Stephen Curry believes the Warriors can still compete for a championship. He also knows they can’t expect to win simply because they are the Warriors.
“We still believe that we can be that team,” Curry told Stephen A. Smith on SiriusXM. “I think our challenge now is to reimagine what that looks like.”
Curry pointed to a mix of veterans and younger players. He wants Brandin Podziemski to take another step, expects rookie Yaxel Lendeborg to contribute and believes De’Anthony Melton can help after working his way back from injury. But the biggest issue is health.
“I missed so many games last year,” Curry said. “If we can stay healthy, have a consistent lineup as much as possible throughout the regular season, I feel like we showed enough last year. And when guys are missing, you saw how much it hurt.”
Curry was limited to 43 games last season because of a knee injury. He still averaged 26.6 points and shot 39.3 percent on 3-pointers when he played.
The 38-year-old also acknowledged that staying at that level requires a different approach in his 18th NBA season.
“Father Time is undefeated,” Curry said. “I do train differently than I used to.”
That has not diminished his urgency. Curry signed a two-year, $116 million extension Friday and remains convinced there is another run to be made with coach Steve Kerr and Draymond Green.
“You can’t just roll the ball out and be like, ‘Oh, we’re the Warriors. We’re gonna win,’” Curry said. “Nah, it’s let’s embrace the challenge of figuring out what this team needs to do to win.”
The Warriors clearly have the belief. Curry’s point is that they still have to do the figuring out.
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