For the first time in five years opening night for the Warriors will be filled with questions

The NBA has been one of television's most successful reality shows before reality shows were relevant. Trade rumors, disgruntled stars, and player mobility have made the NBA the very force it is today.

For every great storyline, identities have to be formed. For the past five years, the Golden State Warriors have been the face of that reality show, letting their team identity shape the NBA. From revolutionizing the three-point line to the new wave of small ball, the Warriors identity has been clear cut… up until last year.

The former champs were known for their "strength in numbers" mantra, but the acquisition of Kevin Durant, then DeMarcus Cousins, slowly diminished that identity and replaced it with strength in star power.

The Warriors had once hung their hats on their defense, but that also faded throughout the Durant era, as the Warriors found it difficult to afford quality role players.

So as the Warriors step out of the Durant era into what feels like the unknown for a franchise that has been the one certain factor in the league for half a decade. The team's best on-ball defender, Klay Thompson, is out for most if not all of the year. The locker room presence of Shaun Livingston is now retired. Their swiss army knife that continuously saved the day, being Andre Iguodala was traded away. And now the Warriors find themselves going into war with the majority of the roster under 26 years of age, most never playing at the level the Warriors expect to play at.

This leaves head coach Steve Kerr with a slight conundrum. What will be this team's identity?

The simplest answer is to say their identity will stay the same-- wearing teams down with their depth and defensive versatility. But that may not be a realistic expectation. After Draymond Green, the next defensive stopper is up in the air-- which is worrisome considering the West is strongest on the perimeter.

Preseason did little to nothing as far as answering this question is concerned. The Warriors' defense looked problematic while their offense didn't look like the same poetry in motion that the basketball world has come accustomed to. To say the least, Steve Kerr is most likely going to have to use the first month of the season solving this identity crisis.

This is where opening night can be a bit tricky. The Warriors open with the Los Angeles Clippers-- a team that used the past two off-seasons to build onto an already solid identity. The Clippers waived or traded away just about everyone who was on the team during the Lob City era. Letting Jerry West take the wheel, Los Angeles took a team of underdogs and built one of the grittiest teams in the Western Conference. Then during the summer, West found a way to add not one but two superstars to mix. The Clippers are now a defensive powerhouse with the offensive punch of the reigning Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard, and 2019 MVP candidate Paul George.

"The thing with the Clippers, they already had a really good team before their summer. They built something over the last couple of years," Kerr said. "… Obviously, you throw Kawhi into the mix, and eventually Paul George, and they're a hell of a team."

It was easy to see the Clippers are going to be a tough out Tuesday night in their opener against the Los Angeles Lakers. Their defense was the same hardnose, handsy nuisance that took the Warriors to six games in the first round of the 2019 playoffs. What made the Clippers scary were the options they had on offense. Kawhi is going to be great. Lou Williams isn't a three-time Six Man of the Year for nothing. Patrick Patterson has been a quality roe player for years, same with Mo Harkless, and Patrick Beverly. When you put all of that together, it's easy to wear teams down, similar to past Warriors teams.

For the Warriors, they will have to find a way to put together defensive stops early. Throughout the preseason, the Warriors found themselves in early holes, being dominated inside. Fast break points came too easy for opposing teams, while Golden State's offense felt stalled.

It was easy to tell that D'Angelo Russell was still trying to find his place in the offense. It was also easy to see Kerr was trying to figure out the same thing. There were times that Kerr had D'Lo running the one with Curry off the ball and vice versa.

No matter who was on the ball, the offense consisted of a lot of standing around waiting for Stephen Curry to do something. As exciting as this form of offense can be, this method can create scoring droughts. Without the presence of Klay Thompson and the playmaking of Iguodala and Livingston, teams can freely double Curry or even go into a zone. The idea of a zone was something new but proved successful in the Finals. The Raptors went into a box and one, which left one defender in man on Curry and the other four defenders in a zone.

The Clippers most likely won't resort to a zone, but they do have the defensive bodies to wear Curry down, making DLo's play crucial to Thursday night's game. More importantly, a perimeter defensive stopper is going to have to step up from the young pack on the team. With Thompson out, the Warriors' have a defensive hole in the most critical position in the Western Conference. That needs to be filled if the Warriors' hope to compete, let alone win Thursday night's game.

From Kawhi Leonard to Lou Williams, the Clippers guards have the ability to turn a game around. Just look at Tuesday's night game against the Lakers. In the fourth quarter, Leonard seemed to have gone cold, but then Lou Williams caught fire.

A defensive stopper will probably be one of the more decisive factors to Thursday night's game. Right now, the Warriors are hoping Glenn Robinson III can fill that role, but the door is open for Alec Burke and Jordan Poole to fill that role.

The Clippers are the current favorites in what feels like a wide open Western Conference, while the Warriors are still trying to figure things out. Opening night can be telling for the Dubs, but then again, in the words of Doc Rivers, "It's just one of 82."