Despite Steph Curry’s success, the Warriors have simultaneously instilled a system where every player has a chance to shine and play at their best.
History seems like it’s repeating itself with this Warriors team
By Mo Hussain, Contributor
Basketball fans knew that the Golden State Warriors were going to be a credible contender. However, no one anticipated the team would start the year winning 18 of their first 21 games. If the team keeps this pace up for the rest of the year, they could potentially break their all-time regular-season record of winning 73 of 82 games back in 2015-16. So what’s the reason for this resurgence?
1. Chef Curry is cooking…
In a nutshell, Stephen Curry’s returned to MVP form. His resurgence began last year as he managed to average a career-high and league-leading 32 points per game. This year, he’s reaching his third-highest points per game in the last six years with 27.8. That currently puts him as the second-leading scorer in the entire league as of now.
A significant factor in Curry’s resurgence is the fact that he’s allowed to be more ball-dominant than usual these past two seasons. Before that, Curry had to find his shots but also had to find ways for high-scoring teammates like Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant. With Durant off to Brooklyn and Thompson having not played since the 2019 NBA Finals due to injuries, Curry has a lot of room to individually shine on the basketball court.
2. Iggy is back…
One player that was a significant piece to the Warrior’s success in the mid-2010s was Andre Iguodala. Iguodala is an NBA Finals MVP winner for his defensive masterpiece on LeBron James in 2015. After the 2018-19 season, the Warriors decided to trade Igoudala to the Memphis Grizzlies. This year, the team decided to bring him back to the blue and gold.
Golden State head coach Steve Kerr talked about how important his presence is to the team. “It’s like we lost our soul a little bit the last two years,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said to NBA.com. “Getting him back brings a level of stability, intelligence and basketball IQ.”
3. Making the most out of their talent
Despite Steph Curry’s success, the Warriors have simultaneously instilled a system where every player has a chance to shine and play at their best. Aside from Andrew Wiggins, most of the players who are helping the Warriors on this run were average last year at best. Warriors Shooting Guard Jordan Poole is a perfect example. Who would’ve thought a guard averaging 12 points last year, would average close to 19 the following season and look like a star.
It is yet to be determined if the Warriors will keep up this potentially historic momentum, but this trajectory seems to be headed nothing but upward as of now. This is especially the case considering Klay Thompson’s return to an NBA court is getting closer by the day.
