Even though their title defense came to an agonizing conclusion in the Conference Semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers, Steve Kerr couldn’t be prouder of the Golden State Warriors’ resilience throughout this season.
As such, from all the hurdles they have overcome and the poor performances they have settled into, it is believed that they are not quite capable of regaining that golden status as a championship contender if compared to my run last year.
“We were barely in the playoff picture for most of the year,” Kerr said He said. “So, to make that push to get there, to win an epic first-round series and give the Lakers a fight in the series and get our chances, that puts us in the top eight teams in the league. That’s probably where we need to be.
“This is not a championship team. If we are, we will move on.”
The Dubs faced obstacles throughout the year, from injuries, inconsistencies and off-court issues involving their starting lineup. Amidst these, they managed to elude the Play-In Tournament to fill the sixth seed in the division.
They took on a hungry young Sacramento Kings team that made history after wiping out a 16-year drought and pushing them to the brink of elimination. They went on to appear in just seven grueling games to face a familiar rival in LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Behind James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers delivered a fight due to their loaded contributors and two-way balance, dragging them to a full six games and ending their reign as the NBA kings.
Although their breakdown is only painful in hindsight given that they really made it to the Conference Semis Finals, Kerr is still pleased that they were able to maintain their control during the competition.
He said, “You can look at the year and see all the ups and downs and there are all kinds of things that have happened and adversities that have happened.” “But our group stuck together, competed until the end and did really well.”