If there was a year that everyone was going to doubt the Golden State Warriors, this would be it. It hasn’t even been a week into the season, and the takes are flying about how old the team is, this time, from ESPN analyst Jay Williams.
On an episode of First Take, Williams shared why he believes the Warriors are too old to contend and why he believes they’ll be a play-in team.
“The Golden State Warriors will be in the play-in tournament,” Williams said. “We all agree that Stephen Curry has to be the Finals MVP for this team to win a championship, correct? He’s turning 36 years old in March. The only player 36 years and older to win a Finals MVP is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Their age, they’re on the wrong side of age. Median age in your prime is 28 years old. Klay, Draymond, 33 years old, turning 34.”
Williams then doubled down on his statements, believing that the Warriors are too small to compete for a championship as well. Not only that, he stated that the Warriors have no depth.
“Size, in the fourth quarter at the end of the game, they had CP3, Gary Payton II, and Steph Curry on the floor together, what the hell is going on?” Williams said. “Kevon Looney is the tallest player they have at 6-9, that’s not going to be good, they’re going to get banged up. Also Jordan Poole, last year 23 years old, averaged 20 points per game. He was the energy and scoring off the bench. They don’t have depth. Even though they averaged 38 points per game off the bench, six of their top seven scorers off the bench aren’t there anymore.”
After two games, there are no early favorites in the Western Conference. Everyone is tied up at 1-1, and yet, every analyst is treating the Warriors as if their record is 0-2. If there was a year for the Warriors to have a chip on their shoulder, this is it.