The 2020-2021 Warriors Were an Imperfect Team, and That’s What Made Them So Fun
The 2019–2020 season was one the Warriors wanted to forget. With Klay Thompson being out for the year with a torn ACL, Kevin Durant leaving for Brooklyn, Steph Curry breaking his hand in the 4th game of the season the year was over before it even started. The D'Angelo Russel experiment failed as he was traded to Minnesota for Andrew Wiggins and a 1st round pick, (we’ll get back to this trade later) first-round pick Jordan Poole didn’t live up to expectations, Kevon Looney and Draymond Green missed time with various injuries leading to a team relying on a hodgepodge group of inexperienced players just to put bodies on the court. The Warriors finished with the worst record in the NBA which resulted in them getting the second overall pick in the draft, a pick they used to draft athletic, potential-filled, big man James Wiseman.
The 2020–2021 season didn’t start much better. Klay Thompson suffered an offseason Achilles tear taking him out for the year. Green and Wiseman missed the preseason and start of the regular season due to covid issues and the Warriors dropped their first two games of the year by a combined 65 points. The early portion saw the Warriors struggle to find their identity. Newcomer Kelly Oubre couldn't find his place in the offense, the second unit had no life, and the defense was absolutely pathetic.
There was one bright spot early on: Curry. Wardell Stephen Curry is the greatest shooter to ever live, there is little question about it. In a season in which many thought Steph would tarnish his legacy by showing he needed a team of all-stars to win, he did the opposite. It may seem ridiculous that a three-time champion, two-time MVP, and seven-time all-star had anything left to prove, but Steph somehow did. Being doubted isn’t something new for Steph. Coming out of Davidson in the 2009 NBA draft, scouts questioned his toughness, his physicality, and whether or not his historic three-point shooting would actually translate to the next level. Hell, the Minnesota Timberwolves picked two point guards ahead of Steph! He proved them wrong then and he proved them wrong again this year. With his epic performances night in and night out, Steph cemented his place among the top ten players to ever pick up a basketball. This season we saw Steph take his game to the next level. He led the league in points per game and carried a team that without him was one of the worst in the league. In the nine games that Steph missed the Warriors went 2–7 scoring 104.9 ppg. When Steph played, they were 37–26 scoring 115 ppg. He was masterful. Steph had seven games with ten or more made three-pointers. Nobody else has more than five in their whole career (Curry has 22). The dude is magic. When Steph went down with a tailbone injury at the end of March, the Warriors spiraled downwards dropping four in a row forcing Steph to rush back to action.
It took a couple of games to knock off the rust, but on April 6th, things started clicking for the team. The Warriors toughed out a 122–121 win over the Milwaukee Bucks led by 30 points in the second half from Curry and late-game defense from Andrew Wiggins. It was a sign of hope in a season that had been so up and down, a spark that would lead the Warriors down a path to believing that they can take on any team in the league and win.
From that game on, the Warriors went 16–6, including winning the last 6 games of the season. Curry would average 37.1 points per game during the stretch putting him squarely in the mix for the MVP award. It wasn’t just Curry, however. A team that on the surface seemed to be a one-man show was showing us all that they were actually much deeper than we thought. A group of rag-tag players have given it 110% all year long and have brought immense joy to the fans who chose to relax for one second, stop arguing on Twitter, and just enjoy the journey that has been this season.
Let’s start with the other future Hall of Famer on the roster, Draymond Green. The notorious, smack-talking, consistently disrespected Green put together what coach Steve Kerr called, “one of his best seasons.” The heart of the defense, Draymond’s impact was clearly felt when he was on the court as the Warriors defensive rating was nearly nine points better compared to when he was off the court. On the offensive side of the ball, Draymond was the conductor of the orchestra, the straw that stirs the drink, the cog that turns the machine, whatever overused analogy you want to use, Draymond was that dude. The offense started with Draymond. He always makes the right pass to the right player at the right time. Whether it be to Steph coming off a screen, Wiggins on a back cut to the rim, Juan Toscano Anderson slipping open, Draymond will find them. In May, Draymond put up a ridiculous stat line averaging 10.4 points, 9.5 rebounds, 10.5 assists, and 1.8 steals per game over the last month all while shooting an impress 54/40/85 line. Draymond looked younger and more athletic than he had in previous years and his swagger and confidence were absolutely infections to others on the team.
Juan Toscano Anderson and Jordan Poole were two guys who picked up a little bit of that Draymond confidence. Juan Toscano Anderson, the Oakland native, has had an unconventional journey to the NBA. After going undrafted out of Marquette in 2015, JTA headed to Mexico to continue his hoops dream. In 2018 he won the Mexcian League Most Valuable Player award and found himself on a G-League contract with the Warriors. During the 2020 season, he found himself on that depleted, last-place Warriors team. The Warriors brought him back this season on a two-way contract to be a locker room, depth guy, but injuries forced him into a prominent rotational role. Toscano Anderson seized the moment and became one of the key pieces of the rotation and a leader of the second unit who has also found his way into a closing role for the team. A player almost out of the Draymond Green mold, he did it all for the Warriors. Playmaking, rebounding, clutch buckets, hustle plays, trash-talking, there's nothing JTA won’t do to help the team win. He is an easy guy to root for, a local kid who worked his ass off to achieve his dreams and wants nothing more than to win.
Poole, on the other hand, was a guy who came into the team with some lofty, albeit maybe unfair, expectations. The first-round pick out of Michigan was anointed as a new “Splash Nephew.” His rookie season Poole seemed to lack confidence, like the moment was too big for him and he wasn’t ready for the NBA. Early in the year, Poole was sent down to the G-League, in hopes of getting him some minutes and finding his confidence. When Poole returned to the Warriors he seemed like a different player. He had the biggest thing he lacked and one thing you can’t teach: confidence. Poole wasn’t afraid to shoot the ball anymore. In fact, he became one of the few guys on the Warriors who could constantly knock down three-pointers and create his own shot on the perimeter. He gave them a second unit scorer that they so desperately needed and in May averaged an efficient 18 points per game.
And then there is Wiggins. The former number one overall pick of the Minnesota Timberwolves never lived up to expectations. Minnesota shipped him and his max contract, along with a first-round pick, to Golden State for D’Angelo Russel back in February of 2020, a trade that Minnesota probably regrets now. It was a much-needed new start for Wiggins who has looked nothing but motivated and locked in this year. Night in and night out Wiggins has been willing to take on the other team's number guy. He has played lockdown defense earning him the nickname “Wiggins Island” among Warriors twitter. He’s also been one of the few bouncy guys on the Warriors and has had an ability to finish at the rim that the team has lacked for years. Wiggins has also done an excellent job of taking on the lead second-unit role, being aggressive and trying to get his shot when Curry is off the floor. Throw in the fact that Wiggins only missed one game all year long, an impressive accomplishment in today's NBA culture of resting and load management, and Wiggins has been absolutely vital to the team with a career renaissance that has been special to watch.
This Warriors team shouldn't work, and honestly, for most of the year, they didn't work. They’re so reliant on Steph, they don’t have a lot of shooting, they have absolutely no size in the post (Kevon Looney is their tallest player at 6'9 but even he has found ways to contribute, leading the team in screen assists) and yet they have won games. They’ve beaten every top team in the Western Conference at some point this year, they won their final 6 games, 15 of their last 20, and are playing with the confidence and energy of a team that feels like they can win the championship. I’m not saying they're going to win it all, but why can’t they? So often the playoffs boil down to who has the best player, and right now Steph is the best player in the world. Throw in all the players who have stepped up big time, the championship culture that is ingrained with the team, and the fact that they are simply playing better than anyone else the last two weeks of the season and you could make a strong case they're the most dangerous team in the playoffs.
Or they could lose in the play-in game. Who knows!
That’s what has been so fun about this Warriors season. It’s been a group of easy to root for, underdog, misfit toys, led by a god damn superhero that has constantly surprised us. Every time they step on the court they could win by thirty or lose by fifty. A 3rd quarter Curry Flurry could erase a 15 point deficit in two minutes, or a cold bench night could blow a twenty-point lead. Hell, both of those things happened just last week in the final game of the season against Memphis! We never know what we’re going to get, all we know is they're going to fight their asses off to win. Sure this year hasn’t been perfect. I wish Klay Thompson was playing. I wish we could have seen Wiseman stay healthy and develop. I wish I could have gotten to a game at Chase Center to see it in person, but it sure as hell has been fun and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.
