Golden State Warriors: Debunking four myths about the second unit

Myth No. 4-The starters must have played 40+ minutes last season because the bench is horrible. 

Ironically, Steph Curry played 32 minutes last season while Kevin Durant played 34.2 minutes, Klay played 34.3 minutes and Draymond played 32.7 minutes.

None of the starters (excluding the center) has played 40 minutes in their career thus far even with the increased competition in the West over the last few years.

This shows that the bench isn’t as bad as fans and media perceive. Jonas Jerebko taught us that with the buzz beater against the Jazz. Everything that David West, Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala do cannot fit into a stat sheet yet seem to be unjustly talked about by skeptics.

So before we crucify last season’s bench for being cheerleaders, we need to remember that the bench last season was more defensive than offensive; hence why Coach Kerr always put the defensive-minded players i.e.  David West, Kevon Looney, Jordan Bell with Steph, Klay and KD.

Defense sometimes wins championships, and that’s clearly been their motivation as they’ve shaped their bench unit to be defensively successful.