The Golden State Warriors were beaten soundly by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first game of the regular season. Most of the attention from the game was placed upon the barbs traded between Lakers star Luka Doncic and Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, but that shouldn't distract from Golden State’s bigger problems.
It’s understandable why the attention was put on those two. It makes for an interesting narrative as the confident young player stood up to one of the stars of the game. But the fact that some Warriors fans are praising Lendeborg may be because they already know the sad reality that the team may not be very much fun to watch this season.
No one would be shocked by that. Yes, Stephen Curry is still on the team and he will do his thing so long as he’s healthy which shouldn't be taken for granted. Yet outside of that, what is there to get excited about? The Kristaps Porzingis debacle has thrown a wrench into things, and the fact the team will be without Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody for the majority of the season already cast a pall over things.
At least having a brash young rookie on the team will make things sort of exciting. Sure, the Warriors may get beat up pretty good when going up against superior teams, but at least they’ll have a little bit of fire in them between Lendeborg and Draymond Green.
Warriors basketball might become quite difficult to watch
How long can that last though? At a certain point that fire may not be all that entertaining and fans will be left watching a below-average team that is old, injury-prone and which isn't getting anyone amped up for the future.
They’re still making the same old mistakes by turning the ball over, and while it’s all well and good for head coach Steve Kerr to implement a new offense which is meant to bring the team up to speed and more in line with the rest of the NBA, it’s going to take time to fully implement it. Even if it is fully implemented, it’s fair to wonder if they even have enough talent on the floor to execute properly.
If one wants to take some positives away from the game, it’s that the Warriors beat the Lakers in the first game of the regular season last year and then went on to finish 37-45. Los Angeles, on the other hand, finished 53-29 and won a playoff series. Perhaps somehow the roles can be reversed this season, but that seems highly unlikely when looking at the two teams on paper.
Lendeborg’s confidence was at least something to talk about and distract from the product on the floor, but that avoidance will not be able to last all season and fans might as well start getting acquainted with this underwhelming brand of basketball.
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