16 million worth NBA Analyst makes bold claim on Golden State Warriors’ existence amid Stephen Curry’s shoulder concerns
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Stephen A. Smith and Stephen Curry
Even before the season started, Stephen A. Smith had predicted that Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors would repeat their championship run this season. After Curry partially dislocated his left shoulder against the Indiana pacer on Wednesday, the ESPN analyst doesn’t think the Warriors can be relevant this season at all.
According to veteran sports media personality, while Curry has had a masterful season so far, barely any player from the Warriors roster has performed even near to his heroics. “He’s been an absolute superstar, and everybody else has paled in comparison,” Smith said.
He also brought up the fact that the bench has also failed to perform this season, by stating, “For the most part, the starters have played significantly well, the bench hasn’t produced the way they are capable of doing.”
When asked about his thoughts on how the Golden State Warriors can maintain their relevance in Curry’s absence Smith got brutally honest and said, “I don’t think they can, to be quite honest with you.”
The ESPN analyst also alluded to the fact that in absence of Stephen Curry, the responsibility of the offense will fall on Klay Thompson and the new star Jordan Poole. While both are highly skilled with the ball in hand, they can barely match the effectiveness Curry has against the opponents. Curry can be effective with or without the ball, while Poole hasn’t shown that yet.
History suggests Warriors are irrelevant without Stephen Curry
Smith said that even if both the players elevate the game, he doesn’t think they are going to be able to make up for Curry’s absence. “I don’t even think that’s gonna be good enough,” said Smith. To be precise – overall, the Warriors are 67-133 without Curry in the lineup. This season they are 0-3 without the former unanimous MVP in the lineup. Warriors, as a matter of fact, have a big mountain to climb while Curry is out for an indefinite period.
It is quite obvious that Stephen A. Smith isn’t liking the fact that the Warriors are losing their shot at the playoff chances. Before starting the season Smith has Golden State repeating the title run this year against better teams like Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks. Despite Curry’s heroics the Warriors still stand in the 10th spot in the Western Conference behind teams like Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks.
Perhaps that was not enough to give a reality check to Stephen A and Draymond Green. To add to that, despite having a full roster playing a larger part of the season the defending champs are 2-13 in the road games this season.
Curry ranks 6th in the NBA in points per game; he averages 30 points and 6.8 assists before going out with a shoulder injury. The 8 x NBA All-Star has been shooting 50 percent from the field and 43 percent from beyond the arc.
Also Read: Stephen Curry Injury: How many weeks has the 3-Point King been ruled out for Golden State Warriors
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Nandjee Ranjan
(488 Articles Published)