The Golden State Warriors are staring at a schedule wrinkle that could force Steve Kerr to juggle his roster night after night in the 2026-27 season.
When the team released its schedule, one number jumped out: 15 back-to-backs. That ties the Warriors for the second-most in the NBA next season, and for a roster loaded with older players, it’s the kind of grind that can shape how Kerr handles the year.
Back-to-backs always create problems. With no rest day in between, fatigue builds, recovery shrinks and the risk of injury goes up. Teams often respond by sitting key players, especially veterans, and that reality hits Golden State harder than most.
The Warriors don’t just have a few experienced pieces. They have a lot of them, which means Kerr is going to be making tough calls all season about which game in a back-to-back to prioritize. He already dealt with that last year, when Golden State essentially gave up a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder by resting its stars so it could be in better shape the next night against the Utah Jazz.
That kind of decision would have been unthinkable in the peak Stephen Curry years, but this roster is built differently now. The Warriors may need to lean into split-up lineups for these stretches, with one version of the starting five featuring Curry, Draymond Green, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and De’Anthony Melton, and another built around Brandin Podziemski, Yaxel Lendeborg, Will Richard, Gui Santos and Charles Bassey.
There’s no sugarcoating the tradeoff. Golden State would probably drop some games when the younger group is on the floor, but that would also give Kerr a chance to protect his veterans and get his younger players more reps.
It’s a rough break for a team that would have probably loved a lighter load. The NBA isn’t targeting the Warriors, but the schedule still landed on them in a way that feels especially harsh. Now the only option is to manage it as best as they can, even if that means sacrificing a few games along the way.
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