Ahead of the Warriors’ Christmas Day game against the Dallas Mavericks, coach Steve Kerr dubbed his team a “fading dynasty.”
It seemed like a harsh truth for a team that has won four championships in the last 10-plus years.
Warriors star Draymond Green, a focal point of that dynasty, did not dispute Kerr’s assessment.
“When you get down to it, the reality is it’s true. Dynasties don’t last forever. What you do is you try to prolong them as long as you can. You try to build on them as much as you can. But it’s true,” Green said Monday on “The Draymond Green Show.”
“Now, he didn’t say we’re a dynasty that faded. He said we are a fading dynasty. Guess what? Steph Curry’s in year 17. I’m in year 14. Klay Thompson, who’s gone, would be in year 15. When you talk about the dynasty, Steve Kerr is in his 12th year of coaching …”
“We’ve been at it for a while. So, when he says we’re a ‘fading dynasty,’ everyone knows that he’s not throwing salt. He’s not putting the team down. It’s true. But it’s our job as the ones inside the dynasty to try to prolong it as long as we’re given the opportunity,” Green continued.
In the three seasons after their 2021-22 NBA Championship, the Warriors have ended with two second-round playoff exits and missed the playoffs once in between. The team has been mired in a continuous hassle to stay above a .500 record and still sit at 17-16 well into the 2025-26 NBA season.
It’s clear, to Kerr and Green alike, that the once-firm grip that Golden State had on the NBA has been unclenched.
Nevertheless, the Warriors are not laying down. The blockbuster acquisition of Jimmy Butler last season catapulted a team through the finish line and into a postseason run that arguably ended prematurely with an injury to their superstar Curry.
“How long can we extend it? How much more can we do? That’s the goal. That’s the mindset. That’s the mission,” Green said.
The Warriors organization – at least Kerr and Green – are aligned in that mission.
“We know where we are. We’ve got to know who we are,” Kerr said last week. “We got to know what’s possible, and we have to take pride in the struggle, because this is part of life.”