Warriors' Steph Curry: 'Easy to Throw Darts at a Team Trying to Figure It Out'
The new-look Golden State Warriors were blown out twice to open the 2019-20 NBA season, but Steph Curry said the following after Monday night's 134-123 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, per The Athletic's Anthony Slater:
"Everybody loves to label you when you're down, when you're losing. That's easy. It's easy to go on TV and say whatever you want. It's easy to throw darts at a team trying to figure it out. ... Say whatever you want to fill that 24-hour news cycle. It's cool with us."
Golden State lost its first two games by a combined 47 points. In fact, the Warriors trailed the Los Angeles Clippers by as many as 31 in the opener and faced a 41-point deficit against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.
After representing the Western Conference in each of the last five NBA Finals, winning three championships, the 2019-20 campaign represents a transition year for Steve Kerr's squad. The team lost two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant, 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala, four-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins and veteran guard Shaun Livingston, among others, this offseason.
Not only that, but five-time All-Star Klay Thompson is "unlikely" to play this season after tearing his ACL in June.
It's up to Curry and Draymond Green to carry the load while 2019 All-Star D'Angelo Russell works his way into the mix after arriving during the offseason. Thus far, it hasn't been the smoothest transition.
Green hasn't minced words about his team's early-season performance, telling reporters Sunday, "We f--king suck right now":
Though the Warriors got their first victory of the season Monday, Green said the following, per ESPN's Nick Friedell:
"We're still not a very good team. We have a lot of room for improvement. Just because we won one game doesn't mean we don't suck right now. We still have a lot of improvement to do. When I said we suck last night, I see a lot of people blew it out of proportion. A lot of former players who ain't never led s--t blew it out of proportion. We sucked. And we're still not very good.
"But I've actually known how to lead my entire life, so those that have never led shouldn't probably talk about leading. But we just got to continue to get better, and we got to continue to compete at a high level. The first two nights we didn't do that; tonight we did. But we still have a lot of room for improvement."
Ultimately, the only thing that will silence critics is winning—and Green knows that.
