Warriors Searching for Rhythm Amid Injuries, Lineup Changes, and Frustration
SAN FRANCISCO - The Golden State Warriors are in the thick of a turbulent stretch, and Steve Kerr is doing what he’s done so well over the years - navigating the chaos with a steady hand. But even for a coach with four rings and a reputation for calm under pressure, this season’s early challenges are testing the team’s cohesion and identity.
The Warriors have been juggling a revolving door of starting lineups - nine different combinations in the last nine games - while dealing with injuries and trying to find a rhythm that’s eluded them through a 13-14 start. And while outside noise has started to creep in, including a now-viral email exchange between team owner Joe Lacob and a frustrated fan, Kerr made it clear: his focus is on the hardwood, not the headlines.
“It’s not a big deal,” Kerr said Tuesday at Chase Center, brushing off the email that surfaced on Reddit. “I’m not concerned about anything like that.”
The email in question came shortly after the Warriors’ loss in Portland on Sunday. A fan voiced concerns about the team’s direction - including the use of Jimmy Butler at power forward.
Lacob responded candidly: “You can’t be as frustrated as me. I am working on it.
It’s complicated. Style of play.
Coaches’ desires regarding players. League trends.
Jimmy is not the problem.”
Kerr didn’t dispute the underlying frustration. The team’s uneven start, including back-to-back losses to Minnesota and Portland, has left everyone in the building searching for answers. But he emphasized that the relationship between him and Lacob remains strong - a foundation that’s helped this franchise weather storms before.
“Joe supports me 100%, and I support him,” Kerr said. “We have a great connection.
We’ve had so much continuity here. Our stable environment and organization is one of our strengths.”
That stability, though, hasn’t carried over to the court.
Golden State’s rotation has been in flux, with injuries and absences forcing Kerr to mix and match lineups almost nightly. Pat Spencer, who had started three of the last nine games, will miss Thursday’s game in Phoenix due to an excused absence. That opens the door for Kerr to possibly stick with the group that started the last game: Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Moses Moody, and Quinten Post.
Moody, who had a strong finish to last season as a starter but has only opened 14 games this year, spoke candidly about the team’s struggles to close games - and how close they are to flipping the script.
“It feels different,” Moody said. “These last couple of games, and there’s so many games this year we should have won.
Coming down to the end like that, we’re not far off. One shot goes differently, and this is a whole different conversation.”
That kind of perspective is important, especially for a team that’s still trying to integrate new pieces and adjust to shifting roles. For young players like Brandin Podziemski, who started the year in the first five and is now coming off the bench, the learning curve is steep - but the message is clear: defense has to be the foundation.
The Warriors had a strong defensive showing earlier in the road trip, holding three straight opponents under 100 points. But that effort disappeared in the losses to Minnesota and Portland, where they gave up more than 125 points in each game.
“We didn’t get many stops last game, and neither did we against Minnesota,” Podziemski said. “That’s where it starts.
If you don’t get stops, it makes it that much harder because you feel like you have to score. But if you get stops, you have that room for error.”
It’s a simple truth, but one that rings loudly for a team that’s trying to rediscover its championship DNA. The Warriors don’t need to reinvent themselves - they just need to reconnect with the habits that once made them dominant: ball movement, defensive intensity, and trust.
There’s still plenty of time to right the ship. And if there’s one thing this franchise has shown over the past decade, it’s that they don’t panic when things get tough.
They recalibrate. They respond.
Now it’s time to see if this group can do just that.