The Younger Warriors Need To Self-Evaluate

In life and sports, nothing is given, and everything must be earned. Playing time, accolades, and championships must be earned with effort, dedication, and sacrifice. The notion that organizations automatically owe everything to their players is blatantly inaccurate: The only aspect that organizations owe their players is a paycheck and the chance to prove they can earn it.

In the player empowerment era in the NBA, there has been a significant attitude adjustment and a sense of entitlement that has seemingly negatively impacted players' mindset and performance on and off the court, often times with high draft picks who are younger players. While this isn’t always the case, there are people specifically within the Warriors organization who definitely believe this notion.

“None of those guys in Miami are sitting there saying, well, I didn’t play, man, they put in so & so. They’re just all about winning. And you know this from the groups we've had. When you have that championship mentality, every guy is bought in, and every guy is just trying to win,” Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr on the Draymond Green Show when discussing the Heat’s current run.

Whenever Kerr talks to the media, he is very calculated with his words and the message he is trying to communicate to his team. During the last couple of years of the Dubs Dynasty, there seems to be a divide between the younger players and the staff when compared to the championship core. Ultimately, it’s up to the coaches to decide who to play, and it’s clear Kerr doesn’t see the requisite attitude from his young guys.

“Nobody cares about any of that stuff. You don't go into the locker room saying I should have played more. You just want to win, and that’s the beauty of finding that magic when you have a championship team. Everyone is bought in, and it makes your decision simple,” Kerr continued, on what separates championship and non-championship teams. 

There is a lot of speculation through NBA circles, on social media, regarding who Kerr is referencing, but the most likely candidates are Jonathan Kuminga & Jordan Poole. He has told the world that his team had a severe attitude problem, specifically with the young guys, which hindered their playoff run. There has been significant conflict between the championship core and the young core, as evidenced by Draymond Green and Jordan Poole’s physical altercation at the beginning of the season, that has led to issues on and off the court which are negatively affecting the organization as a whole. 

“I have the utmost respect for that entire organization, but it feels like they have turmoil for the first time in a decade in the organization. There’s a little turmoil, and I’m not sure they can settle it before next season,” said a Denver Nuggets Television Color Analyst on the image of the Warriors from an outsider’s perspective. 

With everything that coincided this past season, from the punch to the 11-30 road record to Poole & Kuminga going to the media and insinuating they are not being used properly by the coaching staff, there are glimpses of turmoil within the organization that have affected their championship mentality and mindset. 

The divide in Golden State revolves around their young players, specifically Poole & Kuminga, and what the coaches perceive as attitude issues, frustration with their roles, and lack of playing time. Ultimately the Warriors' prior season was a failure due to that divide which led to poor on-court performance, and an emphasis on personal agendas rather than focusing on the primary goal to win a championship. If they cannot resolve their alleged organizational attitude issues and how they conflict from top to bottom, then they will no longer be considered a championship team from now on and quite possibly into the future.

(Photo credit: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)