Just two years removed from their last NBA championship title, the Golden State Warriors have missed the playoffs. This is now the third time in the last five years that the Warriors have not made the postseason, with the team failing to qualify after losing to the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the play-in tournament.
Frankly, it wasn’t even close. While the Warriors had a shot thanks to qualifying for the play-in tournament, they were routed 118-94 by the Kings. Klay Thompson failed to score a single point, missing every shot he took during the loss. Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins each scored just 12 points, and even Steph Curry was held to “just” 22 points.
It’s still only been a couple of years since the Warriors were crowned champions and they did make the Western Conference semifinals just a season ago, but this year’s team felt far off from the glory days of their dominant dynasty in the 2010s. For a team that built its reign in large part thanks to its offensive prowess, there was a clear lack of scoring against the Kings. These struggles, particularly from Thompson, were emblematic of the season—especially with Thompson averaging under 20 points per game for the first time since the 2013-2014 season.
While the Warriors’ dynasty was built off the trio of Curry, Green, and Thompson, who have all spent their entire careers with Golden State, the future of these three players with the team remains uncertain heading into the offseason. The future of Thompson is the most unclear, as he will become a free agent.
After the game, Curry made it clear that he still wants to play with Thompson and Green, and does not want this to be the end of the road for the three.
“I can never see myself not with those two guys,” Curry told reporters after the game. “I understand this league changes and there’s so many things that go into it, and we’re not going to play forever, but we’ve experienced so much together. At the end of the day, I know they want to win, I know I want to win, that’s all I’m worried about.”
The Warriors have managed to keep their core trio together for many seasons, which is impressive given how many players across the league switch teams through free agency and trades. They might share the goal of winning, but were clearly not able to uphold that standard this year, especially given the Warriors’ high standards because of what they have accomplished over the last decade.
If this is the end of the road for the three playing together on the Warriors, it’s been an incredible run. Together, they’ve gone on to win four NBA championships, combined for 19 All-Star appearances, and became the first 73-win team in NBA history, among many other accomplishments.
