Even as the Golden State Warriors collected their rings and raised a banner to open this NBA season, there has been a “is this the last dance” vibe hanging over the team. There already were questions about if the Warriors could afford to keep this roster together and if Draymond Green would be the odd man out before Green threw a right cross at Jordan Poole.
Stephen Curry tried to shut down that last dance speculation Tuesday night before his Warriors knocked off the Lakers. From an exclusive interview with Shayna Rubin of the San Jose Mercury News:
The end of this Warriors era will come, maybe as soon as next summer, or maybe a few years down the line (how Green and the team perform this season will have a bearing on that).
Just don’t expect the Warriors to decide to trade Green this season, they plan to chase another ring. If the evidence of their actions were not enough of an indication — Green was not suspended and was out there collecting his ring Tuesday night with his teammates — then listen to the reporting of ESPN’s Zach Lowe on the latest Lowe Post podcast.
It will be up to Kerr and the locker room leaders — Curry, Andre Iguodala — to help the team get past everything and focus on winning. With a veteran roster, this team should be able to focus on the task at hand, be professional, and deal with each other (so long as Green doesn’t do something to rip open the wound again, or create a new one).
Next summer, Warriors ownership and management will have some hard decisions to make. The music is going to stop at some point and Green could be the guy without a chair. But for now, the music plays on, and the Warriors are focused on winning a fifth title in this era.