SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors have a theme for the 2023-2024 season, they usually’re not being refined about it.
For the Dubs, this upcoming marketing campaign is all about connectivity.
The Warriors weren’t linked final yr — what, with their two-timeline conundrum and the entire punching of teammates at coaching camp factor.
Certain sufficient, that lack of know-how and belief confirmed on the courtroom and introduced concerning the group’s second-round exit — its first within the Western Convention playoffs below coach Steve Kerr.
Looking back, it was all really easy to see.
And so this previous offseason was about getting the Warriors to sing in concord once more.
Whereas altering common managers and including the group’s sworn rival to the roster look like daring strikes to make amid such a mandate, each Kerr and that new GM, Mike Dunleavy Jr., consider this group will keep away from the pratfalls of dysfunction this season.
However reconnecting the Warriors begins with making certain a stable working relationship between the top coach and GM. They must set the instance.
Kerr and former president of basketball operations Bob Myers had a relationship that was second to none when it got here to these roles within the NBA. Shut mates away from the sport, the 2 had been in lock-step at work. And whereas that didn’t imply a lot final season, that relationship was invaluable for the Warriors for practically a decade.
It’s a tricky act for Dunleavy to observe. On the very least, there’s a shift within the energy dynamics between the entrance workplace and the teaching workers, with Kerr holding way more expertise.
So, how is Kerr and Dunleavy’s relationship? I requested each males Monday.
For Kerr, Myers’ vote of confidence in Dunleavy is all he wanted.
“I feel I couldn’t ask for a greater new associate than Mike, on condition that Mike and Bob are finest mates,” Kerr stated. “[Bob] was in a position to groom Mike over the previous couple of years. Mike and I’ve gotten shut. We’ve spent plenty of time collectively. We now have plenty of shared values when it comes to what we expect wins, what sort of participant, what sort of group.”
“I’ll in all probability lean on him in plenty of methods,” Dunleavy stated of Kerr. “He’s had this place earlier than as a common supervisor. So he positively can present some nice perception, and he already has; and I’ll proceed to assist and help him any approach I can.”
In order that’s so as. Now, what concerning the group?
We’ll get a greater sense of issues subsequent Monday, when the group will maintain a media day, however Kerr and Dunleavy appear inspired by the gamers’ offseason work.
And each have been inspired by the brand new man’s perspective.
It’s truthful to say that Chris Paul was no Warriors’ pal when he was traded to Golden State in July.
However he wasn’t Jordan Poole, and his profession timeline is much better aligned with the Warriors’ veterans, so he’s now carrying blue and gold. (His shorter contract time period additionally helped make him a Warrior.)
Paul additionally had no connection when he took a 6 a.m. Southwest flight from Southern California to take part in a Chase Middle exercise with Steph Curry and the opposite Warriors.
Ignoring the inherent comedy of a longtime Warriors rival shopping for a “Wanna Get Away” fare so he can follow together with his new teammates, it’s these sorts of sacrifices that has the Warriors’ brass bullish on the Dubs’ capability to jell early.
“They received it. They know we had been a bit of discombobulated, particularly because the season went on final yr, and all people is aware of we have to appropriate it,” Dunleavy stated. “We’re in a great place in that space, however you’ve received to maintain it going.”
Certainly, coaching camp — a common afterthought for this group throughout the salad days — will likely be essential this season. The Dubs must preserve the great vibes rolling. They should set a robust basis for this season. They should make it by way of a number of weeks of follow with out fisticuffs.
The Warriors’ poor begin to final season — and all the plain causes behind it — created a gap for the group it remained in all marketing campaign.
“I do assume we have to have a great coaching camp. I feel it’s crucial that we get off to a greater begin this yr, not simply when it comes to our report however when it comes to our preparation,” Kerr stated. “I consider that when a group isn’t well-connected, then the street is the place that lack of connection will present that, and I feel that’s what occurred final yr….That’s why I’m going to essentially preserve speaking about this connection and the truth that we’ve received to bond and are available collectively instantly to get to have that good begin.”
Sure, the Warriors wish to do the alternative of every part they did final preseason.
In flip, the destiny of their common — and maybe postseason — ought to change, too.