It has been a rough start to the season for the Golden State Warriors. After an offseason that reeked of complacency, the product on the court hasn’t been up to the mark either. Despite the individual excellence of Stephen Curry, the team has struggled as a whole.
At 13-15, they are in ninth place in the Western Conference and seem to be trending in the wrong direction. While a multitude of factors might be holding them back, a former league veteran believes most of the fault lies with Steve Kerr entirely.
Steve Kerr Draws Slack for Warriors’ Failure Around Stephen Curry
An illness and a subsequent injury to Curry have caused him to miss some time this season. However, with 19 games played out of 28 total games for the Warriors, his absence cannot fully explain the team’s complete downfall.
Despite ranking in the top five in defensive rating, stringing together wins has been a problem for them all year long. That boils down to the offense, which ranks in the bottom-10 in offensive rating, which sounds like an impossibility when considering the talent on the roster.
As a result, Brandon Jennings, during an appearance on “Gil’s Arena,” had some pointed criticism directed squarely at Kerr. “They need to go in and fire Steve Kerr,” he began his fiery rant, before explaining his rationale.
“His schemes, him not wanting to play young players, the things that he is doing with Kuminga. It messed everything up. Jimmy Butler, he’s your second option, he’s only shooting 11 shots, that’s not going to work.”
Adding that he was playing some of his best players in the wrong position, he believed the decision ultimately lay with general manager Mike Dunleavy to make a tough decision regarding the harbinger of the dynasty in Golden State.
Some of these critiques have plagued Kerr throughout the majority of the Warriors’ run of dominance. So far, the results have outweighed any slights against him. However, with the results no longer lining up in his favor, the possibility of a drastic move becomes more realistic.
However, the schemes that Kerr has deployed have been working. They rank top-five in shot quality for the season, right in line with the other teams near the top of either conference. As a result, it is hard to pin the blame entirely on the nine-time NBA Champion.
So far, the rumor mill suggests that a trade to send Butler back out from the Bay Area could potentially be in the works. However, the Warriors need a more drastic change than altering just one star player to change the course of the franchise.
Unfortunately, in the current landscape of the league, it is hard to imagine a scenario where they can make those changes a reality.
