Curry could miss as much as two months after breaking a bone in his left hand this weekNBAE/getty images
Warriors co-Owner Joe Lacob "scoffed at the mere suggestion of tanking" following G Stephen Curry becoming the latest star that will miss significant playing time, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. Curry will miss as much as two months after breaking his hand on Wednesday, and the injury conjured up the possibility of the Warriors missing the playoffs for the first time since '11-12. Lacob said of tanking, "It is against every single thing I and we stand for. ... Our entire organization is about winning. And we will win. Some bumps in the road, perhaps. But we will never accept losing." Shelburne wrote with both Curry and G Klay Thompson "on the injured list for the foreseeable future ... the quickest way to get back to their former glory might be to bottom out this year." Warriors F Draymond Green also is "already nursing a sore back and elbow," meaning the wheels "could fall off quickly" for the team, which is off to a 1-3 start (ESPN.com, 10/31). In San Jose, Michael Nowels writes the Warriors are "going to struggle mightily this season," and without veteran players like F Andre Iguodala to "steady the ship, the bottom is likely to fall out on this squad." Lacob has "bankrolled a team that went from laughing stock to perennial favorite before, so he knows NBA tides rise and fall." The Warriors' future may still "have some heft down the line," but it "appears between now and then, there could be some light years ahead" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 11/1).
TANKING MIGHT COME NATURALLY: ESPN's Nick Friedell noted the Warriors are "never going to fully embrace" tanking. Lacob is a "very proud man" who does not "believe in just giving up on anything." However, ESPN's Richard Jefferson said the team is "going to tank because they are not very good, not because they're intentionally doing it" ("The Jump," ESPN, 10/31). ESPN's Israel Gutierrez said, "There's no chance this team with these names makes any sort of sustained run without Steph Curry." He does not believe the team will intentionally tank, but that it is "actually this bad." ESPN's Jorge Sedano: "They're not going to have to do much to tank" ("Highly Questionable," ESPN, 10/31). CBSSN's Adam Schein said the Warriors are "going to be an unwatchable, unmitigated disaster" without Curry ("Time To Schein," CBSSN, 10/31).
SHINY, BUT HAPPY PEOPLE? In S.F., Bruce Jenkins writes Lacob and co-Owner Peter Guber are "living a real-time nightmare" as the team's on-court fortunes are falling during Chase Center's first season. Warriors President & COO Rick Welts, who "did such a masterful job orchestrating the luxurious new palace, must be wondering what he did to deserve this." The Warriors' "biggest problem will be selling fans on Chase Center." Even a "sold-out ticket ledger doesn't mean much if people (a) don't show up or (b) sit on their hands all evening, figuring on leaving early." It is a "plain fact" that outside of Curry and Green, the Warriors' roster is "starkly free of charisma." The "most plausible solution is to tank this season ... and start over next autumn with a rookie from the lottery in hand." Jenkins: "Can you imagine, though, what it would take for Lacob to accept such retreat? It's just not how he thinks" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 11/1). ESPN’s Pablo Torre noted the Warriors are a “hard cap team" and potentially heading to the lottery is "good news." That means the team can land a "cheap, young player.” However, ESPN’s Bomani Jones said, “You have spoken like a man who does not own a brand-new arena that they want to put people in.” Jones was not sure how much the Warriors are concerned about "scraping to make the 8th seed as much as this year is the debut of the palace that Joe Lacob has been working almost a decade to get out there.” Jones: “This is the thing he uses to show off to all the guys that he always wanted to impress, and there is going to be a terrible basketball team in there” (“High Noon,” ESPN, 10/31).
