This year’s NBA playoffs will be missing the Warriors’ Hall of Fame trio.
For the first time since the 2020-21 season, the NBA playoffs will lack the presence of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Golden State’s general manager, Mike Dunleavy, believes that the entire basketball world is missing out because of it.
“My biggest thing was [that] I’m disappointed for [Steph Curry], for [Draymond Green], our veteran guys, as well as our younger guys, that you won’t be able to play in the postseason,” Dunleavy told reporters on Thursday. “Like, that’s what everybody wants to see, not only here in the Bay Area, but frankly, around the world, to see those guys compete at the highest level.
“So for them not to be able to do that is really disappointing. I feel for them. It is what it is. It’s our own undoing, and [we’ve] got to live with it.”
The Warriors’ rocky 2023-24 season came to a close on Tuesday, following a 118-94 play-in loss to the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center, eliminating Curry and Co. from playoff contention after ending the regular season 46-36.
Among all of the questions surrounding Dunleavy’s plans with Golden State’s roster during the offseason, Curry, even at 36 years of age, isn’t even the slightest consideration.
After all, the Warriors general manager shared with reporters how his season-ending conversation with the star guard went.
“I don’t think there was any two-way messaging, it was just a discussion, [a] dialog [about] how the season went,” Dunleavy added. “What we need to do to get better. Where he’s at, hearing from him after 83 games and being 36 years old …
“I think he’s in a really good place, and I think he’s a player we’ll continue to lean on, both with his leadership and his play, and man, that guy is as resilient as they come.”
For Dunleavy and coach Steve Kerr, the elephant in the room continues to be the future of Klay Thompson, who becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer after completing a five-year, $190 million contract.
While Dunleavy expressed his desire to re-sign Thompson, it’s expected that the 34-year-old franchise legend will test the free agency market.
If that’s the case and the guard decides to move on, the disappointment from fans around the world – and the Warriors organization — certainly will stretch far beyond this postseason.
Basketball might have seen the last of the Warriors’ dynasty.