LOS ANGELES — The word of the year for the Warriors: Availability.
Before they could even take the court Wednesday night to open their season against the Lakers, who wasn’t in uniform was already as much of a talking point as anybody who was.
A quick recap of the week that was leading up to tipoff:
- Steph Curry gave fans in attendance for a light-hearted open practice a heart attack when he pulled up gimpy and limped off the court. Conditioned to fear for the worst, they let out a collective sigh of relief when it was revealed only to be a mild ankle tweak.
- Brandin Podziemski, one of 18 players not to miss a game last season, was ruled out for opening night because of back soreness, and Charles Bassey, their one center who isn’t over the age of 40 or dealing with a mysterious illness, was also unable to go.
- Then, an ESPN report surfaced that the issue preventing Kristaps Porzingis from playing also has him “seriously contemplating his future in basketball.”
How’s that for a tone-setter for the season ahead on opening night?
If there was one game that we could reasonably expect to see the Warriors at full strength, it would have been the first one of the season. If Golden State can’t even enter the season healthy, how is this all going to play out over the 81 games that follow?
While Curry walked away from his practice scare, the Warriors still need to manage his playing time — along with Draymond Green and Al Horford, at a minimum — to keep him healthy and fresh at age 38 with a knee issue that gets worse with overuse.
For as underwhelming as last season may have been, the Warriors wouldn’t have even qualified for the play-in without Podziemski picking up the slack during Curry’s absence.
He was the Warriors’ one ironman in a sea of DNPs.
Podziemski was going to be asked to play an even bigger role this season, as indicated by the $110 million extension he signed a week before opening night. But in his first chance to prove he’s worth the money, Podziemski was forced to watch from the bench in street clothes.
Bassey is almost as essential in the Warriors’ ability to get through the season. He may not make or break the outcome on opening night, but Golden State will need his size when Horford and Porzingis aren’t able to go, which is expected to be on a regular basis.
In Porzingis’ case, there are now real questions about how much the Warriors can count on his contributions, at all. According to ESPN, they have begun to explore trading the Latvian big man after he caught them off guard by not participating in training camp.
Porzingis didn’t accompany the team to Los Angeles, and the Warriors said in a statement before the game that they “are not anticipating Kristaps being around the team in the immediate future.” They declined to comment “on trade speculation or reports regarding his health-related matter or future.”
The Warriors’ age and health was always going to hang over their season like a cloud. It didn’t even take one game for it to cast a shadow over opening night.
