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    Chris Paul Headed to Warriors as Wizards Trade for Jordan Poole

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    Paul, who has spent the past three seasons in Phoenix, is expected to be traded to Washington and then to Golden State.The Washington Wizards plan to trade Chris Paul to Golden State for guard Jordan Poole after reaching an agreement to acquire Paul from the Phoenix Suns earlier this week, according to a person familiar with the deals who was not authorized to discuss them publicly.The plan, which was first reported by ESPN on Thursday just hours before the N.B.A. draft, continues a chaotic off-season for Paul, a 12-time All-Star guard who has spent the past three seasons in Phoenix. Paul, 38, said he was caught off guard on Sunday when he learned that the Suns planned to trade him. The Wizards’ deal with the Suns is expected to send Bradley Beal, a three-time All-Star guard, to Phoenix, according to the person.“Seriously, it is part of the business, and what you realize is that no one owes you anything,” Paul said of the Suns trading him, in an interview with The New York Times on Monday. “No matter how you are with them or what you do, you realize that in this business, nobody owes you anything, as it should be.”In Golden State, Paul would team up with the sharpshooting guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, whom he has faced in the playoffs three times, most memorably in the 2018 Western Conference finals with the Houston Rockets. Golden State beat Houston in seven games that year, with Paul missing the final two games due to injury, then swept Cleveland in the N.B.A. finals. Paul hasn’t won a title, but he helped lead the Suns to the finals in 2021.In recent years, Paul has scored less and missed time with injuries. In the 2022-23 season, he averaged a career-low 13.9 points per game and missed the Suns’ final four playoff games. But teaming up with Curry, one of the best point guards in N.B.A. history, may provide his best chance to win an elusive championship.The move is risky for Golden State. Curry, 35, will have in Paul another historically talented guard to help get him easy shots, if Paul can approximate his All-Star form. But if Paul continues to decline, Curry will have to shoulder more of the offensive burden. Paul likely will also have to get used to not being his team’s primary ballhandler.For Golden State, the trade is a rapid about-face on the 24-year-old Poole, whom the team once viewed as a promising bridge out of the Curry era. So much so that in October, Golden State rewarded Poole with a four-year contract extension worth up to $140 million.Poole, who just finished his fourth season, helped Golden State win a championship in 2022. While he has shown potential as an elite scorer, he had a penchant for erratic play and sloppy turnovers. His season got off to a rocky start: During a preseason practice, Golden State forward Draymond Green punched Poole in the face, video of which was leaked to TMZ, causing a headache for a franchise known for stability. The friction between Green and Poole lingered over the season.Poole is the second key young player Golden State has moved on from in the past several months. In February, the Warriors traded center James Wiseman, 22, to the Detroit Pistons. They had drafted him No. 2 overall in 2020 amid much hype. The young talents they have left, like Jonathan Kuminga, 20, and Moses Moody, 21, who were both first-round draft picks in 2021, have yet to play well consistently, though they have shown flashes of promise.Poole, whom Golden State drafted late in the first round in 2019, had been the best of the team’s recent picks. Now he is poised to join a Wizards team that appears to be commencing a full-scale rebuild. More

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      Golden State Falls to Lakers, Ending Title Hopes and Starting Uncertain Future

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      Golden State isn’t used to getting eliminated this early in the playoffs. Now, it will face questions about how to sustain its run since 2015 as a top contender.LOS ANGELES — Whoops, shouts, music and a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” were so loud inside the Lakers locker room that they could be heard out in the hallways. Outside Golden State’s locker room, there was silence, as those inside assessed what had gone so wrong this season.To the victor goes the noise. To the defeated goes an unusually early and sullen vacation.The reigning champion Golden State’s freewheeling, 3-point-centric style of play changed the N.B.A. and made Stephen Curry a household name. But on Friday night, the team couldn’t muster up one last overwhelming flurry of deep shots, bowing out to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games in the Western Conference semifinals.It marked the first time a West team had defeated Golden State in the playoffs during its dynastic run, which began in 2015 with the first of four championships led by Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. But this season was among the most difficult of the last decade, marred by long absences for key players, a confounding inability to win on the road, struggling young players, and the fallout from Green punching a teammate, Jordan Poole, before the season even started.LeBron James led the Lakers with 30 points in Game 6.Ashley Landis/Associated Press“This is not a championship team,” Golden State Coach Steve Kerr said after Game 6, which the Lakers won, 122-101. “If we were, we’d be moving on. So you can look at the year in total and see all the ups and downs, and there was all kinds of stuff that went on and adversity that hit. But our group stayed together and competed till the end and made a pretty good run.”But “pretty good” has long been below the standards of Golden State, given the stature of Curry, who is widely considered the best shooter in N.B.A. history. And now his team may have to contend with coming back down to earth. It’s the basketball equivalent of confronting mortality.“You’re disappointed and kind of shell shocked that it’s over,” Curry said. “You’ve poured so much into every season, but going off last year you’re trying to defend and give ourselves the chance to keep advancing. It’s a tough way for the season to end.”The series against the Lakers marked one of the most highly anticipated playoff matchups in years, pitting Curry against the Lakers star LeBron James for the first time since the 2018 N.B.A. finals, when James was on the Cleveland Cavaliers. But this series ultimately didn’t match the hype, with blowouts in four of the five games after a thrilling Lakers win in Game 1. Curry and Thompson struggled on Friday, combining to shoot an abysmal 14 for 47 from the field. Thompson, who made just three baskets in each of the last three games, said this was “probably the worst shooting series I’ve had in a long time.”Golden State now faces an uncertain summer; Curry called it “unfamiliar territory.” With one of the most expensive rosters in the league, and a new collective bargaining agreement aimed at curbing heavy spenders, Golden State is likely to try to bring down costs. It could be a stark transition for the team, given that it went from a rudderless middle-of-the-road franchise to one of the most financially valuable ones with Curry at the helm over the past decade.Draymond Green, center, has been a force on defense for Golden State, but he could opt out of his contract this summer.Ashley Landis/Associated Press“For us, it’s an opportunity to kind of take stock of where we’re at, keep the confidence that we can come back and be back at this stage next year,” Curry said.It might help if they get off to a better start. This season, Green punched the fourth-year guard Poole in the face during training camp. TMZ published a video of the punch, exposing the internal discord of a franchise known for continuity and harmony.“Every season is made up of events. Some are great, some are not,” Green said after Friday’s game. “I think for this team, more of the events that aren’t so great were so public, and, you know, that’s not something that you normally do. And so the world knows, you know, the tough times that this team has had.”Now Green’s career is at a turning point. A four-time All-Star, he has a player option for next year and is expected to test free agency. Green had one of his better seasons this year, but he turns 34 next March, and Golden State may balk at offering him a maximum contract. Green has shown a penchant for impulsive behavior, like punching Poole or racking up technical fouls, for which he ranked second in the league during the regular season. The resolution of his contract is the key domino in a summer of retooling.“I want to be a Warrior for the rest of my life,” Green said Friday. “I want to ride out with the same dudes I rode in with.”This season was a slog for Golden State. “It felt like we were swimming upstream from the beginning,” Kerr said.Golden State started the season 3-7. It finished at 44-38 for the West’s sixth seed and had one of the worst road records in the league, at 11-30. Andrew Wiggins, a key contributor to last season’s title run, missed more than half the regular season because of an injury and an undisclosed personal issue. Thompson, a five-time All-Star, struggled to find his shot in the first third of the season and he has noticeably slowed on defense after two major injuries in recent years.If Thompson, 33, has doubts about his future in Golden State, or any skepticism that this team can win again, he didn’t show it on Friday night. His contract expires after next season.“I can tell you, we gave it everything we had,” he said. “But I believe that we have greatness in our future still.”Curry went cold from 3-point range over the last three games of the series with the Lakers.Harry How/Getty ImagesGolden State will also have to decide what to do with the young players it has tried to develop while chasing a championship — a path criticized for placing too much of a load on the 35-year-old Curry. Poole, 23, struggled mightily in the playoffs, a problem given that Golden State signed him to a four-year contract extension in October worth up to $140 million. Other young players, like Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, both 20, were in and out of the lineup all season.In addition, the contract of Bob Myers, the team’s general manager for the last decade, ends this year. Carrying the dynasty into its next stage may fall to a different architect.If there was one bright spot for Golden State this season, it was its most magnetic figure: Curry. He played some of the best basketball of his career — which meant some of the basketball that anyone has ever played. In the first round of the playoffs, Golden State faced the third-seeded Kings in Sacramento for a decisive Game 7. Curry scored 50 points — the most ever in a Game 7 — and hit seven 3-pointers. It was a reminder of the magic that had made his teams so great.But Curry said Friday that reaching the conference semifinals was not “a moral victory.”“There’s a lot of pride in what we accomplished,” he said, “but there’s also an understanding that this is not good enough.” More

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      Golden State on the Brink Against the Lakers

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      Golden State’s stars made several uncharacteristic errors down the stretch against the Lakers in Game 4. The role players haven’t helped much either.LOS ANGELES — With 37 seconds left in the fourth quarter Monday night, Stephen Curry was isolated with Lakers center Anthony Davis guarding him one on one.The Lakers were up by 1 point in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal series, and the Golden State Warriors needed a basket to keep from being pushed to the brink of elimination. It should have been a mismatch: one of the greatest scoring guards in N.B.A. history matched up against a slower center. But Curry was stymied twice on the same possession. First, Davis, a top defensive player, poked the ball away. Then Curry missed a fadeaway. After an offensive rebound, Curry missed a 3-pointer over Davis again.Those were two of several fumbles by Golden State in the closing moments of an ugly affair in which the team did not show the championship mettle that led to four N.B.A. titles since 2015.With nine seconds left, forward Draymond Green threw the ball away with Golden State down 3. On an ensuing jump ball, Curry came down with possession, and instead of calling a timeout, he threw the ball away.“I actually felt like somebody was behind me,” Curry said after the game. “I kind of just let it go. But bang-bang play. I wish I had a little bit more awareness to maybe call a timeout knowing we’ve got enough time, but, you know, it just didn’t go our way.”Golden State let an opportunity slip through its fingers, having led by as many as 12 in the third quarter. Instead, the Lakers won, 104-101.Curry finished the game shooting 12 for 30. Klay Thompson, Curry’s teammate, was 3 for 11. That, combined with not getting playmaking from Golden State’s role players, has placed the team in dire straits, down, three games to one, against a rejuvenated Lakers team. The late possessions were emblematic of a season-long deficiency that has plagued Golden State, particularly on the road: an inability to sustain effort through long stretches.Perhaps this is the reality of having a core anchored by Curry, 35; Thompson, 33; and Green, 33: It’s easier to get tired and make mental mistakes. But if Golden State doesn’t dig deep to resurface the magic of the last decade, its dynasty will be extinguished on Wednesday in San Francisco.This isn’t the first time Golden State has been down 3-1 in a playoff series. In 2016, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook’s Oklahoma City Thunder went up, 3-1, in the Western Conference finals before Golden State came roaring back and won the series. Three years later, Golden State found itself down, 3-1, against the Toronto Raptors in the finals. But with injuries to Durant, who was then a teammate, and Thompson, the team lost in six games.“It feels like what it is: three to one,” Coach Steve Kerr told reporters after Game 4. “You go home and you take care of business and you get a win and the momentum is right back in your favor. So that’s all it is. Somebody has to win four times, and that’s why you play it out.”It hasn’t helped that Golden State’s younger players have not been able to fill the void left by an off night by Curry. For the Lakers, Lonnie Walker IV, 24, a guard in his fifth year, scored 15 points, including crucial baskets in the fourth, to keep Golden State at bay. The second-year guard Austin Reaves, also 24, chipped in 21 points.Those kinds of contributions have eluded Golden State this postseason. Instead, Golden State has had to rely as much on Curry at age 35 as it did when he was 25, a recipe for trouble this late in the season.For years, the Golden State front office has been selling a two-timeline plan of development. It would try to chase championships in the present on the backs of Curry, Thompson and Green, while also developing young talent like Jonathan Kuminga, 20 (drafted seventh in 2021); Moses Moody, 20 (14th pick in that same draft); James Wiseman, 22 (second pick in 2020); and Jordan Poole, 23 (28th pick in 2019).It was a risky maneuver with mixed results. It has meant not trading young, developing talent for veterans who could help the team now, and placing more of the load on Curry in the back half of his career. Golden State traded Wiseman this season as injuries and inconsistency left him without a firm role in the rotation. Moody and Kuminga, each in his second year, have been yanked in and out of the lineup this season, though Moody has had playing time in this series. He scored 7 points in 19 minutes Monday night.That’s not abnormal for players barely out of their teenage years. But Golden State has one of the best players in the history of the N.B.A. playing at a high level right now. It needs Moody and Kuminga to be better immediately to take advantage of Curry’s window.Poole has been flummoxing. At times in his four-year career, he has been Golden State’s best player. When the team’s top stars have faced injuries, he has been counted on to fill their absences as a reliable scorer. Last year, he was a core part of a Golden State team that won a championship, and he started a majority of games during the regular season. Poole was a concrete example of investment in a young player that worked for Golden State.In October, Golden State invested in Poole further, rewarding him with an extension reported to be worth nearly $140 million. He was slated to be the bridge to the future — a potential All-Star replacement for a franchise looking forward to a life after Curry, Green and Thompson.But Poole’s production has become as unpredictable as his decision-making on the floor. While he averaged a career-high 20.4 points a game during the regular season, his shooting percentages dipped and his turnovers increased. His shot selection has drawn immense criticism.In the playoffs, Poole’s play has cratered. Against the Sacramento Kings in the first round, he shot a dismal 33.8 percent from the field. On Monday night, he missed all four of his shots and played only 10 minutes. One shot was an air ball near the basket.Andrew Wiggins of the Warriors guarded by Lonnie Walker IV of the Lakers.Etienne Laurent/EPA, via ShutterstockPoole’s play was clearly a sore spot for him after the game on Monday. When approached by a reporter in the locker room, a frustrated Poole tersely said, “I’ve got nothing for you, big man.”After being cajoled by a Golden State press representative, Poole took questions, though he would not physically face reporters, creating an odd spectacle of reporters aiming recorders at the back and side of his head.“Work ethic doesn’t change,” Poole said. “Routine doesn’t change. Maybe opportunity changes. But you can only control what you can control. We’ve got another game in a couple days at home.”Curry, asked about Poole, said it wasn’t about any one player.“We get questions about him a lot and it’s our whole team,” Curry said. “We’re all together in the sense of trying to figure out how to win playoff games. And we all have to make adjustments. We all have to play better, considering we’re in a 3-1 hole. So there’s no sense of isolating him in this situation.”Golden State has already overcome one playoff deficit this postseason. After being down, 2-0, in a first-round series against the Kings, Golden State found its footing. But it took Curry scoring 50 points in Game 7 for his team to win the series, the most he had ever scored in a playoff game.If Poole or the rest of Curry’s teammates don’t offer more support, Curry may need to reach into reserves that most 35-year-olds don’t have. And that means the Golden State dynasty may go out with a whimper rather than a bang. When Curry was asked after the game whether he let himself think about the larger implications of a series loss, he didn’t let the reporter finish the question.“No,” Curry said.“Just a 3-1 series deficit?” the reporter asked.“Yes. Thank you.” More

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      In the Shadow of Superstars, Golden State’s Young Players Try to Bloom

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      Moses Moody would be wrapped in his blankets, protected from the morning chill, when his alarm went off at 5 a.m. Nothing about the situation appealed to him. What teenager wants to drag himself out of bed before dawn?But as a seventh-grader in Little Rock, Ark., Moody was beginning to sense his promise as a basketball player. And he knew, even then, that if he wanted to go places, he would need to work at his game — and then work at it some more.His father, Kareem Moody, had made a deal with him: He would help Moses train each morning before school, but only if Moses got up on his own. It was both a test and an early lesson in self-reliance: How badly did he want to improve?“So, if I wanted to work out, I had to wake him up, go get dressed, and then go wake him up again,” Moses Moody recalled in an interview. “And then he’d know I was for real.”Their early mornings at LA Fitness soon became routine. Moses also had the keys to the gym at Absolute Athlete, a nearby training facility. He was always looking for the next workout, the next pickup game, the next challenge.“You want to have challenges, and you have to have obstacles,” Moody said. “Because if you’re bad at something, that just means you have more room to grow.”As a second-year guard with Golden State, Moody, 20, has a new challenge: cracking the rotation and playing consistent minutes. He can commiserate with two other former first-round draft picks — James Wiseman, 21, and Jonathan Kuminga, 20 — who are trying to become contributors on a team without much time to waste.For Golden State, in Boston on Thursday for a rematch of last season’s N.B.A. finals against the Celtics, there is tension between defending its championship and developing its young players. Ideally, it would be able to do both. But it is a complicated puzzle, especially for a team with outsize expectations.Kuminga, a second-year forward, has spoken of upholding the “legacy” established by his teammates Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. Wiseman, a third-year center whose career has been slowed by injuries, has cited his sporadic minutes as chances for him to “grow and learn.” And Moody has straddled a fine line between patience and impatience.“It’s hard to keep the right head space,” he said. “But I also don’t want to hide those emotions from myself, saying that I’m OK with staying on the bench. I don’t want to be OK with it because I’m not OK with it. I want to play. I always want to play.”Moody is just three years removed from high school, and his playing time in the N.B.A. has been limited as Golden State leans on its veterans for a championship push.Kelsey McClellan for The New York TimesMoody, Kuminga and Wiseman have all spent time in the G League, where each has gotten ample minutes to score and, in most cases, create as the best player on the court. (Moody said his five games with Santa Cruz last season were “sufficient.”) Coach Steve Kerr has also tried to augment their development via “the golden hour” — a period of extra work before the start of practice.“But there’s no substitute for game reps,” Kerr said.In late November, when Golden State visited the New Orleans Pelicans, Kerr rested a bunch of his banged-up starters. As a result, Moody and Kuminga were among the young players who supplied big minutes. Golden State lost by 45.Afterward, Kerr had dinner with Curry and Green. He asked them a question that happened to be on his mind that night: When did they feel confident that they could win games — really win games — as N.B.A. players?“Draymond said it was his third year, and Steph said it was his fourth year,” Kerr recalled. “And you’re talking about two guys who had a lot of college experience, who played deep into the N.C.A.A. tournament and played games that mattered.”Kerr crunched the numbers. Curry spent three seasons at Davidson, while Green played four seasons at Michigan State. So, from the time they left high school, it took both about seven years before they understood the ins and outs of the N.B.A., seven years before they were experienced enough to win when it mattered.Moody, who spent one college season at Arkansas, is three years removed from high school. Wiseman appeared in just three games at the University of Memphis before Golden State made him the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 N.B.A. draft. And Kuminga, who is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, went straight from high school to the G League Ignite, playing in a handful of games before he went to Golden State as the seventh pick of the 2021 draft — seven spots ahead of Moody.“You would think their growth would be a little more accelerated because you’re already in the N.B.A. and you’re picking things up that you wouldn’t pick up in college,” Kerr said. “But the point is, grown-ups win in the N.B.A. It’s very rare to see kids winning titles.”Golden State Coach Steve Kerr said it’s hard to give the youngest players more minutes since the team is so reliant on its superstars as it makes a playoff push.Kelsey McClellan for The New York TimesThompson recalled his own growing pains. Early in his second season, with a chance to seal a win against the Denver Nuggets, he missed two free throws. The game went to double overtime and Golden State lost. Thompson was so despondent that he left the arena in his uniform.“We all go through those lapses,” he said.But Golden State has less leeway for mistakes now, with its championship window narrowing as its stars age.“We can’t give these young guys the freedom that they need to learn through their mistakes,” Kerr said, adding that there is pressure from being on national TV so often and playing behind such accomplished stars.A handful of blowout losses have presented opportunities for Moody, Kuminga and Wiseman to play longer stretches. In a 30-point loss to the Nets on Dec. 21, Wiseman scored a career-high 30 points in 28 minutes.“I was able to play through my mistakes,” Wiseman said.Moody, meanwhile, figured to have a bigger role this season given some of the team’s free-agency losses last summer. But development is seldom linear, and Moody, who was averaging 5.2 points in 14.8 minutes a game entering Thursday, has occasionally dropped off the back end of the rotation. He wants his defense to become more instinctive. Kerr wants him to take better care of the ball.Moody was averaging 5.2 points in 14.8 minutes a game entering Thursday.Kelley L Cox/USA Today Sports, via Reuters“Stuff doesn’t always go your way,” Moody said, “but you’ve got to grow up. There’s also a sense of comfort knowing I’ve been in similar situations before, and it’s worked out.”As a high school sophomore, Moody led North Little Rock to a state championship, then transferred to Montverde Academy, a basketball powerhouse outside of Orlando, Fla. He wanted to be pushed by teammates like Cade Cunningham, who would become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 N.B.A. draft, and Scottie Barnes, last season’s rookie of the year with the Toronto Raptors.At his predraft workout for Golden State, Moody spotted a celebrity sitting courtside: Stephen Curry. Afterward, Moody made sure to “chop it up” with him, he said. Who knew when he would have that chance again? He figured he should pick up a few pointers.As it turned out, Moody had no reason to worry. He has spent the past two seasons absorbing regular lessons from Curry and the team’s other veterans. Moody described Golden State as an “elite basketball academy.” Green might be the self-appointed dean.“With Dray, you don’t have to listen to him,” Moody said. “But since he’s constantly talking and constantly giving out game, I try to take in as much as I can.”Not so long ago, the team had a reprieve from the pressures of chasing another championship. Golden State entered the 2019-20 season fresh off a fifth straight trip to the N.B.A. finals, then swiftly morphed into the worst team in the league. The season was an injury-induced oddity that landed the team in the draft lottery while accelerating the growth of Jordan Poole, then a rookie guard, who played more than he would have if the team had been at full strength. Poole has since established himself as one of the team’s leading scorers.The team doesn’t have that luxury this season — the luxury of losing. Golden State is fighting for a playoff spot.Moody obviously would prefer to be playing big minutes. But in many ways, he said, he feels fortunate. If he were playing for a lousy team, he might be developing bad habits that he never corrects. With Golden State, there is no margin for error.“You’ve got to be perfect,” Moody said. “So if I can figure out a way to play perfect basketball right now, that’ll set me up for the rest of my career.” More

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      Why Draymond Green May Soon Be the Odd Man Out at Golden State

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      The shadow of Green’s punch looms over the team, even as Golden State shows it still has what it takes to compete for a championship.SAN FRANCISCO — As Golden State posed in front of a banner destined for its arena’s rafters, all looked fine and well for the team. The players were beaming and dancing, flashing their new championship rings toward a photographer.The Tuesday evening scene was a déjà vu of sorts. Golden State has gone through this pomp and circumstance four times in the last eight seasons as part of a ceremony to celebrate winning an N.B.A. title by raising a championship banner. Tribute video. Inspirational music. Cheering fans.“I’ve never had a bad ring night,” Golden State Coach Steve Kerr said. “They’re all awesome.”Just ignore the reality show that aired on TNT hours earlier starring and produced by Golden State’s Draymond Green, who in the show briefly addressed punching his younger teammate Jordan Poole in the face in an incident that threatened to rupture the franchise on the doorstep of the season.Oh, that. Awkward.Golden State began its pursuit of a fifth championship for its current dynasty by dismantling the Los Angeles Lakers, 123-109, on Tuesday, easily dispatching a team with no shortage of its own drama and championship aspirations. Golden State’s Stephen Curry, the most valuable player of last season’s finals, effortlessly dropped 33 points. But his team began the season under the shadow of Green’s swing at Poole at a practice, a video of which was obtained by TMZ.Golden State’s Jordan Poole, right, had 12 points and 7 assists off the bench in Tuesday night’s win against the Lakers.John G Mabanglo/EPA, via ShutterstockAnd in part because of Green, the Golden State dynasty — at least as the world has known it — faces the potential of great upheaval.Golden State has long been defined by the greatness of Curry. But it has also been marked by a rare continuity. This is Kerr’s ninth season as head coach, the third-longest tenure behind that of San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich and Miami’s Erik Spoelstra. Green, Curry and Klay Thompson have played together for more than a decade. Bob Myers, the team president, has been with the franchise since 2011.Green’s value to the team is undoubtable: He can defend all five positions at an elite level, and he is an excellent passer, particularly adept at finding Curry in the right spots. He had 5 assists Tuesday to go with 4 points and 5 rebounds.At 32, he has also been known as a leader on and off the floor. Younger players like Moses Moody, James Wiseman and, at one point, Poole have spoken about the encouragement they received from Green when they were struggling on the court.Without Green, there is no Golden State dynasty.He has spent his whole career in Golden State and has a player option after this year worth roughly $27.5 million. Green is a four-time All-Star who, according to The Athletic, believes he’s deserving of a maximum contract extension. And in many situations, this would be a no-brainer, both as a reward for his past service to Golden State and in recognition of his current abilities.But his role as a leader is in question after what happened with Poole this month. He has a reputation for impulsive behavior like the Poole incident, yelling at coaches and teammates, and racking up silly technicals. One wonders if Myers and Joe Lacob, the team’s owner, may look at Green entering the twilight of his career and wish him the best playing somewhere else.Golden State has long been defined by Stephen Curry’s greatness. He had 33 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists Tuesday.Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesThey have locked in the 23-year-old Poole for years to come, recently signing him to a four-year extension worth up to $140 million, according to ESPN.Poole was diplomatic Tuesday when asked whether the rift with Green had healed.“It was ring night and that’s really what we were focused on,” Poole said. “Finishing the first game. Huge win against a really good team.”Golden State also recently signed forward Andrew Wiggins, 27, to a pricey extension after he proved crucial to the team’s finals win last year and cemented himself as a building block for the team’s future. Not signed to an extension so far: Green.Golden State may be liable for almost $500 million in salaries and luxury tax next year. To put that in perspective, the minimum team salary for this season is about $111 million. Lacob has been willing to spend more than any other team in the N.B.A. to keep the team’s core together, but from a cold business perspective, Green soon may be the odd man out.Golden State has cited the organization’s strong culture as a reason for its success. But professional sports have long been a haven where bad behavior is overlooked for players who contribute to wins, which perhaps explains why Golden State chose to fine but not suspend Green for the punch.That is, however, a short-term solution to keep the peace. And Green, who won the Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2016-17, certainly contributes to wins. On Tuesday, his ball-hawking skills made life difficult for Anthony Davis, the Lakers’ star big man, and offensively, Green flashed his versatility.But the shadow of his punch still looms.Green, in publicly apologizing for the incident on Oct. 8, told reporters that the he regretted the embarrassment his punch caused Poole and his family. Yet he chose to air the video again Tuesday in a self-serving “all-access” show called “The Countdown” on TNT, which also broadcast Golden State’s game. He turned the incident into profit and a glossily produced opportunity for image rehabilitation. He addressed the Poole incident by saying that he hadn’t paid much attention to the social media backlash. He also tried to use the show to reassert himself as a leader of the team.“You can’t change the events that happened, but we can control what happens moving forward and that’s where we are,” Green said straight into the camera during the segment. “And myself as a leader of this team, it’s on me to make sure we’re headed that way.”Golden State’s Andre Iguodala, left, Curry, Green and Klay Thompson have won four championships together.Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesWhatever becomes of Green, Golden State is strongly positioned for the future. Aside from Poole and Wiggins, young talents with like Wiseman, Moody and Jonathan Kuminga are waiting in the wings for more playing time (and their own contract extensions) without the drama that Green brings.That Golden State faces upheaval is not the same thing as Golden State facing an end. This isn’t the first time that the team’s run has seemed seriously threatened. As a result of injuries, Golden State was among the worst teams in the league the two seasons before last year, which left many wondering if they could recapture their greatness. That didn’t escape Curry.“I heard it back in 2019,” Curry told The Mercury News in an interview published Tuesday. “I heard during the pandemic. We hear it a little louder now because we won again. We would have heard it louder had we not won. Nobody has any idea what’s going to happen.”As Tuesday night showed, the team is positioned for another ring chase. Poole and Green showed they can coexist on the court: Poole slipped Green a slick pass in the second quarter for an easy layup. But if Golden State hosts another banner-raising ceremony next fall, it may be the last one featuring Green. More

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      What to Know About the New NBA Season

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      Much of the conversation around the league the past few months hasn’t been about basketball.The N.B.A. will begin a new season Tuesday under a cloud of scandals and drama that has distracted from the basketball and that has challenged the progressive image the league has long cultivated.“I think right now the best thing that can happen is the season start on the court,” said Chris Mullin, a Hall of Fame former player.Last season’s finals teams — Golden State and Boston — are navigating internal crises. Two teams in top media markets — the Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers — are trying to integrate their stars.And a situation in Phoenix has brought the league’s leaders and image under scrutiny. The majority owner of the Suns and the W.N.B.A.’s Mercury, Robert Sarver, was found to have used racial slurs and engaged in sexist behavior over many years, but the league’s punishment — a $10 million fine and one-year suspension — was immediately criticized by players and fans as being too light. Soon, under public pressure, Sarver said he would sell the teams.Though there are still many things for fans to be excited about, such as a new rule to speed up games and the improved health of some injured stars, several issues are lingering as the season gets underway.Here’s what you need to know:How will Draymond Green’s punch affect Golden State?Suns owner Robert Sarver’s misconduct casts a shadow.Celtics Coach Ime Udoka’s suspension is a mystery.The trade rumors of the summer aren’t over yet.A new rule and stars’ returns could up the excitement.How will Draymond Green’s punch affect Golden State?Golden State’s Jordan Poole, left, and Draymond Green, right, played together Friday for the first time since an altercation during practice this month.Jeff Chiu/Associated PressAfter defeating the Celtics in six games to the win the N.B.A. championship in June, Golden State looked poised for a strong campaign in pursuit of a repeat. Then TMZ posted a video of forward Draymond Green punching his teammate Jordan Poole during a practice this month.“I don’t think anyone could watch that and not say that it’s upsetting,” said Mullin, who spent most of his 16-year career with Golden State and is now a broadcaster for the team. “It’s unacceptable behavior.”After Green was fined and agreed to stay away from the team for about a week, Golden State welcomed him back and publicly put on a “Nothing To See Here” face. Green apologized privately and publicly, and Poole said Sunday that they would coexist professionally.What to Know: Robert Sarver Misconduct CaseCard 1 of 7A suspension and a fine. More

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      Draymond Green Won’t Be Suspended for Punching Jordan Poole

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      Green, the Golden State forward, punched guard Jordan Poole during a practice last week. The team decided that a fine, but no suspension, would be the best way to move forward.Golden State’s Draymond Green will not be suspended for punching his teammate Jordan Poole last week, even though Coach Steve Kerr described the situation as “the biggest crisis that we’ve ever had.”Kerr said that Green would be fined an undisclosed amount and that he was expected to play in the season-opener at home against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. Green has been kept out of practices and preseason games since the incident on Oct. 5, but Kerr said he would be back at practice on Thursday. Kerr announced the decision after a preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.“This feels right,” he said, adding that criticism of the punishment would be “fair.”Kerr said “everything was on the table” for punishment, including a suspension, but the team talked to key players, including Poole and Stephen Curry, and decided that the fine would be the best way to move forward.Green, 32, punched Poole, 23, after they exchanged words during practice last week. Two days later, TMZ published a leaked video of the fight that went viral. Green is shown approaching Poole, coming chest to chest. Poole shoves Green then moves backward, but Green moves toward Poole and punches him. Green said he apologized to Poole and the team, then he apologized publicly during a news conference Saturday.Green is a four-time All-Star entering his 11th N.B.A. season, a span that has included many displays of his fiery nature. He has channeled that energy into tenacious defense, earning the Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2017, but he has also received scores of technical fouls and many flagrant fouls. He was suspended for a game in 2018 after getting into a dispute with his then-teammate Kevin Durant.When Kerr was asked why Green was not suspended this time — especially after Kerr called the incident the team’s “biggest crisis” in his tenure — Kerr said each situation was different. He said that Green “lives on the edge,” but that he trusted him not to go further. He acknowledged that Green had crossed the line a couple of times in his career, including in the situation with Durant.Kerr said Green and Poole had spoken over the past week. He described Poole as an “incredibly mature young guy.”“We know that he’s fine,” Kerr said. “We know that he’s willing to move forward.”He declined to add more about how Poole was feeling, saying that he would let him speak for himself. Poole has not spoken publicly since the incident.Poole was the No. 28 overall pick in the 2019 draft and is entering his fourth season with Golden State. He played a critical role last season as the team dealt with injuries, averaging 18.5 points and 4 assists per game and starting in 51 of the 76 games he played in. He led the N.B.A. in free-throw shooting at 92.5 percent.Golden State will end its preseason run with a game against the Denver Nuggets on Friday. Kerr said Green was expected to play.Green, in his public apology on Saturday, said he knew he had to regain the trust of his teammates. On Tuesday, two of Golden State’s youngest players — Moses Moody, 20, and James Wiseman, 21 — said they would welcome him back. Moody said he had a “real strong relationship” with Green; Wiseman said Green was a “huge piece” of the team.Golden State won its fourth championship under Kerr last season and has its eyes on a title defense this year. But Kerr said the team’s culture of joy had been “damaged” by the incident with Green.“You don’t win championships on talent alone,” Kerr said. “It takes chemistry. It takes a collective will and a trust, and that has to be rebuilt right now.” More

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      Video of Draymond Green Punching Jordan Poole at Practice Goes Viral

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      Green, known as a fierce player, turned on teammate Jordan Poole during a practice and ended up in a viral video.Draymond Green, part of Golden State’s championship core, roams the basketball court with the energy of a lit fuse.But his intensity has also caused problems. On Friday, TMZ posted a video of Green punching Jordan Poole, one of his teammates, at a practice this week.Bob Myers, Golden State’s general manager, acknowledged that there had been an “altercation” between the two players when he spoke at a news conference Thursday, adding that any disciplinary action against Green would be handled internally.“Look, it’s the N.B.A.,” Myers said. “It’s professional sports. These things happen. Nobody likes it. We don’t condone it. But it happened.”A spokesman for the team said Golden State was investigating how the video got to TMZ.Green subsequently apologized in a team meeting that included the players and the coaching staff, Myers said. Green did not practice with the team on Thursday.Golden State opened its preseason by traveling to Japan for two games against the Washington Wizards. The Warriors are scheduled to host the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.“I’ve actually seen a really good group,” Myers said. “For the people who went to Japan with us, it’s actually one of the best vibes we’ve had in my 12 years here as far as camp and health and mental health and camaraderie. But it’s unfortunate, and I’m not going to deny it. It’ll take some time to move through it, but we’ll move through it and move forward and I’m confident that we will.”Green, battling Denver Nuggets guard Monte Morris for the ball in April, has said he knows only how to play aggressively.Ron Chenoy/USA Today Sports, via ReutersGreen, 32, is a four-time All-Star and one of the N.B.A.’s more polarizing figures. A 6-foot-6 forward, he is a ferocious defender with unique passing abilities for someone his size. He also screams at referees, taunts opposing fans and collects technical fouls like they are baseball cards.Green, who has spent his entire career with Golden State, has often said that he knows how to play only one way — with force, by pushing acceptable limits. That was certainly the case in June, when he tussled with various Boston Celtics in the N.B.A. finals. By the end of the series, Green was a champion for the fourth time.At times, Green’s aggressiveness has caused issues. Most famously, he was suspended for Game 5 of the 2016 N.B.A. finals after he collected too many flagrant fouls. (The last straw was striking LeBron James in the groin.) Golden State lost that game and then the next two as the Cleveland Cavaliers came back to win their first and only championship.In November 2018, he had a well-publicized squabble with Kevin Durant, who was then one of his teammates, that led to Green’s being suspended for a game. During a game the following March, Coach Steve Kerr was filmed in a candid moment telling one of his assistants that he was tired of Green’s antics.Poole, a 23-year-old shooting guard, was one of Golden State’s breakout stars last season, averaging a career-best 18.5 points a game while emerging as a multidimensional scoring threat next to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Poole is in the final season of his rookie contract and is in line for a huge extension.In the video posted by TMZ, Green appears to approach Poole on one of the baselines at Wednesday’s practice before going chest-to-chest with him. Poole pushes Green, who responds by punching Poole in the face and knocking him to the ground. Several others rush in to break it up. There is no audio.“It’s a situation that could’ve been avoided,” Curry told reporters Thursday. “But there’s a lot of trust in the fabric of our team, who we are, who we know those two guys to be and how we’ll get through it and try to continue to make it about playing great basketball.”During his N.B.A. playing career, Kerr was involved in a notable fracas of his own. In a heated practice with the Chicago Bulls before the start of the 1995-96 season, Michael Jordan punched him in the face.The fight was recounted in “The Last Dance,” an ESPN documentary series about the Jordan-era Bulls. Kerr said in the documentary that standing up to Jordan was probably “the best thing that I ever did.”“From that point on, our relationship dramatically improved and our trust in each other, everything,” Kerr said. “It was like, ‘All right, we got that out of the way. We’re going to war together.’”The Bulls went on to win the N.B.A. championship after setting a regular-season record with 72 wins.At a news conference on Thursday, Kerr declined to comment when asked about his fight with Jordan.“We had a documentary about that,” he said. “Watch ‘The Last Dance.’” More

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      Stephen Curry Left His Critics With Nothing Else to Say

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      Four N.B.A. championships. Two Most Valuable Player Awards. And yes, a finals M.V.P. Golden State’s Curry has nothing else to prove.BOSTON — A few seconds remained in Stephen Curry’s N.B.A. season when he spotted his father, Dell, sitting along one of the baselines. He went over to embrace him, then fell to the court in tears.“Surreal,” Curry said. “I just wanted to take in the moment because it was that special.”Over six games of the N.B.A. finals, Curry had supplied Golden State with a narrow range of feats that ranged from the extraordinary to the sublime. He squeezed past walls of defenders for up-and-under layups, and backpedaled for fadeaway jumpers. He enthralled some fans while demoralizing others. He sought the spotlight, then delivered.He effectively turned the court into his personal theater and the Celtics into his helpless foils, delivering performance after performance in a two-week run whose only flaw was that nearly everyone could begin to anticipate the ending — with Curry exiting the stage as a champion again.After Golden State defeated Boston, 103-90, on Thursday to clinch its fourth title in eight seasons, Curry, 34, reflected on the long journey back to the top: the injuries and the lopsided losses, the doubters and the uncertainty. He also recalled the exact moment he started preparing for the start of this season — 371 days ago.“These last two months of the playoffs, these last three years, these last 48 hours — every bit of it has been an emotional roller coaster on and off the floor,” Curry said, “and you’re carrying all of that on a daily basis to try to realize a dream and a goal like we did tonight.”“You imagine what the emotions are going to be like, but it hits different,” Curry said of winning his fourth championship. Two seasons ago, Golden State had the worst record in the N.B.A.Paul Rutherford/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThe numbers tell one story, and they are worth emphasizing. For the series, Curry averaged 31.2 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists while shooting 48.2 percent from the field and 43.7 percent from 3-point range. He was the unanimous selection as the finals’ most valuable player.“He carried us,” Golden State’s Draymond Green said, “and we’re here as champions.”But there was an artistry to Curry’s work in the series, too, and it was a profound reminder of everything he has done to reshape the way fans — and even fellow players — think about the game. The way he stretches the court with his interplanetary shooting. The way he uses post players to create space with pick-and-rolls. The way he has boosted the self-esteem of smaller players everywhere.“When I go back home to Milwaukee and watch my A.A.U. team play and practice, everybody wants to be Steph,” Golden State’s Kevon Looney said. “Everybody wants to shoot 3s, and I’m like: ‘Man, you got to work a little harder to shoot like him. I see him every day.’ ”For two seasons, of course, in the wake of the Golden State’s catastrophic, injury-marred trip to the 2019 finals, some of that joy was missing. The Warriors scuffled through a slow rebuild.“You imagine what the emotions are going to be like,” Curry said of winning his fourth championship, “but it hits different.”Kyle Terada/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThe team reassembled the pieces this season, but there were no guarantees. Curry missed the final 12 games of the regular season with a sprained left foot, then aggravated the injury in Game 3 of the finals. All he did in Game 4 was score 43 points to help Golden State even the series at two games apiece.He showed that he was mortal in Game 5, missing all nine of his 3-point attempts, but his supporting cast filled the void. Among them: Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole, who developed their games during Golden State’s playoff-free hiatus and were indispensable this postseason.“Our young guys carried the belief that we could get back to this stage and win,” Curry said. “And even if it didn’t make sense to anybody when we said it, all that stuff matters.”For Game 6 on Thursday, Curry broke out the full buffet. He used a pump fake to send the Celtics’ Al Horford flying toward an expensive row of seats. He baited defenders into traps and zipped passes to cutting teammates. And after a big flurry in the third quarter, he glared at the crowd and pointed at his ring finger. (Translation: He was ready for more jewelry.)Curry began to get emotional when Boston Coach Ime Udoka summoned his reserves from the bench with just over a minute remaining, conceding the series and the championship. Standing alone at midcourt, Curry seemed to be laughing and crying at the same time, a euphoric mix of feelings.“You imagine what the emotions are going to be like, but it hits different,” he said.After missing all nine of his 3-point attempts in the previous game, Curry was 6 of 11 from deep in Game 6. He scored 34 points.Elsa/Getty ImagesIn a sports world consumed by debate shows, uninformed opinions and hot takes on social media, two asterisks — unfair ones — seemed to trail Curry like fumes. The first was that he had neither helped his team win a title without Kevin Durant nor defeated a finals opponent who was at full strength. The second was that he had not been named a finals M.V.P.Whether he cared or not, Curry effectively quashed both of those narratives against the Celtics, a team that had all of its young stars in uniform and even had Marcus Smart, the league’s defensive player of the year, spending good portions of the series with his arms tucked inside Curry’s jersey.For his part, Golden State Coach Steve Kerr said there was only one achievement missing from Curry’s résumé: an Olympic gold medal. (It should be noted that Kerr coaches the U.S. men’s national team.)“Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” Kerr said, deadpan. “Honestly, the whole finals M.V.P. thing? I guess his career has been so impeccable, and that’s the only thing we can actually find. So it’s great to check that box for him. But it’s really hard for me to think that’s actually been held against him.”After the game, as Golden State’s players and coaches began to gather on a stage for the trophy presentation, Curry hugged each of them, one by one.“Back on top, 30!” Looney said, referring to Curry’s uniform number.Afterward, as Curry made his way toward a courtside tunnel, lingering fans clamored to get closer to the court, closer to Curry, before he was disappeared from view. He chomped on a victory cigar as he held his finals M.V.P. trophy aloft, pushing it skyward once, twice, three times.No one could miss it. More