For the first time since 2016, the Golden State Warriors will not enter the long and dark NBA offseason as champions. The Dubs fell in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night, which provided a moment of history, as it marked the first championship for the Raptors.
Now, the Warriors have to face some serious questions once the offseason rolls around. Figuring out a plan for the injured Kevin Durant is at the top of the list, as is getting Klay Thompson back, even though he suffered a nasty looking knee injury on Thursday. DeMarcus Cousins’ future is in doubt, and of course, there’s just the general question of whether they’ll be able to get back to being champions after being knocked off of the mountaintop.
Two of the team’s leaders are confident that won’t be the case. Both Steph Curry and Draymond Green made it clear that they believe this is more a bump in the road than a sign of things to come.
“Our DNA and who we are and the character that we have on this team, I wouldn’t bet against us being back on this stage next year and going forward,” Curry said. “So really proud of the way that we fought until the end and this five-year run’s been awesome, but definitely don’t think it’s over.”
Green, as is usually the case, was a little more confrontational than Curry, calling out those who he claims are saying this is the end of the line.
“I think everybody thinks it’s kind of the end of us,” Green said. “But that’s just not smart. We’re not done yet. We lost this year. Clearly just wasn’t our year, but that’s how the cookie crumbles sometimes. But, yeah, I hear a lot of that noise, it’s the end of a run and all that jazz. I don’t see it happening though. We’ll be back.”
A lot of this is dependent on Durant and Thompson, but Golden State is still going to be very, very good next year. We’ll have to see if they still a championship-caliber side, and no one is going to say “we’re cooked” or anything along those lines in this situation, but with Curry and Green in tow, it’s hard to bet against the Dubs winning a whole bunch of games and competing for a title next season.
