“Strength in numbers”. It is a quote that the Golden State Warriors very well believe in. Going into the season, Steve Kerr chose to use this as his on-court strategy. He took a bold step, announcing, “I’ve never played 12 before, but we’re going to do it”. Kerr’s rotation strategy had its ups and downs, with the latter mostly occurring due to the rotation limiting Stephen Curry’s on-court minutes. An example was when they squandered an 18-point lead against the Nets. The Splash Bro sat for eight minutes, and the Nets surged with a 25-11 run… Despite this, though, the star player himself believes in the strategy that his head coach is putting into practice.

ESPN journalist Tim Keown recently released a report titled ‘Stephen Curry and the NBA’s most confounding paradox’. The same spotlighted Steve Kerr’s rotations, including how it limits the NBA legend’s minutes. At the same time, Keown made it clear “Kerr’s methods are not punitive, nor are they selfish”.

In fact, the minutes are decided based on a mutually agreed discussion between him and Curry. The Warriors star himself endorses this move, as he revealed, “That’s his (Kerr) job. He saves me from myself a lot”. Over-usage of Stephen Curry could cause the veteran to suffer from some unfortunate circumstances. We’ve seen his fitness this season. So, Kerr is looking to play the long game for now.

“When I hear, ‘Tell me how you feel,’ I think we can be a little aggressive here. It’s kind of unspoken. It is frustrating at times when you feel you can play more, but that’s why we’ve been successful,” said Stephen Curry. “We all feel like we’re Superman every time we go out there.”

There’s no denying the fact that Stephen Curry is no longer a youngster.

At 36, he is certainly performing at a better level than the players younger than him. However, during the ongoing season, he has been quite prone to injuries. Curry has sustained injuries on his hip, ankle, knee, cervical, and his thumb. While Steve Kerr may want to establish a prominent win record during the regular season, it won’t matter if his team then falters in the playoffs…

Therefore, if Steve Kerr is choosing to not make optimal use of his star scorer at the moment, there is a good reason behind it.

The head coach reportedly follows this strategy because it worked for him earlier! As highlighted by Tim Keown, Kerr defended his plan by stating, “We did that when we won the title in ’22; we caught lightning in a bottle and the matchups worked our way and Steph does what Steph does. We want to give him that chance again. We want that at-bat”.

Using this rotation strategy in their season’s roadmap is not easy. The Warriors lost their most recent matchup against the Heat, which has now reduced their season record to a mere 18-18. Worrying visuals emerged after the game, as Stephen Curry stared in disbelief.

Fans were leaving early, and the 114-98 scoreboard did not make things better. Despite that, Steve Kerr’s determination seems to have flipped Curry to his side. But Bay fans might remember, that the 36-year-old pg wasn’t always a big fan of his HC’s rotation strategy.

Amid 2024 losing streak, Stephen Curry took a slight dig at the rotation play: “We probably need to be more predictable…”

As December 2024 approached, the Warriors were in a deep pit. They held a 12-7 win record and were on a 4-game-loss streak. Things had boiled up during the Warriors-Suns matchup when Steve Kerr used an 11-player rotation within the first quarter! In the aftermath of the 113-105 loss, Stephen Curry addressed the situation: “You have to make adjustments.”

Instantly, however, he also added, “Whatever that means”, highlighting that he didn’t know how to get out of this pit. If there was one thing the Splash Bro knew, it was that utilizing so many players in the rotation may not be a good strategy.

“We are a unique team. It’s a unique situation. I don’t think it’s been done in the league by never, but it is an 82-game schedule, and you gotta figure out what adjustments need to (be) made,” said Curry.

Highlighting the rotation, he added, “Do we need to shorten it? We probably need to be more predictable on a night-to-night basis so guys can get a little bit of a rhythm. Is that shortening it one or two guys? Maybe.”

Having lost their most recent matchup against the Miami Heat, the Warriors now hold a below-par win record that nobody would’ve wanted. Despite this, Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr have shown that they will not shift from the rotation strategy. Therefore, if the franchise makes it to the playoffs by some stretch of luck, it remains to be seen whether Steve Kerr’s patience will be rewarded or not.