo Russell, Jacob Evans, Alen Smailagic, Damion Lee and Kevon Looney have all missed 10 or more games this season.
Although they were still without Curry and Thompson, in December, the Warriors were able to field a fully healthy roster for the first time since the start of the season.
The Warriors recently went on a four-game win streak, even stealing a Christmas Day matchup against the Houston Rockets. Unfortunately, the injury bug returned, taking out three key contributors over their past two games. Willie Cauley-Stein (illness) and Russell (shoulder) have missed the Warriors past two games, with Looney (abdominal) missing their last five.
Injuries have hampered the Warriors record, but in a transition season, it’s a new challenge for Kerr and his staff to coach up an inexperienced roster that’s been in flux.
As much of a change of pace 2019-20 is for Golden State, it’s also a switch for Kerr. Instead of focusing on leading a deep run into the NBA finals, he’ll need to turn his attention to development until Curry and Thompson return.