It should be no surprise that Stephen Curry reportedly isn’t happy with the way the Golden State Warriors’ season is going so far, with subpar play on the court and a great deal of turbulence off of it as well.
“He’s been frustrated with the season,” Anthony Slater of The Athletic said on the HoopsHype podcast. “There have been frustrations with Draymond [Green] missing over half the season due to suspensions. He does not like where their record is. I think he feels a level of career mortality, although his prime has extended extremely long and doesn’t look like it’s ending any time in the very near future. There still is a career mortality when you’re 35 years old, so he wants to compete now.
“He was in on the decisions this summer, including the [Jordan] Poole for [Chris] Paul swap and the prioritizing of more veterans. Getting Dario Saric in here. They talked preseason, including from him, how much they love the roster. That roster that the players love and Curry loves just hasn’t performed.”
After a 5-1 start to the campaign, the Warriors have gone steadily downhill since. They have lost five of their past seven games and nine of their past 13 as they have fallen below .500 to a 19-23 record.
They finally have Green available again after his second suspension of the season. He recently served an indefinite ban that ultimately became a 12-game suspension for striking Jusuf Nurkic of the Phoenix Suns in the face in December. That came after an earlier punishment for putting Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves in a chokehold during a game in November. The 33-year-old subsequently has appeared in just 18 of the Warriors’ 42 games.
The Warriors now are without Paul, who has not played since Jan. 5 because of a fractured hand that required surgery. He is expected to be evaluated again later this month.
In addition, the Warriors recently had two games postponed because of the death of assistant coach Dejan Milojevic.
Add to that an uncertain future for head coach Steve Kerr, who is in the final season of his contract.
It has created decidedly less-than-ideal circumstances for Curry, who remains one of the best players in the league in his 15th NBA season. He is averaging 26.8 points and 4.9 assists per game in his 39 appearances.
The Warriors may be able to turn things around by making a deal prior to the NBA trade deadline early next month. They reportedly are reluctant to trade Jonathan Kuminga, who is playing well recently, but may be open to discussing other players on their roster.
After winning the NBA championship in 2022 and reaching the second round last season, the Warriors enter play Friday in 12th place in the Western Conference and in danger of missing out on the playoffs. That certainly can’t be what Curry had in mind at the start of the campaign.
