Steve Kerr isn’t focused on individual stats.
The Golden State Warriors are one of the hardest teams to judge this NBA season. The Warriors started off the season surprisingly well, quickly rising toward the top of the Western Conference with a hot start to the year. Since then, however, they have come crashing back to Earth and are now trying to find the groove that has evaded them in the last few months.
On Tuesday night, that slide continued with a dreadful performance in a 114-98 loss to the Miami Heat. The Warriors seemingly had the upper hand in this matchup, hosting a Heat team that played into double overtime with the Sacramento Kings just last night. However, they could never mount the big run they needed to get back into the game, and the Heat kept them at arm’s length for most of the second half.
Young big man Trayce Jackson-Davis had a good night for the Warriors in the loss, finishing with 19 points and seven rebounds on 9-for-12 shooting. However, head coach Steve Kerr wasn’t looking for any silver linings when asked about Jackson-Davis’ performance after the game, via 95.7 The Game.
“I can’t sit here after that and be excited about anything. He scored 19 points. Great. He’s having a good season. But who the hell cares if we’re not competitive? If we don’t have a competitive spirit, a fight, and a willingness to compete through everything.”
Steve Kerr after… pic.twitter.com/Gg1w6sFU50
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) January 8, 2025
“I can’t sit here after that and be excited about anything,” Kerr said. “He scored 19 points. Great. He’s having a good season. But who the hell cares if we’re not competitive? If we don’t have a competitive spirit, a fight, and a willingness to compete through everything. I’m not gonna sit here and talk about any so-and-so had some points. Great. Who cares? It’s about us competing. Being the Warriors. Being the team we’ve been for 10 years and not feeling sorry for ourselves. That’s what I’m thinking about tonight. ”
Warriors falling into play-in mix in Western Conference
For the first 15 games of the season or so, it looked like the Warriors were going to be one of the best teams in the Western Conference this season. However, they have now fallen all the way back to .500 and are stuck in the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference.
Golden State’s 18-18 record puts it right there with the Spurs, Kings and Suns at the bottom of the play-in bracket, which is certainly not what the Warriors and their fans had in mind for this season. After the way the start of the season went, surely Golden State expected to be competing for another Western Conference championship in the spring.
The Warriors already swung one trade for former Nets point guard Dennis Schroder, but they may need another in order to climb back up the standings. Right now, Stephen Curry is the team’s only true star player, which is not enough in the ultra-talented Western Conference.
Of course, the obvious target here is Jimmy Butler. Butler has publicly requested a trade from the Miami Heat and is currently suspended by the team, so the Heat will definitely be looking to move him. The problem is that the Warriors would be expected to give Butler a contract extension, but it may be worth it to an organization that is trying to stretch their championship window as wide as possible during the last few years of Curry’s career.
