Stephen A. Smith, long-time sports journalist and commentator of ESPN’s First Take, gives his take on how good the Warriors can be this upcoming season.
Prior to the 2019-20 NBA season, a season that may go down as one of the craziest seasons in the history of the NBA due to the COVID-19 shutdown, the Golden State Warriors were undoubtedly the NBA’s premier franchise after reach the NBA Finals for five consecutive years, winning three NBA Championships include back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018.
With Kevin Durant departing for the Brooklyn Nets after tearing his Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors, along with Klay Thompson tearing his ACL in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, Warriors’ fans knew the 2019-20 season would present plenty of obstacles.
One thing NBA fans could not predict though was that Steph Curry would break his hand in the Warriors’ fourth game of the season against the Phoenix Suns.
Steph Curry has a broken left hand!
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) October 31, 2019
He had 9 PTS (3-11 FG, 1-7 3PT) in 21 MINS before the injury.
(Via @KNBR)pic.twitter.com/eTtVSxktE6
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With Steph and Klay both out, then Kevon Looney and Draymond Green dealing with on-and-off injuries, the Warriors realized quickly that the 2019-20 season would not pan out the way management had imagined and immediately set their sights on the 2020-21 season after acquiring Andrew Wiggins at the trade deadline and securing the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
With what should be a fantastic, young prospect with a lot of potential joining the Warriors franchise via the draft, along with Steph, Klay and Draymond back at 100%, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith believes the Warriors will pick up right where they left off and be legitimate contenders to dethrone the Los Angeles Lakers.
This is not even a damn discussion. The @WARRIORS have the best shot to Dethrone the @Lakers in the West.. and we all know why! pic.twitter.com/M7PdvgWsIf
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) November 6, 2020
On ESPN’s First Take, Smith explained why he believes the Warriors are primed to regain their mantle as one of the teams to beat in the Western Conference:
"“For a simple reason, it doesn’t need to be complicated, like some people might try to make it, they have the greatest shooting backcourt known to man. There has never been anybody, a backcourt in NBA history, that can shoot like these brothers, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.”"
When you look at the Lakers’ success this postseason in the NBA Bubble down in Orlando, their path to the NBA Finals in the Western Conference would have been a lot harder with a healthy Warriors team there. No disrespect to the Blazers, Rockets, or Nuggets, but none of those teams have the shooting capacity and playoff pedigree that this Warriors franchise has had over the years.
Anthony Davis and LeBron James had their way with all three of these Western Conference teams in the Playoffs because those teams did not have the size or personnel to be able to guard them.
Now, I know the Warriors also do not have the size to match up with Anthony Davis or LeBron in the paint, especially after losing Andre Iguodala to the Miami Heat, but Anthony Davis and LeBron’s game would change dramatically if they had to deal with Steph and Klay.
Who would the Lakers put on the Warriors’ backcourt? Alex Caruso and Danny Green would not be the answers for the Lakers and the tandem of Steph and Klay would cause great fatigue on Anthony Davis if he is constantly having to fight through screens and run in transition with these guys.
The biggest threat in the Western Conference to dethrone the Los Angeles Lakers has to be the Golden State Warriors and if the Warriors can get excellent two-way play out of Andrew Wiggins on the wing, it would cause a lot of worries and problems to suddenly disappear.
If LeBron James is to have any chance of winning his fifth NBA championship, he is going to have to deal with Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors who are eager to retake their title of the best in the NBA.