Steve Kerr became the winningest coach in Warriors history following Saturday’s victory over New York, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com. With his 558th regular season win, Kerr broke Al Attles‘ franchise record.
As Youngmisuk notes, Attles spent six-plus decades with the Warriors as a player, executive and coach. The Hall of Famer, who passed away in August, guided the club for 14 seasons, leading the team to its first championship in 1975. His family was on hand to present Kerr with the game ball after the victory.
“It was a great moment being awarded the game ball by the Attles family,” Kerr said. “It was really beautiful to be honored by their presence, and obviously Al Attles is Mr. Warrior forever. The record, it’s kind of surreal to even think that this could happen, but it’s a reflection of our organizational strength, stability and a talent level over the last 11 years since I’ve been here.
“I’m incredibly lucky to be part of this organization and part of this city and very humbled by the honor because of Al’s greatness and what he means to the franchise.”
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- Golden State is now 14-1 when Jimmy Butler is in the lineup. ESPN’s Brianna Williams takes a look Butler’s history of making an immediate impact with the teams he has played for.
- Butler has acted as more of a play-maker than a scorer since he joined the Warriors. His 11.0 field goal attempts per game with Golden State would be his lowest mark in 11 years, but he’s averaging 5.9 assists and only 1.4 turnovers per game, two of the best figures of his career. After Saturday’s victory, Butler suggested he’s been biding his time when it comes to scoring, as Anthony Slater of The Athletic relays (Twitter video link). “When it’s my time, you’ll know it’s my time,” Butler said. “Until then, I’m going to pass the ball to the open man, get my guys some jumpers, get them out in transition and we gonna keep winning.”
- Kerr said the Warriors are targeting Tuesday’s game vs. Milwaukee for Brandin Podziemski to return from the back issue that has cost him the past four games, Slater tweets. That means the second-year guard will miss his fifth straight contest on Monday against Denver.
March 16, 2025: The Golden State Warriors are 3.5 games out from the #2 seed.
Be afraid, all NBA fans, be very afraid…
Who sits more when Podz returns? Who, like me, has been suprised at how well we’ve managed without PG when Steph sits?
Moody’s been too good to play him less. GP2 is playing like it’s 2022. I guess Buddy is the odd man out.
I have been surprised too. I didnt know Butler was such a good passer/facilitator.
I think the return of Podz and Kuminga should lead to Looney and Santos playing only situationally (back to backs, certain matchups) but past history would suggest Kerr will play all 11 guys* when they’re all healthy. All 11 might be important at some point so he can’t afford to have them mentally check out, but the downside to 11-man rotation is cutting minutes and making it hard for any of the shooters to get in rhythm.
All their best lineups are small. So many of those guys fight and rebound above their actual size that Looney’s marginal rebounding upgrade isn’t worth the offensive limitations in a playoff series imo.
*Spencer, TJD, and whomever #14-15 end of being won’t play much.
Looney will sit more. Don’t act like Kerr won’t drop everything to go small if he can.
jacobjackson, good stuff. I, too, worry about playing too many guys, for the reasons you give, especially as we get ready for the playoffs. But I’m particularly worried about our size disadvantage because several likely opponents are huge. Kerr needs to be thinking about that now.
In a playoff series you can’t use a “micro” starting lineup because it will be exploited. In other words, we can’t:
– start Steph, Podz, and Moody together
– use a front line of Moody, Draymond, and Butler (without a C)
For some playoff opponents, like Houston or LA, this 5 is big enough:
– Steph, Moody/Podz, Draymond, Kuminga, Butler.
But OKC (Holmgren & Hartenstein) and Memphis will exploit it.
For the bigger teams, we will have to use a true C, as in:
– Steph, Moody/Podz, Draymond, Butler and Looney/Post.
This is why I’m expecting to see Looney play 20 mpg in the playoffs. Post may play the same, but we saw how OKC put him in the blender. Looney will be critical for a deep run.
@ari – what do you think about GSW/Boston? We went small and beat them in 2022.
Also, Chet is big, but he’s too skinny and can be bullied by Draymond and Post.
DaveyJ, they didn’t actually “go small” against Boston. Looney averaged 24 mpg in the series. Otto Porter started a few games, but came out after 4 minutes in a scheme to create a roster mismatch.
Celtics are considerably bigger now with Porzingis, Kornett and Quetta. They *demolished* GSW using that size at Chase in February.
Regarding Chet, yes, as a C, you can take advantage of his slight build. But, with Hartenstein, OKC uses Chet as a 4, which creates extreme mismatches offensively.
Boston, Cleveland, OKC, and Memphis are the 4 teams I’ve seen that will game-plan size mismatches against smaller lineups. GSW will need to beat at least 2 of these to win a ‘Chip.
OKC with Chet & Hartenstein together is not the team GSW beat twice earlier in the year.
You’re right about Looney getting minutes, but I meant more “GSW’s smalls trashed Boston”. Otto was getting minutes at the C and he is too small for that role. You are also right about Hartenstein being the solid big who might be too big for Draymond. My personal fave fun fact about Hartenstein is that he’s African-American and calls himself “clear Black” – haha, what a legend!
Great call about “subbing out Otto 4 mins in to create mismatches” – that only comes from being there before and not many teams switch up their playoffs gameplans better than GSW. I feel like GSW doesn’t even try to do this during the reg season, but once the playoffs start, they get a whole new look.
Draymond: the defensive-minded Point-Forward playmaker who can score when needed.
Jimmy: the defensive-minded Point-Forward playmaker who can score when needed.
Hmmm
There is a difference though because Greymond can play center and Jimmy can play shooting guard but not vice versa.
But I like the point you make. The Warriors are winning, and these guys aren’t even trying to score except when it’s presented as the best option on a play.
Yup, we basically got 2 Draymonds now.
But for real, Draymond doesn’t play “center”, GSW often plays 2 forwards and 3 guards or 3 forwards and 2 guards, or 1 forward and 4 guards. Kerr hates bigs/centers.
@aristotle
1 Dray = good
2 Drays = better!
Jimmy might also have been a better mentor than his reputation claimed about him. He might be one of the best in the league. He is feeding EVERYONE.
Kerr doesn’t hate bigs. They are much harder to come by than you realize. Wes Unseld was only 6’7″. He is considered one of the greatest bigs in NBA history. Wilt hated playing against him. His numbers went down everytime.
Gary and Davey, I’m still trying to figure out how EVERYTHING got so much better the moment Jimmy arrived?! I mean, every other player on the team instantly got better. Even when he’s not on the floor.
Is Jimmy force-feeding everybody his Big Mouth coffee? Did he bring some good drugs from Miami? Something has to be going on behind the scenes.
Maybe he is a smart player and knows how to play the game?
Ari, “everything got so much better” because Jimmy Butler is a super stud basketball player who could average 25 game just by driving to the hole and his mid range sort of like DeMar DeRozan.
So knowing this, you have to pay attention to him and can’t cheat off of him as you can for periods of time with almost every other guy in the league.
Even good players you can cheat off of them occasionally because of a weakness in their offensive game.
Some guys don’t have many weaknesses yes I get it, but with Jimmy, you cannot take your eyes off him for a single second.
With the ball or without the ball, cutting to the basket, and how many Hail Marys does he receive because he’s the first guy down the floor?
So with that point in mind, you have to realize it opens up EVERYTHING for everyone else.
Everyone else becomes a better passer because Jimmy cuts to the hole or Jimmy’s in the right place and get’s himself open to receive a different pass.
Or help defense can’t come from Jimmy’s guy so the other 4 guys have one on one matchups every time instead of getting double teamed.
Just because Jimmy is averaging 10 points doesn’t mean he can’t be DeMar DeRozan averaging 25. That IS his skill set but instead, he is choosing to make everyone around him better because he knows that will win a championship.
Him going DeRozan and averaging 25 will not.
Hope this makes sense.
Gary, as always a flawless basketball analysis.
But even that doesn’t account for the scope and breadth of the change. I sense there is something more going on. Maybe psychedelics? Maybe PED’s? Wife swapping?
Jimmy still hit that half court buzzer beater vs the Knicks like it was nothing, his PPG is meaningless on this team. The confidence he has is off the charts, especially on GSW.
If they need him to score because everyone else is ice cold, he simply will. He is Jimmy Butler – if you haven’t had him in your top 15 players in the NBA for the last decade, you might not know ball.
The biggest difference is that offensively, Jimmy can consistently draw contact and get to the free throw line when he wants to.
Agreed, they definitely have different offensive profiles, but said offensive profiles don’t really apply when you have Curry there. Its the playmaking, spacing and defense those two bring that are huge in GSW wins.
Barry, that’s a very strong point to make because it’s a huge part of winning basketball. It’s not talked about nearly as often as it should and Jimmy has the Warriors covered in that area now that he’s arrived.
Which of these former #1 picks would you rather have on your team if you could have him his whole career…
Joe Barry Carroll, Andrew Wiggins, Andrew Bogut, Danny Manning, Kenyon Martin, Deandre Ayton, Glenn Robinson, Zacch Risacher, Ben Simmons or Derrick Coleman?
Rank a top5 if possible…
1. Glenn Robinson
2. Derrick Coleman
3. Kenyon Martin
4. Danny Manning
5. Andrew Bogut
6. Andrew Wiggins
7. Joe Barry Carroll
8. Ben Simmons
That’s a very cleverly constructed list. A lot of guys that played for crappy teams (like the Clippers), so,even as a huge NBA fan at the time you weren’t aware of how they were doing.
I’ll be that if you take 10 knowledgeable fans that saw all these guys play, you’ld get 10 very different rankings… almost random.
I feel what you’re saying but I gotta slightly disagree. It wasn’t easy keeping up with guys on losing teams in the early-mid 90s with no Internet or league pass but at this point it’s very easy to know any & everything about all of these guy’s games. Like you I expect a wide range of rankings but I’d also expect any knowledgeable/huge NBA fan to know about all 10 of those guys (less so Zacch bc he’s still a rook) no matter their team.
Joe Barry Carroll was drafted in 1980. The worst day in Warriors history. The traded away 2 future HoFs. They already had 1. They also traded away a guy who go onto be an All-Star. The Warriors could have been dominant in the 80s. Worst day in Al Attles great career.
They still could have been dominant with JBC in the 80s. The team they had when JBC was a rookie was stacked with young talent. The Warriors ownership was the problem, not Attles. They didn’t wanna pay Parish, same way they didn’t wanna pay Bernard King. Eventually they didn’t wanna pay JBC himself.
So, you would take Joe Barry over Kevin McHale, Robert Parish and Jeff Ruland? Back then, they didn’t have any money. That’s why they couldn’t pay players. Why do you think they are called Golden State?
Sankara, it’s a different world nowadays. In the 80’s, before cable, there were only 2 nationally televised games on the major networks each week. In 1981, two of the NBA Finals games weren’t televised anywhere.
i just asked a relative, huge NBA fan, who lives in DC, and he says he never saw Joe Barry Carroll on TV except in an All-Star game!
The only way to see the guys you mention from the 80’s would be on local broadcasts against a home team.
I suffered for too many years following GSW to not put the Ellis for Bogut trade as the most memorable moment of the turnaround of 2014. Bogut was a bada** and he took no crap. He was an excellent defender and a better passer. Probably my favorite player, period, in that time. So easily he’s top of this list for me. For me, he represents the greatness of this current era. The next 4 is kind of a crapshoot. In no particular order I’ll go with Wiggins, Coleman, Robinson and Manning. I can just imagine Bill King calling games on my transistor and hearing him go nuts if Bogut played (via time travel of course) for gsw in the 70s. Hiding my radio under my pillow when I was supposed to be sleeping…especially during the 1975 season.
I can understand why you’d love that Monta Ellis to Milwaukee trade as a Warriors fan but if I’m not mistaken you’re saying Andrew Bogut, moreso than Steph, Klay or Draymond, represents the greatness of this era? That can’t be right. I can definitely understand why you got him at the top of your list tho. He was a big part of that 1st title especially & the culture change in general. Don’t sleep on Clifford Ray tho
When you consider the Centers the Warriors had before Bogut, major upgrade. Andris turned into a bust. Yohan was a journeyman and will never be confused for Nate “The Great”.
No, he’s not as valuable as the 3 you listed, but for me he just epitomizes the culture shift. Of course the 3 were more influential, but Bogut was a favorite at THAT TIME. Clifford Ray was a solid rebounder/defender part time. He shared time with George Johnson. Kind of like Looney and Ezeli/mggee/tjd etc. Plus, he replaced my favorite Thurmond in a horrible trade. And gsw was a HUGE underdog vs Bullets in finals. And behind Barry they swept Washington. Still one of the most underrated feats in history. They had Barry, ROY Wilkes, and a band of misfits. Washington had 3 of the top 9 vote getters for mvp. Chenier, and 2 hofers in Hayes and Unseld. Ray battled them well but Johnson was equal to the task. But Barry? Riordan was tasked with getting into his head. He tried, but failed. Anyway, Clifford Ray was solid, but not great…not Bogut great.
Yea you’re definitely sleeping on Clifford Ray smh. He was a bigger factor in the 75 title run than Bogut was in the 2014 title run… and “a band of misfits”??? smh you’re sleeping on that entire 75 team (other than Rick Barry ofc)
Uhh…Barry was a bit of a misfit. He jumped ship to the ABA, and won a championship.
Yes, on culture shift with Andrew Bogut coming to town.
One of my lasting memories is him constantly yelling at starting power forward David Lee about help defense and “where the hell are you !!” type stuff and clenching his fists and you see him scowling.
Good stuff and with Mark Jackson, coaching the emphasis on defense Was preeminent for the first time since way before the Nelly era.
Remember Nelly preached zero defense except for his first couple of years in Milwaukee in the late 70s.
keep in mind, my favorite niner of all time is Ronnie Lott, for similar reasons. Culture. Favorite is not Montana or Rice or Young. Defense under Lott leadership was, for me, the main reason they won titles. You can score all the points you want, but if you give the points back, you lose. So anyway, the culture, the bada**ness, that Lott and Bogut brought, were unquantifiable. Just my feelings.
Bro Draymond Green is very very clearly the main reason for the culture change in this era of Dubs basketball. I get that you like Bogut alot. I like him a lot too. He was 1 of my favorite players in the country during one of the best seasons of college basketball ever. Let’s pump brakes on giving him far too much credit tho
There was definitely another culture shift when the team moved Greymond to the starting 4 and David Lee to the bench.
Lee was nice around the basket but couldn’t shoot beyond 18 feet and the Warriors wanted a stretch 4.
Green proclaimed, I will be your stretch 4, don’t trade for Kevin love” and worked on his shot the following summer.
Green went from 20% his rookie year to low-mid 30s after that and passable as a stretch 4. They kept Thompson emphasized defense through Green and that second culture step was firmly in place.
So sure they got their stretch 4 but more importantly, Greymond provided that second shift together with Mark Jackson.
Claude, you nailed it. Lott established the new culture. Possibly the most natural football leader in the modern era.
@claude Do you remember listening to Ken Dito after the games on Sportsphone 68? I still have their phone jingle in my head, “478-3200”, no area code needed.
giants74 , for die-hard Giants coverage back then, who can forget Ken Ditto and, in the Sporting Green, Lowell Cohn and Glenn Dickey. As I remember it, fans back then had a bigger appetite for negative takes… but maybe it was just that the Giants mostly sucked. You could listen to Ken Ditto for 2 hours and never hear a positive thing about the team. Lowell Cohn and Glenn Dickey would skewer the losing Giants in the press. I was an A’s fan, so I didn’t mind.
g74, I grew up in Reno so i didn’t listen to Knbr too much other than Gsw games. Giants weren’t on knbr then as well. Ksfo and I definitely couldn’t pick them up in Reno. koh was the Reno station that carried Giants. Read Chronicle every day. Cohn not a fave. But I’ll always remember Dickey who was critical but I always felt was fair. In 92-93 the Giants moving was a done deal if I remember but every day Dickey seemed to write about a chance/reason they could stay. So I just remember Dickey being that ray of hope. The guy on knbr that annoyed me nights was new house. But guys, Bill King? The best. I resented the success of the Raiders (being a niner guy) but I would listen to raider games just to hear him. And Simmons? Best thing about Lon was he didn’t talk all the time. Anyway, goodmemories.
Bill King for the win.
Hank Greenwald was good, but Bill the best ever, IMO.
I wasn’t in the bay area in the 70s and prior, but I certainly loved Greg Papa doing warrior games in the early 90s maybe late 80s Nelson era too.
Gary, yes, I also like Greg Papa for Dubs play-by-play. I guess Fitz owns the position as a legacy, but Papa is, IMO, more knowledgeable and less predictable.
Bay Area hoops fans endured fruitless decades. If Steph hadn’t come along, I think those memories would have disintegrated by now.
You forgot about Ira Miller in the Sporting Green.
The weird thing about Bill King. He was the announcer for such ‘blue collar’ teams. But, the guy was fluent in Russian and a ballet afficionado.
gIants74, Ira Miller! I completely forgot about him.
Bill King was truly “colorful”. IiRC, he once drew a technical for the Warriors when a ref heard him yelling over the PA system during his radio broadcast, “horsesh*t” about a call.
That prompted Brent Musburger to comment, “there is nothing sacred in California”.
Like Wiggins coming to Warriors…..
Like Jimmy coming to Warriors ……..
no believers till they start winning ……
That’s precious lols ….. Q bandwagon music.
It’s a good sign when fans of other teams start talking about bandwagon Warrior fans lol.
You can read a bunch of us here who have been on the ride the whole way. The crappy 80s 90s 2000s 2010s.
Yeah, there’s probably bandwagon fans as we discussed a few months ago with any winning team and they’re all welcome.
But I think the consensus back 2 months ago was the Warriors have a truckload of diehard fans thick or thin, no matter what happens, warriors all the way, types.
The two glimmers of hope before the curry era were run TMC and we believe. Other than that, it was all crap but the fans showed up and remained.
I didn’t think I would see the “bandwagon Warriors” call again because this era was coming to an end, but this sure is sweet with the 14 out of 15 wins. Bandwagon Warriors fans unite !!
Al, bandwagons are only for winning teams.
Also, like Gary says, Bay Area basketball fans have never needed a bandwagon to be delusionally optimistic.
In 2020, GSW finished 2nd to last in the league. This group of maniac posters still thought GSW would be the favorite in 2021.
Umm…Nobody looked at Wiggins coming to the Warriors with excitement. DLo was just not a fit. The team had gone as far as they could with him.
Two months ago, the Warriors were a different team. Curry was constantly double-teamed. We knew what we had in Wiggins. He Kuminga weren’t exactly working out together.
Now, Curry is having fun again. Moody is a different player. Podz has regained his rookie year form. Post keeps getting better. We will see what Kuminga brings to the table.
Definitely a much funner experience than the sinking ship of 2 months ago.
Right Giants74 and people vilified the Warriors for giving Jimmy two years at 55 or so million per.
He’s worth 10 times that to the team right now because the Warriors went from a maybe play-in candidate to a championship contender capable of winning one round or maybe two. That’s a lot of money in the bank.
Gary, also, signing Jimmy for the same period as Steph’s and Draymond’s contracts ensures their last years will be meaningful. It didn’t feel that way 2 months ago, which I found very depressing.