USA Today via Reuters
Image Credits: USA Today Network via IMAGN Images
USA Today via Reuters
Image Credits: USA Today Network via IMAGN Images
The Golden State Warriors’ regular season finale had some peculiar things. And it’s not just Draymond Green and the bench barking at the Sacramento Kings. Steve Kerr pulled out all his veteran starters, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Kristaps Porzingis in the final quarter. That turned a neck and neck game into Sacramento’s win. The Dubs were already in the Play-In Tournament to try too hard in this game. But was this a sign of what’s to come? Kerr’s recent comments made everyone believe the Warriors are ready for an early trip to Cancun. And it’s raising alarm bells for everyone.
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Ahead of the Play-In tournament, the Warriors head coach was asked if Stephen Curry, Kristaps Porzingis, and Al Horford will be on a minutes restriction after extended injury hiatuses. “I don’t know exactly what the number will be,” Kerr said. “But those guys, they’re not going to play 40 minutes, I can tell you that.”
Curry is still dealing with the lingering effects of runner’s knee. Porzingis’ availability is always questionable due to an unspecified illness suspected to be POTS. Horford is coming off a calf strain. The Warriors’ cautious approach is understandable after the way they lost Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody, and LJ Cryer. For a team that has historically lived and died by Stephen Curry’s presence on the floor, the declaration was perceived like a white flag.
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“The problem is if you’re treating this game like it is a Game 7, like a win or go home game, which by the way it is, then you would not be saying those things. And I’m looking back at last year’s box score against Houston, and Jimmy Butler played 45 minutes, Draymond Green 40, Steph Curry played 46 minutes,” said Dan Dibley on Williard & Dibs.
“The very fact he is already signaling that, ‘Yeah, they’re not gonna play 40 minutes,’ that’s telling me that they are not that into this game.”
– @dandibley on Steve Kerr hinting at minutes “restrictions” for Curry, Porzingis & Horford in the play-in (via @WillardAndDibs) pic.twitter.com/S5EBmVvE65
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) April 13, 2026
When Curry was out for 27 games, Kerr stopped by the show several times and answered their questions about Curry’s return. He maintained the Warriors’ cautious approach with Steph but rejected any insinuation about shutting down for the season. Despite that history, Dibs feels a minutes restriction is not trying hard enough to make it to the playoffs.
He brings the precedent set in the 2025 playoffs when the Warriors beat the Houston Rockets 4-3. “Game 7, Houston. Win or go home. Winner moves on to Minnesota. And Buddy played 37 and Brandin Podziemski played only 40. Your five starters played all but 30 to 42 minutes in the game. Actually 32 minutes in the game. So that is a win or go home game. I’m not saying you have to play Steph 46 minutes. But the very fact that he is already signaling that they’re not gonna play 40 minutes, that’s telling me that they are not that into this game.”
This apparent lack of desperation has created a palpable rift between the bench’s philosophy and the fans’ expectations. After watching the Warriors get scarcer every week, their cautious mindset might be clashing with fans’ desperation for survival with the sheer firepower of Steph Curry.
Steve Kerr toes a fine line between caution and win-now with Stephen Curry
On one hand, the all-in approach has been cursed for the Warriors through 2026. Jimmy Butler suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the final minutes of a game. Last month, it was Moses Moody whose knee got smashed in on the floor right after he came back from a 10-game absence for a sprained wrist. Only this week, they heard an audible pop in LJ Cryer’s ankle when he landed wrong at a jumper.
Meanwhile Stephen Curry had been unable to play since January 30. Bringing him back too early risked aggravating a sticky condition like runner’s knee. While Al Horford brings much-needed veteran presence, he’s needed injury management all season. But Kristaps Porzingis was a different story.
Fans’ pleas for Steve Kerr to let Jonathan Kuminga develop went ignored and he’d go to the Atlanta Hawks after two stalemates. Getting Porzingis’ talent and experience in combination with The Chef was supposed to be great on paper. But Porzingis’ health issues have been contentious to his availability.
Dibs was right that high-pressure environment of Game 7 last year, Draymond Green and Stephen Curry played 40 and 46 minutes respectively. The concern is that Kerr is managing a 38-year-old Curry for a “next season” that isn’t guaranteed. As Kerr’s caution is medically rooted, critics argue that in a single-elimination game, medical caution is a luxury the Warriors simply cannot afford.
