Warriors Need To Find Their Edge Sooner Than Later

The Golden State Warriors have all the talent they could possibly want, but they’ve lost their edge somewhere along the way.

The 2014-15 team were energized by a culture shift that took them to a championship. The following year’s squad made history; after a summer of being told they only won due to favorable injury luck, they went out and looked to destroy every team that they possibly could.

Heartbreak brought the Warriors and Kevin Durant together and the two were locked in on their pursuit of redemption, winning 15 straight games to start the postseason en route to the championship in 2017. Last year, the Warriors showed signs of complacency and let their guard down against the Houston Rockets and nearly lost in the Western Conference Finals because of it.

The 2019 Warriors are very different from the teams before them.

Golden State has begun their quest for a three-peat with two stunning home losses—one of which came after building and squandering a 31 point lead—to the eight seeded Los Angeles Clippers.

Though the Clippers certainly deserve credit for battling and executing, these two teams aren’t on the same level. The Warriors’ talent should have dismissed them in four or five games and, yet, Los Angeles has extended it.

After a comfortable Game 1 win and a huge Game 2 lead, the Warriors took their foot off the gas and it cost them. Embarrassed after being on the wrong end of another historic postseason collapse, the defending champs flexed their muscle at Staples Center and cruised to two wins.

Once again, after reminding everyone who they were, they returned to putting out regular season effort and focus, losing Game 5 at home.

In a year where more teams are prepared for them and equipped to take them on, the Warriors have also felt more internal pressure than ever before. Durant’s free agency noise, Draymond Green’s health problems, Steve Kerr’s inconsistent rotations and sets, and the general mental and physical fatigue of multiple deep runs have all contributed to their apathetic approach to basketball this season.

The Warriors need to do something differently.

Their disinterest in playing a full 48 minutes probably won’t cause them to fall to the Clippers, but they can’t give games away to the Houston Rockets, who are waiting for them after quickly dismissing the Utah Jazz.

And, quite frankly, at this juncture, the Warriors’ indifference is inexcusable, regardless of what the talent gap is between them and their opponent is or whatever else is contributing to their listless performances.

The Warriors need to find their collective edge.

Over the years, they’ve been at their best when they feel slighted, responding to claims that someone could threaten them with 20 point victories. They’d come out of the gate firing and they’d close out strong without letting up; 15 point leads were insurmountable against the Warriors of the past.

Then, in an effort to preserve themselves, they would just flip the proverbial switch for a couple of minutes every game and demolish teams before they even knew what hit them. The 2019 team employs a similar strategy, but they only occasionally turn it on, like in Games 3 and 4, before relaxing again, like in Game 5.

The 2019 Warriors can’t be bothered to expend more energy than the bare minimum on most nights, even five games into the playoffs.

For years, the Warriors have felt invisible, but they themselves didn’t buy into it. They still played with the intensity and fire of an underdog despite having an overwhelming amount of talent and it carried them to some of the most historic seasons in NBA history.

This year, despite being in their most vulnerable state, the Warriors have embraced this notion of invisibility and it shows. They are sabotaging themselves and setting themselves up for failure, going through the motions and expecting teams to fold.

During this run—and especially in the Durant era—the Warriors’ greatest and most difficult opponent has and continues to be themselves. Unlike years past, however, the 2019 team is actually losing.

This summer is going to be franchise-altering regardless of what happens, but in the meantime, the Golden State Warriors need to find a way to block out the noise and fully commit to ripping teams’ hearts out from their chest again.

They need to fundamentally change their approach to the game and start taking their opponents seriously because teams, sensing weakness and vulnerability, are no longer afraid of them. These Warriors are mortal, they—from the players to the coaching staff—continue to act as if they’re invincible.

If they don’t and they stay in the same cycle that they’ve trapped themselves in this year, the Larry O’Brien trophy is going to find a new home next June and history will not be kind to the mighty star-studded roster whose ennui cost them a chance at a three-peat.