Warriors insist they’re not waving the white flag as Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr clear things up

MINNEAPOLIS — The Warriors’ four-game road trip included a decisive win over Detroit, a short-handed and lifeless loss at Indiana, another season nadir at Toronto, then an inspired win over Minnesota.

Deflecting all the ups and downs was a speech – mostly self-generated and reasonable – about the franchise’s existential direction. Stephen Curry, Steve Kerr and Draymond Green, three of the organization’s most prominent voices, have publicly expressed their dislike for what they view as a desperate or reckless trade aimed at improving now without considering the future .

After dropping a season-high 31 points in 37 minutes to lead the Warriors past the Timberwolves, Curry used his on-court interview to tell fans with “Twitter fingers” to calm down on the trading machine and let the Warriors figure things out.

“I hope there’s not a misconception that we don’t fight and give up and hope we can do everything we can to keep this going,” Kerr said. “Because that’s what we do. It almost feels like the narrative has become: “The Warriors are giving in.” We don’t give in, we just don’t give up on the future. They are two totally different things. We fight.

The self-inflicted talk show debate began when Green told Yahoo Sports that he, Kerr and Curry mutually disagreed with the idea of ​​mortgaging the team’s future. Curry and Kerr, when asked about his comments, agreed on as many words.

This sparked a firestorm of discourse online and on television. People have made the incorrect assumption that this was a coordinated PR effort. Fans couldn’t believe their hero, Curry, would settle for more inaction after two average seasons and the current one in freefall. How could he wave the white flag like that? The moment provided an opportunity to look back at every misstep the Warriors have made and misfortunes they’ve had over the past five years.

The Warriors didn’t talk about the noise as a team. They are used to being in the spotlight. Asked Wednesday night about the “mortgage for the future” comments, Andrew Wiggins had no idea what that phrase referred to.

Curry didn’t use the news cycle as extra motivation at the Timberwolves’ Target Center, he said. It was just another night at the office — a night in which he hit a dagger 3 and watched the fans chirp before it slipped through the net.

It’s not the job of players or coaches to think about building a team on a daily basis. But Curry, like any superstar, is involved in high-level discussions with the front office. His influence is vast, as it should be.

So when Curry says it would be wrong to throw assets everywhere just for the sake of it, it tends to resonate. And important messages can get lost in translation.

“Anyone who thinks I’m OK with being on an average basketball team is crazy,” Curry said.

“Take everything I said, I still stand by it. But that doesn’t mean you’re not in a situation where you’re trying to improve yourself and take the appropriate steps that help you get there. (general manager Mike Dunleavy) knows that. We talk about it. That’s what I’m looking forward to, trying to help lead the team to where we want to go. Again, this doesn’t mean you’re reckless.

The Warriors, in reality, have been average this year. They are between 20 and 20 years old and Curry himself described them as “average.”

This must make it difficult to maintain this all-encompassing, patient mindset, right?

“We’re all human,” Curry said. “Your imagination can sometimes be overflowing. But first, anyone who wants to demand something from a franchise or an organization relies on trust and communication. And the responsibility, again, for me and for anyone who puts on this jersey is to play your best. Did I play my best all year? More often than not, but there have been some lulls. The challenge of how to put all these pieces together has been difficult…

“But it can’t kill your optimism if you can make things clear. It’s a daily challenge. You have to remember to just have fun and play with joy. The rest will take care of itself.

Two things may be true at the same time: It’s perfectly healthy to recognize that Curry and the Warriors dynasty are in their twilight years, and the Warriors’ stewards care about the future of the franchise and have concluded that trading away their batch of picks first round and young prospects like Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski could put him in danger.

At least that’s all the Warriors tried to say.