3. Health
The most obvious problem the Golden State Warriors will deal with this year is health. On top of losing Klay Thompson to an ACL injury, the team will have to monitor Stephen Curry’s hand which troubled him all throughout last season.
Curry is going to be the key to making the Warriors elite again. His importance is so high that even one injury to the two-time MVP could drop them out of playoff contention. This is the case for many teams and their star players – but it will be an even bigger problem this season with an ongoing pandemic plaguing the world.
We aren’t sure how the NBA will handle the spread of COVID this year but we can bet that any player who tests positive will have to be removed from the team for a certain amount of time. Considering how easily the virus can be transferred, an outbreak within the Warriors camp could knock out multiple core players from the rotation.
While most NBA players appear to be in good enough shape to suffer any serious consequences of the virus, it should be noted that players like Russell Westbrook and Rudy Gobert looked notably fatigued in the Orlando Bubble after contracting COVID. This is something everyone will have to do their best to avoid.