THE CHASE CENTER in San Francisco it’s empty, even when the Golden State Warriors occupy the court. It is a cavernous structure, an ark whose characteristics capture the novelties and aesthetics of the age of technology. Not long ago, Golden State was one of those newcomers, a team that changed the way we play basketball. Stephen Curry challenged what for decades was considered a good shot. Draymond Green challenged what for decades tactics believed should be an NBA center. Klay Thompson embodied a modern escort. The team struck the right balance between data-driven efficiency and the fine arts of basketball.
Five consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals, three championships.
Two-and-a-half years into their most recent title and seven games into the season, the Warriors today look more like a team of NBA workers than an exceptional one, struggling with the same problems that mid-table teams go through. beginning months trying to resolve –identity of the team, individual roles, collective acceptance. They still have Curry, a star who is proving he is capable of dragging his neck on a medium roster in the postseason. But without much depth, the Warriors must empower young prospects and marginal players to perform roles previously performed by sages like Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston.
With Thompson out of season, they will spend time acclimating to newcomers like Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr. and coaching his promising rookie, James Wiseman. These are exciting projects for the Warriors. If they squint their eyes enough and imagine Thompson swinging around staggered screens, the sum of those parts could tempt 2021-22.
But the Warriors also have an existential uncertainty: will this core ever win another title?
This question informs all items in the to-do list. Wiseman is being prepared to have the skills and knowledge needed to be fifth in a championship team. Curry and Green are tasked with maintaining their main level of play and the ability that allowed the Warriors to mock their opponents. There’s the biggest imperative to bring strangers to the cleda and feed them this special Golden State sauce.
The Warriors don’t seem to be contenders this season, not without Thompson. The first results say the same, as they reach their two-game series with the LA Clippers (10 pm ET Wednesday for ESPN) with 4-3, ranking 18th in offensive efficiency and 24th in defense.
But the Warriors have as much at stake as any other marginal playoff contender, much of what has been invested in Curry, Green and Wiseman, even as they wait to make their bet. They are in a state of discovery, learning how to be mortal in a league in which they were transcendent throughout their lives in the NBA.