The Golden State Warriors certainly still have championship hopes in the 2022-23 campaign, but it’s safe to that their season hasn’t gone as planned so far.
After winning the 2022 NBA title, the Warriors haven’t looked like the same squad this season, and they’re just .500 with less than two months to go before the playoffs.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith isn’t impressed.
The veteran analyst called the Warriors a “disappointment” following their recent loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Although the Warriors were able to bounce back with a win over the Houston Rockets on Friday, they’re still just 30-30 on the season and have a lot of work to do in order to challenge for this season’s championship.
“Listen, you don’t have to win the championship,” Smith said. “But you certainly expected to see better than what you’re seeing from the Golden State Warriors. We’ll [talk about] that later in the days to come, but damn. They are a disappointment. They really are.”
If the season ended today, the Warriors would find themselves fighting for a playoff bid in the play-in tournament.
That’s certainly not where they expected to be when the season began.
The West is begging to be dominated but the Warriors have been a bottom play-in team for almost this entire season. Might be one of the greatest letdown seasons of all time given what they accomplished last year.
— Jim Park🏀🌌 (@Sheridanblog) February 24, 2023
But there is very little separation in the middle of the Western Conference, so if Golden State gets hot, the team could certainly still earn a playoff bid without having to go through the play-in tourney.
Moreover, the truth is that there probably aren’t many teams in the NBA that would be thrilled about drawing the Warriors in a playoff series, especially in the first round.
When at full strength, the team is simply too talented and experienced to be counted out, and that’s why Golden State’s title hopes are still alive in the eyes of many.
But there’s no doubt that the Warriors need to play with a sense of urgency for the rest of the season.
If they don’t, they won’t get a chance to defend their 2022 title.
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