Tag: Golden State Warriors

Steph Curry and Warriors join in Oakland protest — Times-Standard

Dressed head-to-toe in black, his right fist thrust firmly in the air, Steph Curry took a knee alongside several hundred protesters Wednesday in Oakland. Along with four other Warriors, Curry joined a 3.4 mile march around Oakland’s Lake Merritt to protest the death of George Floyd last week at the hands of Minneapolis police. The…

Steph Curry and Warriors join in Oakland protest — Times-Standard

Dressed head-to-toe in black, his right fist thrust firmly in the air, Steph Curry took a knee alongside several hundred protesters Wednesday in Oakland.

Along with four other Warriors, Curry joined a 3.4 mile march around Oakland’s Lake Merritt to protest the death of George Floyd last week at the hands of Minneapolis police. The march was organized by Curry’s teammate Juan Toscano-Anderson, a Castro Valley native of African American and Mexican descent.

“My name is Juan Toscano-Anderson, and I play for the Warriors,” Curry’s teammate said through a megaphone as the two-time NBA MVP looked on. “But, before the Warriors, I’m a black man. Half black. Half Mexican.”

In addition to Curry and Toscano-Anderson, Klay Thompson, Damian Lee and Kevon Looney marched alongside protesters wearing black, carrying signs and chanting “NO RACIST POLICE. NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE.”

After four days of protests in Oakland, some violent, Toscano-Anderson made an announcement via Twitter late Tuesday night.  “JOIN US TOMORROW. PEACEFULLY!” he wrote above a flyer that provided details of the event.

JOIN US TOMORROW. PEACEFULLY! pic.twitter.com/Z9Ji3QtqBl

— Juan Toscano Anderson (@juanonjuan10) June 3, 2020

The march began with eight minutes of silence — protesters laying chest-down on the lawn at the Lake Merritt Amphitheater — representing the amount of time Floyd lay on the street while police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck, killing him.

The silence was interrupted by Floyd’s last words. Cries of “I CAN’T BREATHE,” “MAMA” and “MY NECK” echoed across the lake.

Curry, Lee and Toscano-Anderson then began marching with protesters, first in front of the Alameda County courthouse and onto Lake Merritt Blvd. Midway through the march, Thompson and Looney joined Curry and Lee as Toscano-Anderson led.

Eventually, the march rounded onto Lakeside Drive. In happier times, this is where the Warriors’ championship parades have ended.

“I’ve got people in the locker room who are not only going to stand up for what I stand up for, but who are actually going to stand up with me,” Toscano-Anderson said. “It’s a different feeling. I’d run through a wall for those guys now.”

As protests unfolded across the country in the days since Floyd’s death, Toscano-Anderson and a group of childhood friends felt they needed to do something for their community. After exchanging texts and phone calls, the group made the decision to arrange the peaceful protest around 8:30 pm Tuesday night. By 10:15, they posted their plans to social media. They had no idea how many people would turn out on such short notice.

As protesters filed into the amphitheater, Curry and his wife Ayesha quietly made an entrance and took a seat. They were not approached for autographs or selfies. This wasn’t a day for anything like that.

“People know what they mean to the Warriors community,” Toscano-Anderson said of the Currys. “But, unless you’re from Oakland, you don’t really understand what Steph means to the Oakland community.”

Steph Curry and Ayesha Curry marching around Lake Merritt. pic.twitter.com/g56rHydnD5

— Wes Goldberg (@wcgoldberg) June 3, 2020

While helping organize the protest, Toscano-Anderson was nervous about the blowback he might receive. After all, he only made his NBA debut this past season after toiling in Mexico’s professional league and the G League, and figures to be deep on Golden State’s bench next season, if he makes the roster at all.

But he received the support of the Warriors organization, which was only buoyed by Curry’s appearance. “If I got Steph Curry out here with me, nobody trippin,” Toscano-Anderson said.

Confidently, Toscano-Anderson helped lead the march, breaking at intersections to talk to the group of protesters with his megaphone. At one corner, Curry, wearing a black face mask and dark sunglasses under a black bucket hat, chanted “DON’T SHOOT” and put both hands in the air before kneeling for another moment of silence.

As the country deals with the fallout of Floyd’s death, the sports world has grappled with how to make a statement while preserving its own business interests, and the NBA is finalizing plans to resume its season.

Last week, the Warriors issued a statement saying “We condemn, in no uncertain terms, racism and violence perpetrated against members of the Black community, and we call on all people to channel their justifiable anger into creating a more just and equitable society.”

Prepared statements can only do so much. The NBA’s players, a majority of whom are black, are in a unique position to help bring awareness to these issues.

“It’s not a million people, it’s not 100,000 people, it’s not 10,000 people, but it’s a crowd,” Toscano-Anderson said. “It’s just a step in the right direction.”

Coronavirus: San Francisco’s plan means Warriors can resume practicing soon — Times-Standard

Part of San Francisco’s new multi-phase plan to reopen the city announced on Thursday means the Warriors could return to Chase Center to practice as soon as June 15. But Phase 2B of Mayor London Breed’s strategy, which allows “sports with no fans” in San Francisco in two weeks, also could soon be rendered meaningless…

Coronavirus: San Francisco’s plan means Warriors can resume practicing soon — Times-Standard

Warriors’ Kevon Looney undergoes surgery to repair core muscle injury — Times-Standard

Warriors center Kevon Looney underwent successful surgery on Tuesday to repair a core muscle injury and is expected to be ready for the start of next season, the team announced. Looney, 24, missed 45 games this season with various injuries, including a hamstring strain, a neuropathic condition and, most recently, an abdominal strain that led…

Warriors’ Kevon Looney undergoes surgery to repair core muscle injury — Times-Standard

Kevin Durant gone from the Warriors, far from forgotten — Times-Standard

Hey Kevin Durant, the night man from the Hotel California would like a word with you: You can check out of the Golden State any time you like, but you can never leave. It’s going on 11 months since Durant forced his passage from the Warriors to the Brooklyn Nets and it seems he has…

Kevin Durant gone from the Warriors, far from forgotten — Times-Standard

Hey Kevin Durant, the night man from the Hotel California would like a word with you:

You can check out of the Golden State any time you like, but you can never leave.

It’s going on 11 months since Durant forced his passage from the Warriors to the Brooklyn Nets and it seems he has never left. During that time he has rehabilitated his torn Achilles tendon. He has (presumably) bonded with his new besties. He has mused about representing the United States in the 2020 Olympics in Japan (when that was still a thing). He revealed that before the 2015-16 season he intended to bolt the Oklahoma City Thunder to join the Warriors because his game was growing and “I didn’t play with a lot of skill guys.”

What Durant has not done in the interim: play in an official game, disengage from former teammate Draymond Green, and shaken the dust off his Warriors’ tenure.

Give you an example: Recently the San Francisco Chronicle excerpted a new book, “The Victory Machine: The Making and Unmaking of the Warriors Dynasty,” authored by Ethan Strauss, who has covered the team for ESPN, and most recently, The Athletic.

The excerpts, to say the least, feed into the narrative that Durant is sensitive and thin-skinned.

From the book:

“KD … accused me of trying to ‘rile up Steph’s fans. He expressed that this was a constant theme in the Bay. All of us local (reporters) just wanted to kiss Steph’s ass at (Durant’s) expense. This was KD’s consistent lament. He would frequently squabble in direct-message conversations with the Warriors fans on Twitter, frequently accusing them of favoring Steph at his expense. In one such exchange that foreshadowed things to come, he was asked by the WarriorsWorld account whether two-time MVP Steph Curry or Kyrie Irving was the better player. ‘I gotta really sit down and analyze it,’ (Durant) said.”

In fairness, Durant was in the spotlight his entire time with the Warriors, and was a target for fans and NBA players who believed he “broke the NBA” when he joined up with the dynastic Warriors. He didn’t ask for that. But he seemed incapable of ignoring the noise.

The Chron’s post included an exchange between Durant and Connor Letourneau, the newspaper’s Warriors beat reporter who had appeared on a podcast of which Durant was made aware. Again, the encounter fed into the KD scouting report — seemingly seeking validation.

“I’m just standing in the locker room near the door, on my phone and he is walking out of the locker room and he stops and he looks at me and he just goes, ‘Have I been good to you?,’” Letourneau told Strauss. “I’m like, ‘What do you mean have you been good to me?’ And he just keeps repeating himself over and over, ‘Have I been good to you? Have I been good to you?’ He’s kind of creeping towards me, and I have no idea what he’s upset about at this point. I have no idea what’s going on.”

Finally, over the weekend Warriors GM Bob Myers who has been watching “The Last Dance,” the story of the Michael Jordan Bulls, couldn’t help but see parallels between the Bulls and the the Warriors — starting with two great teams trying to mesh strong personalities, and navigate the grind of high-stakes competition.

“The second (NBA title) with Kevin it felt like, ‘Well, we just did what we were supposed to do, and great job,” Myers told ESPN’s Nick Friedell. “It wasn’t joy. I’m sure a lot of people felt differently. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. I think there’s just a weight to everything.”

Warriors GM Bob Myers says team will be “good partners” if league tries to restart regular season — ProBasketballTalk | NBC Sports

The Warriors have the worst record in the NBA.

Warriors GM Bob Myers says team will be “good partners” if league tries to restart regular season — ProBasketballTalk | NBC Sports

Draymond Green is the key to the Warriors’ success — LEAGUE ALERTS

Once again, Draymond Green seems to be the center of attention and the talk of the league as some NBA executives have gone as far as to recommend Bob Myers, Golden State’s GM, to trade the former Defensive Player of the Year in order to get another lottery pick. Before going any further, I must […]

Draymond Green is the key to the Warriors’ success — LEAGUE ALERTS

Here’s How Steph Curry Earned Himself Cealey Godwin’s ‘Ceal Of Approval’ — NESN.com

Steph Curry clearly has a big heart. The Golden State Warriors star spent part of his Wednesday FaceTimeing with intensive care nurses at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland, Calif. after learning one of them wore his jersey under her scrubs. Curry thanked her and her co-workers for their “selflessness” and “sacrifice” while battling…

Here’s How Steph Curry Earned Himself Cealey Godwin’s ‘Ceal Of Approval’ — NESN.com

Warriors keeping options open with top-5 NBA draft pick: ‘The best player is not obvious’ — Daily Republic

By Wes Goldberg, The Mercury News Sometimes Warriors head coach Steve Kerr laughs when he reads articles grading selections of past NBA drafts. “It’s a tough position to be in to have to write about these guys and grade teams when nobody really knows but, after the fact, it’s sort of hilarious,” Kerr said. “Pascal Siakam […]

Warriors keeping options open with top-5 NBA draft pick: ‘The best player is not obvious’ — Daily Republic
“It’s a tough position to be in to have to write about these guys and grade teams when nobody really knows but, after the fact, it’s sort of hilarious,” Kerr said. “Pascal Siakam going 27th and people complaining about the Raptors not knowing what they were doing, because so-and-so was available. Are you nuts? If you did that re-draft, he’d be top-five.”
The NBA draft lottery is scheduled for May 19, and the Warriors are poised to select no later than fifth. However, they know the best player in the draft could end up being selected much later. With that in mind, the Warriors are taking a deep look at prospects, going beyond the players most often discussed at the top of the draft.
As Kerr, general manager Bob Myers and the rest of the Warriors’ front office spend the hiatus watching film and scouting prospects, their final draft board for their first-round pick is expected to be whittled down to about 15 players by draft night.

more….
Warriors keeping options open with top-5 NBA draft pick: ‘The best player is not obvious’ — Daily Republic

NBA Canada series: Andrew Wiggins blooms in the Bay with Warriors — Toronto Sun

Canada set an NBA record for most non-American players on opening-day rosters this season. There were 16 in all, as well as four more on two-way contracts, meaning they could split time between the NBA and its development league, the G League. Two more Canadians got called up during the year. In the coming weeks…

NBA Canada series: Andrew Wiggins blooms in the Bay with Warriors — Toronto Sun

Canada set an NBA record for most non-American players on opening-day rosters this season. There were 16 in all, as well as four more on two-way contracts, meaning they could split time between the NBA and its development league, the G League. Two more Canadians got called up during the year. In the coming weeks we’ll continue to take a look at how the brightest lights of this golden generation of Canuck hoopers fared in 2019-20.

Next up, new Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins, of Vaughan, ON.

RECAPPING THE SEASON

Season 6 was definitely the oddest one for the former NBA rookie of the year and No. 1 overall draft choice. Yes, even stranger than being drafted and playing summer league ball for Cleveland, who didn’t have LeBron James, then being moved shortly after James decided to return home.

Andrew Wiggins got off to a fantastic start for the Minnesota Timberwolves, looking like a potential all-star in November, when he averaged 27.1 points, 4.1 assists and 1.4 blocks per game in 11 appearances on 48% shooting, including 39.5% work from three-point distance. The most scrutinized Canadian prospect ever had gone through ups and downs for years, but finally appeared to have broken through. But his production slipped from there, the Timberwolves again were one of the league’s worst teams (an injury to star big man Karl-Anthony Towns didn’t help) and, under new management, the Wolves decided to make a big move. D’Angelo Russell, a close friend of Towns, was brought in from Golden State, with Wiggins and some draft considerations going the other way.

All of a sudden, all of the pressure and expectations Wiggins had dealt with for his entire career evaporated. As head coach Steve Kerr has said, Wiggins was looked at as a saviour in Minnesota after being the key return for Kevin Love and then being given a massive contract. Now, he just needed to fit in and play his role.

Yes, the formerly great Warriors were a mess, with the NBA’s worst record, but they are a great organization with a culture of winning and will be in the mix next year when Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are back to 100%. Wiggins only ended up getting one game in alongside Curry (a loss to Toronto), but told us during that visit that he was loving life in the Bay Area and with the Warriors. It showed on the court, where Wiggins started to score a bit less (19.4 points per game in 12 appearances), but expanded his overall game, doing a little bit of everything. Like early in the season in Minnesota, Wiggins defended (1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals), rebounded (4.6 per game) and moved the ball well (3.6 assists, though his turnovers were a bit high). He got to the free throw line more often than ever before and his advanced metrics were nearly uniformly career highs.

He looked happy and he looked comfortable.

Wiggins has teased before. He is more athletic than nearly any other NBA player and can score in bunches, but has always fallen back to earth and been inconsistent. This year was the most encouraging of his career on those fronts and something he can build on moving forward.

FUTURE OUTLOOK

Speaking of which, life should be pretty great for Wiggins whenever 2020-21 kicks off. He’ll average about $31.5 million U.S. on the final three years of his contract, but, besides that, he’ll be playing with two of the five best shooters in the history of the NBA, along with Draymond Green and potentially the first pick of the 2020 draft. The game should be easy for him and he’ll get to show off his new-found and still improving play-making skills. “When we’re whole, we’re going to have a lot of shooting out there, we’re going to have the floor spaced and he’s going to be tough to handle,” Kerr said when the Raptors were in town. “It bodes well for next year when he’s playing with two of the best shooters on earth,” Kerr said on The Full 48 podcast recently.

A Wiggins has only made the playoffs once, but the Warriors should be a shoo-in, if healthy for a long time to come. And Kerr’s particularly enthused about what Wiggins can do on defence. He believes Wiggins, 6-foot-7, with long arms and that renowned athleticism, can at least slow down superstars like Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James better than most other players if they meet in the playoffs.

The Warriors have a huge fanbase, so Wiggins will become more of a household name in more than just Canada. Will he play for the national team again sometime? Head coach Nick Nurse thinks so and so does Canada Basketball’s braintrust. Time will tell on that front.

THE BEST OF WIGGINS

The top outings of Andrew Wiggins’s 2019-20 season:

Date Opponent Summary

1/27 Sacramento 36 pts, 9 reb, 8 assists in fourth-last game with Wolves.

11/8 Golden State 40 pts, 5 reb, 7 assists against future teammates.

02/12 Phoenix 27 pts, 5 assists, 4 blks in impressive early Warriors game.

11/11 Detroit 33 pts, 6 reb, 5 assists on 60% shooting.

11/13 San Antonio 30 pts, 8 reb, 7 assists, 4 three-pointers.

12/13 L.A. Clippers 34 pts on 60% shooting against Kawhi Leonard’s team.

01/18 Toronto 18 pts, 11 assists, 10 reb for first career triple-double.

03/05 Toronto 21 pts, 10 2 blocks in lone game with Stephen Curry.

03/03 Denver 22 pts, 5 reb, 10 assists in a win over an elite team.

02/08 L.A. Lakers 24 pts, 5 stl, 3 three-pointers.0

Here’s Why Warriors Declined Coronavirus Testing Amid NBA’s Outbreak — NESN.com

While the coronavirus outbreak in the NBA seems bad, with seven cases reported that we know of, the situation in San Francisco’s metro area is far worse. That’s why the Golden State Warriors have declined to use up valuable COVID-19 tests. “We’ve been told that testing’s in short supply,” Warriors general manager Bob Myers said…

Here’s Why Warriors Declined Coronavirus Testing Amid NBA’s Outbreak — NESN.com

While the coronavirus outbreak in the NBA seems bad, with seven cases reported that we know of, the situation in San Francisco’s metro area is far worse.

That’s why the Golden State Warriors have declined to use up valuable COVID-19 tests.

“We’ve been told that testing’s in short supply,” Warriors general manager Bob Myers said on a conference call, per USA Today’s Mark Medina. “We’re treating ourselves like people, which is what we are. We’re not better than anybody. We’re not worse. We’re just a basketball team, like any company. Right now, we’re not interacting with anybody. I’ve been told by our doctors that we shouldn’t be testing asymptomatic people in California.”

This decision by the team comes in the aftermath of four Brooklyn Nets, including Kevin Durant, testing positive for the coronavirus, despite the Warriors having been scheduled to play the Nets last Thursday.

Still, six Bay Area counties announced “shelter in place” orders for their residents, requiring everyone to stay inside their homes for the next three weeks as of Monday, March 16. This is the strictest measure taken in any city in the United States so far.

Head coach Steve Kerr’s mentality was that if none of their players show symptoms, the tests should go to those who actually need them.

“If any of our players do come down sick or any of our employees do, we’ll do our best to get them a test,” Kerr said. “But there’s definitely frustration that we don’t all have access to them. But there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Brooklyn traveled to San Francisco Wednesday night, right before the NBA suspended its season in response to Rudy Gobert’s positive diagnosis.

NBA Rumors: Lakers To Be Tested For COVID-19 After Four Nets Test Positive