The Golden State Warriors currently find themselves in a version of basketball purgatory. They are barely above .500 and are too injured to really make any sort of run. One writer revealed that the Warriors have basically given star Stephen Curry the exact opposite of what he wanted.
Sam Amick, a writer for The Athletic, appeared on KNBR recently and dropped a somewhat heartbreaking quote about the current state of the Warriors:
"The unfortunate part for all of us who have appreciated Steph's career is that this is, unfortunately, the inverse of what he asked for, which is meaningful basketball. They are pretty close to the threshold of meaningless basketball right now," Amick said.
Stephen Curry's one Warriors wish has been denied this season
Amick's point is sadly quite true. With both Curry and Kristaps Porzingis out due to injury, the Warriors are really in a difficult spot. They will probably make the Play-In still, but if they can somehow win the two games, it will likely only earn them a seven-game series against a team no one could see them beating in the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs.
Curry dropped that "meaningful basketball" quote last season before the team went out and made the big trade to acquire Jimmy Butler. Curry's wish came true as the Butler acquisition gave them a boost and they made a brief run in the playoffs before the 2x MVP's hamstring injury derailed things.
Unfortunately, injuries felled Golden State again this season. Butler going down with the ACL tear was really the nail in the coffin, but Curry has missed a ton of time with various ailments. The hope was that Porzingis could stay healthy and contribute after they got him from the Atlanta Hawks, but he's only appeared in one game.
Injuries are out of a team's control, but the Warriors knew how old their roster was coming into the season. It wouldn't have taken a tarot card reader to predict that Golden State might deal with some injuries this season.
It's just frustrating that the Warriors really won't play meaningful basketball the rest of this season. The frustrations are starting to boil over as evidenced by a viral video of Draymond Green yelling at the team during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Perhaps Golden State can get healthy and try to get some momentum going before the Play-In, but at this point it all just feels a little meaningless, which is exactly what Curry didn't want.