With Stephen Curry out due to an oblique abdominal tear, the Golden State Warriors are now missing multiple key players, including Jimmy Butler and Kristaps Porzingis. In the 2025-26 season, they faced a similar situation and ended the season with an upsetting 37-45 record. The only difference this year is in their mentality, as per one analyst.
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“Last year, they felt organizationally that they whine too much about the injuries and their age and the schedule and all back-to-backs,” said ESPN journalist and insider Anthony Slater on The Hoop Collective.
“You know, that was from coaching, front office, players, they intentionally, this offseason, went into it and saying ‘Hey look, we’re gonna bring back together a majority of a 37-win team’, get ridiculed in a lot of ways for doing it, but they just felt they were going to clean up their operation. They were going to take the day-to-day more serious.” Slater added.
The analyst indicated that the team is now set to have “a no-excuse approach,” and it showed when Yaxel Lendeborg came through in the Summer League after recovering from a sprained MCL and ankle issues suffered during his national championship run.
Last year’s situation was problematic, to say the least. Stephen Curry missed 39 games due to his lingering knee issue, and Butler tore his ACL in January. That’s part of the problem, but not all of it.
The bigger picture is this: the Warriors have several older players, such as Curry and Draymond Green, in their core. Playing back-to-back games means risking injury, which ended up disrupting their season anyway. Therefore, a lesson was taught and learned.
As Slater explained, Steve Kerr was almost always too preoccupied with making sure that the players remained healthy. He often had to rest players and put them on minutes restrictions to keep them away from a potential injury. In hindsight, his anxiety may have cost them the season to a certain extent.
“I think I really, frankly, gave everyone too much leeway this year. It just felt like we were constantly resting everybody and just trying to survive to the next game and have enough healthy bodies,” Kerr admitted last year.
So he adjusted. This year he pushed his veterans and increased practice intensity ahead of the regular season. He forced the team to focus on fewer turnovers, creating more lanes for Curry, and taking accountability for their own personal health.
Thus, fans witnessed an ideological change. It’s a shift from a passive to an active Golden State. The new 5-out offense is in full display, and Frank Vogel’s defense has received “rave reviews,” as per Slater.
Furthermore, rookie Yaxel Lendeborg hasn’t disappointed. He’s become one of the team’s greatest scorers alongside Stephen Curry to push the team to an 8-4 record so far this season. Overall, despite missing key players, things were finally looking up for the Warriors.
This is exactly why Steph Curry’s latest injury feels like a roadblock. He has been averaging 27.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game so far. Losing one of their most proficient scorers for at least two weeks isn’t what the Warriors need right now.
With him out, Lendeborg is the team’s No. 1 option when it comes to scoring. The rookie is a “6 out of 10” in terms of confidence in his ability to take center stage. The Warriors invested in the rookie and a team that could go up against younger players as and when needed. Now it’s time to see whether it pays off in the absence of the team’s legend.