The Golden State Warriors have determined that Stephen Curry’s sixth injury this year will be spent on something more important than seeding.
And that’s the harshest way to view Steve Kerr’s announcement that Curry will miss the first round of the Western Conference playoffs against one of seven possible opponents. The choice reduces decision-making, it reduces daily updates, it reduces immediate urgency and returns it into long-term planning. It places Curry in his most important role as a difference-maker in May and perhaps June.
And it reinforces Kerr’s long-held stance that health is more important than seeding, and that the true nature of the Warriors is as an ensemble rather than a collection of stars.
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In other words, if Curry’s absence means that if the Warriors don’t go deep into the fourth consecutive postseason, then it was simply not meant to be, and other, better, healthier teams will have to entertain us this spring and summer.
This may seem blasphemous to the average Warrior true believer, and so be that, too. But there comes a point where the degree of difficulty exceeds the capabilities of the players so burdened, and the Warriors have gotten three teams’ worth of misfortune in one year. There has been very little good news for a fan base that long ago became addicted to it, and Curry’s knee injury has merely painted a gray brick gray.
The obverse of this, of course, is that if they still win the title, the NBA can collectively whistle in admiration and acknowledgement that the only way to beat the Warriors is to force them to play in the National Hockey League. A team that used to be overloaded with skill and scheme and work and depth and good fortune is now trying to get by on skill and scheme, which makes them equal to at least three and maybe as many as six teams, and will have to outwork everyone come the postseason. There is no more lead-padding or cruise control come Game 83, and margin for error? Hah!
There should also be no "now it's Kevin Durant's team," or "now Draymond Green has to become more than he is" or "Klay Thompson has to score more than any two men ever have." The more one of the remaining Warrior stars tries to exceed what has been built, the worse it will get because they have been built as a fortress of equals, all with different but complementary gifts.
Golden State Warriors
In addition, Quinn Cook, Curry's replacement at point, cannot decide he has to be Curry. That's a fool's game, which his head knows, and a hopeless errand, which his gut and adrenal gland will have to remind him during games when they stop listening to his head.
But sitting Curry is the only thing to be done, because it is the only available option that doesn’t reek of needless desperation and misplaced priorities. The Warriors are playing a long game so that they can play a short game, and if that seems odd to the untrained eye, it’s because this is new. But more importantly, it is what is. Lamenting what isn't is simply wasteful.
And this will be the last time we cover this theme. The Warriors know the deal, you know the deal, the league knows the deal, everyone knows the deal. Now it becomes a matter of what cards are dealt, and how well Curry can coax his body forward and how quickly the team can reassimilate him into the grand plan when said deal goes down.