SACRAMENTO – Steph Curry, master of focus, sipped a beer and stared from 10,000 yards away.
The loquacious Draymond Green appeared speechless.
The all the time positive Klay Thompson was downright desperate.
The Warriors' season ended Tuesday night by the hands of the Sacramento Kings, and the battle left the once-great champions dazed.
The query was on the faces of all of the greats before the ultimate buzzer sounded and long after:
What just happened?
Let me let you know:
The No. 10 seed within the Western Conference — the worst team within the Western Conference postseason — was jumped from the primary tip on Tuesday. They were pushed around and beaten up and offered little or no resistance Kings' omnipresent force.
The Warriors were punk.
And it made the once-mighty Warriors — with a core that played for every part and won every part — appear to be a team overmatched in a modest play-in tournament game.
Sacramento is hardly a team of destiny – a future champion on the rise. The kings stink too. This team went into this game as underdogs No. 9 vs. No. 10, had poor form and poor spirits.
Still, they defeated the Warriors with ease.
Where does this leave the Dubs within the NBA hierarchy they once stood at the highest of?
The Warriors' dynasty can have ended years ago. Maybe the 2022 title fight was something aside from dynastic. Or perhaps that run of excellence that began in 2014-15 and continued until Tuesday night's game was prolonged.
But regardless of the warriors were, they are not any more.
The 118-94 loss in a made-for-television single-elimination game between two non-contenders is a transparent dividing line.
After watching the Warriors play at the best level — and win — watching them in Tuesday's game felt incongruous with that legacy. This felt amongst the soldiers – the capital W version of this lore.
Seeing them lose so badly only made the purpose more clear.
But the reality is that great champions rarely find yourself at the highest. So a lot of the perfect last long gone the expiration date of their excellence. It's hard to stop. As Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after Tuesday's loss, there's nothing just like the highlights of elite sport – anyone who's experienced them gets hooked.
That's why Muhammad Ali's last fight was a loss to Trevor Berbick. Or why Michael Jordan played for the Wizards. Babe Ruth hit .181 for the Boston Braves at age 40.
Given the sad departures of major stars, perhaps the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento was the suitable place for this ending.
And the loss to the Kings definitely felt like the top.
Reactionary? Perhaps.
But what else would you call Tuesday?
Curry tried to single-handedly lead the Warriors to victory, just as he did in the identical constructing last April when he scored 50 points in Game 7 of those teams' first-round playoff series. Against a gradual food plan of double and triple teams, he didn't come close. Keon Ellis (I'll wait a moment so you possibly can look him up) had the perfect point guard of all time in prison. And with Curry's legs drained from the regular season of dragging this team, he had no likelihood of repeating last yr's heroics. He scored 22 points and had six turnovers.
Green attempted a yeoman push defensively, but was often the one Warrior defending. One against five is a foul ratio. While his early offensive impulses were intended to be a catalyst for the remaining of the team, his teammates never elevated their plays.
And then there's Thompson, who had found his best game in years heading into this postseason. He delivered what might be the worst performance of his profession, going 0 of 10 from the ground on Tuesday last game as a warrior.
You really don't need a comprehensive column on the state of the Warriors — you only need Thompson's box rating line from Tuesday. It says all of it.
Curry, Green and Thompson made the Warriors – of all things – arguably the best skilled basketball team ever assembled.
But Golden State is way from the excellence it once shone. Age has played its part. This also applies to failures within the front office. This pathetic performance can have been shocking, however it was neither surprising nor sudden. This team, the costliest in NBA history, had to provide every part to get into the play-in tournament. This team only had 4 wins against the six Western Conference playoff teams this season.
How could the Warriors front office return to that path of success in an offseason?
How could they get this automotive back on the road with Curry, Green, Thompson and Andrew Wiggins (4 of 11 from the ground on Tuesday) when at the very least two of those tires are completely deflated and the opposite two could explode at any time? Moment?
This team has covered some tough miles through the years. This team has held 4 title banners, but six runs to the NBA Finals will do some damage.
And while the toll was obvious long before Tuesday, it’s now inescapable and undeniable.
There will likely be loads of time – many years, even – to have fun this team's increasingly distant successes. The greatness of this Warriors core is indelible and this ending will eventually be forgotten.
But now, within the long offseason ahead, big, profound changes are needed – from each a financial and basketball perspective.
Is this organization content to sell nostalgia at a premium price and win barely enough to remain relevant for at the very least one game after the regular season? That’s what “Running It Back” would tell us.
Or do the Warriors care about winning titles, rattling it? If that's actually true, the perfect moves is likely to be probably the most extreme – to maneuver forward, this team may need to take a step back and even consider the once unthinkable.
Yes, every part is on the table for the Warriors this offseason.
And that's since the Warriors brought so little in 2023-24.
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