A blowout win over Orlando came with a loud side story Monday night: Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and Draymond Green got into a heated sideline argument that ended with Green leaving the bench and never returning to the game.

>SLIDESHOW: MOST INFAMOUS SPORTS MUGSHOTS & THE STORIES BEHIND THEM!

The flare-up happened early in the third quarter at Chase Center with Golden State down 71–66. After Green committed a turnover, and continued to chat with an official. Kerr called a timeout and tried to pull his team into the huddle, later saying he felt the group had lost its focus. Instead, the timeout turned tense. Teammates and staff, which included Moses Moody and assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse, stepped in as Kerr and Green exchanged words. Later, Green walked off toward the locker room.

Both sides framed it as a moment that needed a pressure release, not a bigger fracture. Green said, “tempers spilled over, and he chose to remove himself because he didn’t think the situation would improve in the moment.”

Kerr confirmed Green wouldn’t have re-entered even after he returned to the bench in warmups before the fourth quarter.

The Warriors responded on the court. Stephen Curry ignited a third-quarter swing with a perfect shooting stretch, and Golden State turned the five-point deficit into a comfortable lead before cruising to a 120–97 victory. Curry finished with 26 points, and Jimmy Butler added 21 as the Warriors climbed back to .5 at 15–15.

The incident also added to a recent pattern: Green had been ejected in the previous game and, for a second straight night, wasn’t part of the closing minutes. After the final buzzer, the message from the locker room was essentially We’ve been here before.

Jonathan Kuminga reached a $48 million, two-year deal with the Golden State Warriors.

The deal comes after Kuminga skipped Media Day due to ongoing contract negotiations. He passed up a $78 million, three-year deal to maintain his right to be a free agent next year.

During the 2024-2025 season, Kuminga made 47 regular-season appearances, averaging 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists.

Stephen Curry spoke about this ongoing negotiation, saying, “When he’s here, ready to work, we expect him to be locked in on doing what he needs to do to help us win.”

Curry mentioned that he understands where Kuminga is coming from, and he expects him to be ready to go.

The Warriors have had to wait to sign other free agents until Kuminga signs his contract, making their roster incomplete.

Kuminga is now expected to return to training camp this week.

The Warriors will start their preseason with a game against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 5.

The Golden State Warriors fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves 121-110 in game five of the Western Conference semifinals, ending their season.

The Warriors, who have been playing without star Stephen Curry since early in game one, will now turn to the offseason.

“I think we’ll be right back at it,” Warriors’ Draymond Green said. “Sucks to end this way, but we think we got the pieces to make another run at it and do it again.”

After acquiring Jimmy Butler at the All-Star break, the Warriors went 23-8 in the regular season and beat the two-seed Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs. When the team was healthy, they won a lot of games.

The loss of Curry in the series derailed all the Warriors’ momentum. Head coach Steve Kerr was forced to experiment with a new lineup, leading to the team being non-competitive for the majority of the series.

“Obviously, it’s very different when you don’t have Steph [Curry] on the floor,” Butler said. “Injuries happen, but it is a lot different with Steph not out there.”

In the offseason, the Warriors could target a star. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant are both likely on the trade market and will have plenty of suitors.

Prior to the trade deadline, NBA insider Shams Charania reported the Warriors were making calls about “every star.” It’s possible the Warriors could be in the market for Durant or Antetokounmpo.

The timetable for Curry, 37, is unknown. However, the Warriors could try to invest in one last run before his career comes to a close.

Both Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr believe they’re getting the short end of the stick when it comes to officiating.

Finch complained to reporters at practice about the Warriors’ physicality with Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert.

“On defensive rebounding, [the Warriors] do a lot of fouling, holding, shoving, pushing and tackling Rudy,” Finch said. “That’s clear. We sent a bunch of those clips in to the league.”

In response, Kerr told reporters that “he didn’t see a foul” on any of the plays Finch referenced. Additionally, Kerr detailed problems around the physicality the Timberwolves use when guarding star Stephen Curry.

“It was just like Houston all over again. They were bear-hugging Steph [Curry], and they could have called six fouls,” Kerr said. “But the league has established the physicality in the playoffs.”

Kerr and Finch might be complaining about physicality, but the game is being called on both sides. Teams to play as physically as possible if referees are allowing leeway.

Kerr acknowledged the difficulty that referees have when calling a game.

“It’s a really hard thing to control,” Kerr said. “Because everybody’s playing so hard and they know what the other team is running.”

Game two of the Warriors and Timberwolves series is on Thursday night. The Warriors won game one 99-88.

The Warriors will be without Curry for game two.

Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry has been ruled out of game two after sustaining a grade one hamstring strain. Curry will be re-evaluated in one week, according to the team.

The Warriors, who won game one of their series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, will likely be without Curry until at least game five.

Curry exited the game with 8:19 remaining in the second quarter. In just 13 minutes, Curry had 13 points on 5-9 from the field.

“We’re definitely game-planning for him to not be available on Thursday, but we don’t know yet,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after Tuesday’s game. “With a hamstring, it’s hard to imagine that he would play Thursday.”

Despite losing Curry early in the game, the Warriors dominated throughout, winning 99-88.

The Timberwolves finished the first half with 31 points, their lowest in the first half this season. Their previous lowest total was 37 points, which also came against the Warriors.

The Warriors led by as much as 23, and despite the Timberwolves cutting the lead to nine points with six minutes left, they were never able to get closer than that.

Jimmy Butler for the Warriors finished with a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds. Buddy Hield, who was the Warriors’ leading scorer in game seven against the Houston Rockets, once again led the Warriors with 24 points.

Anthony Edwards for the Timberwolves finished with a double-double, scoring 23 points and 14 rebounds.

As a team, the Timberwolves shot 39.5% from the field and 17.2% from three. Over the last two games, the Timberwolves are 12/76 from three.

“That’s how it goes. You have stretches where you shoot the ball well and stretches where you don’t,” Edwards said. “Tonight we didn’t shoot the ball well, but tonight is over. Next game we’ll shoot the ball really well.”

Playoff basketball for the Houston Rockets has one message: Win by any means possible.

The Houston Rockets dominated the Golden State Warriors in game five, winning 131-116. In the first quarter, Stephen Curry injured his thumb while shooting a jumper after Dillon Brooks made contact with his hand.

After Curry’s injury, Brooks admitted to targeting his hand for the rest of the game.

“If I had an injured ankle, I would attack that ankle every single time,” Brooks said. “So whatever they’re saying on the broadcast, they can keep saying it.”

The Warriors star played the rest of the game after the first quarter with a wrap around his thumb. Curry was held to 13 points on 4-12 shooting.

Game five, and the series as a whole, has been emotional. The Warriors’ Pat Spencer was ejected late in the game for headbutting Alperen Sengun.

In most of the games in the series, there has been some sort of incident or scuffle.

The Rockets finished with three players who scored 24+ points. Brooks, Fred VanVleet and Amen Thompson all reached the mark with at least 50% from the field. As a team, the Rockets shot 55.1% from the field.

The Warriors’ leading scorer was Moses Moody, who finished with 25 points. Curry and Jimmy Butler combined for just 21 points. Butler finished with only two made field goals.

Game six is on Friday in Oakland. With a win, the Warriors advance to the Western Conference semifinals.

The Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets 109-106 to go up 3-1 in the series. The game-winning stop was made by the Warriors’ Draymond Green, who arguably shouldn’t have been allowed in the game.

Green earned a technical foul early in the second quarter when he set a hard screen on Amen Thompson. A skirmish followed and Green earned the technical foul along with Steph Curry and Dillon Brooks.

Later in the quarter, Green got into another fight with Tari Eason over a loose ball. It looked like a clear-cut double technical foul on first look. However, the referees decided asses Green with a flagrant foul instead, while Eason was assessed a technical.

A second technical would have ejected Green from the game.

“I got a technical tonight and there were guys way more aggressive than me,” Green said. “Yeah, that’s crazy.”

The referee’s decision mattered down the stretch. With 13 seconds left and the Rockets down one point, they elected to go to star big man Alperen Sengun, who already had 31 points.

Green drew the assignment.

The former defensive player of the year got the stop on Sengun, getting the Warriors the win and just one win away from advancing to the conference semifinals.

Game five is on Wednesday in Houston. The Warriors are searching for the gentlemen’s sweep.

Golden State Warriors star Jimmy Butler took a hard fall late in the first quarter of the Warriors’ playoff game against the Houston Rockets.

Warriors’ forward Draymond Green, while boxing out Rockets guard Amen Thompson, appeared to give Thompson a slight shove, sending him forward and undercutting Butler while he was midair.

Butler suffered a pelvis contusion and is scheduled to undergo an MRI in San Francisco on Thursday.

“Jimmy always says he’s going to be fine,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “But we have to wait to see with the MRI.”

The Warriors went down early in the game and were never able to recover, eventually losing 109-94. Butler finished with three points in eight minutes before leaving the game with an injury.

If Butler has to miss time, it would be a devastating blow to the Warriors. Since acquiring Butler, the team is 25-8, including the playoffs.

It’s possible that Jonathan Kuminga could take Butler’s starting spot if he has to miss time. Kuminga had fallen out of the rotation in recent games.

“Hopefully Jimmy will be able to play,” Kerr said. “But if not, then we’ve got to go through our options and put together a plan.”

The series was expected to be one of the most physical of the entire playoffs. Both teams have aggressive and high-level defenses.

Green downplayed the level of physicality in game two with a simple statement.

“I thought it was more physical in game one,” Green said.

When Luka Doncic was traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers in one of the craziest trades in NBA history, not many nights like these were foreseen by the Lakers.

The Lakers fell to the Golden State Warriors 123-116, while Luka finished the game shooting 6-17 and 0-6 from three. He finished with 19 points, seven assists and eight rebounds.

“That performance from me is unacceptable,” Doncic said. “It makes it harder for the team to win.”

The Lakers played from behind most of the night. After leading 22-20 with 3:34 left in the first quarter, the Lakers gave up a three from Jonathan Kuminga and trailed the rest of the game.

Both Lebron James and Austin Reaves finished the game with over 30 points. Reaves finished with his career-high in 3-pointers made with nine.

The Lakers are now 5-5 in their last ten games.

For the Warriors, this win makes their fourth in a row and seven of their last ten. Steph Curry finished with 37 points, while a surprise 28 points from Brandin Podziemski pushed the Warriors over the hump.

This game had important playoff implications for both teams. The Lakers, now 46-30, sit one game ahead of the Warriors at 45-31.

On Friday, the Lakers played the New Orleans Pelicans and rebounded with a 108-124 win. The Pelicans announced on Monday that star Zion Williamson would be shut down for the rest of the year.

The Memphis Grizzlies lost their fourth straight game on Tuesday night, falling to the Golden State Warriors 134-125. Steph Curry made 12 3-pointers and finished with 52 points.

However, Curry’s performance was overshadowed by Ja Morant, who made a finger guns gesture toward the Golden State Warriors’ bench in response to Buddy Hield showboating on the sideline.

Both Morant and Hield received double-technical fouls.

The incident occurred with just 20.8 seconds remaining in the game, following a made free throw by Jimmy Butler. As Morant was walking back to the sideline, he extended both of his arms and pointed them toward the Warriors’ bench, mimicking a shooting motion with his arms and hands.

The NBA is now launching a probe into the superstar’s actions from the game.

Morant’s actions have come in a spree of news surrounding the Memphis Grizzlies, who fired Head Coach Taylor Jenkins on Friday. Jenkins was the all-time winningest coach in Grizzlies history.

Additionally, these actions have sparked controversy because of Morant’s history with guns. Morant was previously suspended 25 games for posing with a gun during a friend’s Instagram Live video.

Morant was also given an indefinite suspension for revealing a firearm during an Instagram Live video at a nightclub. The suspension lasted eight games.

The league will also look into the actions of Hield, whom Morant was responding to on the sideline. League officials will talk to the involved parties as soon as Wednesday.

Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant addressed his decision to nix a potential trade that would have sent him to the Golden State Warriors. Considering a return to the place where he won two championships “didn’t make sense.”

“Me just getting up and moving in the middle of the season, it’s going to be a big blow to any team I’m going to,” Durant told Draymond Green and Baron Davis on their podcast this week. “From me, looking at it, it just don’t make sense for either side right now.”

Durant also said that he wanted to end his career on his own terms and had no interest in moving, adding lifestyle reasons to potential issues on the court. Golden State and Phoenix are both fighting for the last few playoff spots in the Western Conference with 31-27 and 27-31 records, respectively. 

Though Durant’s most productive days are behind him, the 36-year-old star is still a major contributor for the Suns and would have been an excellent complement to Steph Curry if he chose to rejoin the Warriors. The pair worked incredibly well together to win championships in 2017 and 2018. Instead of reforming part of those dynastic superteams, Golden State pivoted to discussions with the Heat and landed Jimmy Butler, another playmaking veteran who is already helping the Warriors down the stretch.

Throughout his career, Durant has taken considerable criticism for moving to teams in search of championships. His move to Golden State was considered blatant by many, but they accused him of similar motivations when he moved to Brooklyn and Phoenix. Regardless of the veracity of those claims, Durant is painting a very different picture now. In shooting down the Warriors trade, he stood by the Suns as the team he wanted to play for, even as they struggle to get back to .500.

“Man, I want my career to end on my terms,” Durant told Green and Davis. “That’s the only thing I’m worried about, you know? I see a lot of dudes that don’t get that opportunity, so I want to keep putting in that work to make that choice on my own.”

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had to be held back after getting into an argument with referees during a game against the Mavericks on Wednesday. Draymond Green was among the team members holding Kerr back, providing an ironic twinge to the incident.

Kerr’s frustrations with officiating during the game boiled over early in the third quarter, when he called a timeout following a 5-0 Dallas run. Going all the way to center court, Kerr then engaged in a tirade. Green, known as a highly confrontational player, joined several assistants in trying to get the head coach back into the huddle. Their efforts failed, as Kerr was given a technical foul.

Golden State got back into contention in the fourth quarter but eventually lost 111-107, sending the team back to .500 with a 27-27 record. Steph Curry scored 25 points with eight assists and newly acquired forward Jimmy Butler scored 21 with nine rebounds. 

It was not enough to take down the Mavs, who have been unexpectedly effective since parting ways with Luka Doncic and immediately losing Anthony Davis to an injury. Leaning heavily on Kyrie Irving is working for now, as the new leader scored 42 points in a demanding 40-minute showing. Dallas is 29-26, desperately clinging to a playoff berth in eighth place in the Western Conference. 

As Golden State looks to rediscover its identity, most recently adding Butler to better support Curry, it’s clear that the process is affecting many team members accustomed to dynastic success. Kerr has spent the majority of his coaching career guiding overwhelmingly talented Golden State teams to championship contention. It’s a distinct possibility that the effort to build something new, regardless of its success, is taking a toll and showing itself in the form of increasing tensions. At least Green was there to provide a calming presence to proceedings.

The Golden State Warriors completed a four-team trade Wednesday night to acquire star forward Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat. Butler will reportedly sign a two-year, $121 million extension with Golden State, cementing a long-term partnership with Steph Curry.

The Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz were also included in the trade. To get Butler, Golden State sent away Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson and a protected first-round pick. Reports suggest that the Warriors were originally in talks to make a similarly splashy trade with the Suns for Kevin Durant, but Durant reportedly shot down the deal. 

Butler’s trade to the Warriors finally ends months of rapid speculation and drama connected to Butler’s future. The Heat suspended him twice in January while stating publicly that it would not trade him, but tensions seemed to grow stronger each week. With Butler’s free agency looming, it became imperative for Miami to get something by ending the relationship that had long gone sour. 

With a 25-24 record, Miami is in line for a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, and Butler’s extended absences this season suggest that the team can compete without him. Still, losing a star player in the middle of the season will certainly limit the team when playoffs begin in the spring.

Butler’s extension with the Warriors suggests that he believes he has landed on a playoff contender, even as Curry struggles to keep them competitive in the midst of a minor rebuild. Golden State is currently 25-25, 11th in the Western Conference, struggling to perform consistently despite several big wins.

Losing Wiggins, Schroder and Anderson shakes up the Warriors’ roster in a meaningful way, but Butler could be a key contributor down the stretch. Jonathan Kuminga, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney all survived the expansive trade and should continue to thrive in supporting roles.

Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green took a moment on his podcast this week to elaborate on a recent social media exchange between himself and former teammate Jordan Poole. Poole was quoted as saying that he only missed some of his Warriors teammates, leading Green to reply, “I really am sorry.”

It is unclear if Poole was indirectly addressing Green in his original comment, but many seemed to agree that the young Wizards guard still harbors ill feelings about a 2022 incident in which Green struck Poole in the face during practice.

“I responded because it’s been three years,” Green said Wednesday. “Like, let’s move on. We’ve moved on. I really am sorry. That statement [by Poole] was kind of like it was looking for some sympathy … kind of keep wanting to make me out to be the bad guy. Move on, bro. It is what it is. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have punched him. But it happened. Let’s move on.”

Over the course of his 13 seasons in the NBA, Green has become as notable for exceptional defense as he has for incidents and altercations. Though these typically play out on the floor against opponents, he has been at odds with Warriors coach Steve Kerr at times. Striking Poole stands out as an especially incendiary moment between teammates, one that some speculate facilitated the young player’s decline and move to Washington.

Though Poole was technically the one discussing his time on the Warriors, which he seemed to describe in generally positive terms, Green is the one who has properly dredged up his previous actions. Though he seems to regret striking his teammate, his insistence on moving on is undercut somewhat by the fact that he has returned to the topic multiple times. 

Green’s Warriors are currently 21-22, slipping down the Western Conference standings and struggling to replace veteran stars with fresher talent. Poole’s time with the Wizards continues to be disappointing despite his consistent level of performance. Washington is 6-36.

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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday that the league intends to take action to “tweak” and “correct” rules that have led to excessive three-point shooting. Part of a decades-long trend, Silver recognizes that many fans have soured on the convention as three-point shots now account for more than 40% of all field goal attempts across the league.

In his appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Silver agreed that excessive three-point shooting has weakened the product for viewers. He also said that the issue was not a simple one to fix, requiring a nuanced approach.  

“So I think we’ve just gotta be careful. The one thing we don’t want to do is, I don’t want to just kneejerk move the three-point line,” Silver said in his interview with Cowherd. “We’re sort of going through a process now, seeing how these players are adapting to the new rules, and figuring out what changes we should make. To be honest, I wish it was as simple as just moving the three-point line back, because then we would just do it.”

Silver’s primary concern is that any measures to manipulate the rate of three-point shooting would harm the product in other ways. By moving back the three-point line, for instance, he and other NBA officials fear that play would become too concentrated in the paint. The commissioner recalled periods where the NBA was criticized for too much play under the rim, at the expense of other fundamentals. Instead of submitting to the whim of public sentiment, he seems intent on finding a long-term solution.

The dominance of the perimeter shot in the NBA is easy to trace through the years. The Phoenix Suns’ motion offense under Mike D’Antoni in the mid-2000s was an obvious spark, as Steve Nash spearheaded an elite offense intent on scoring in seven seconds or less each possession. But that spark wouldn’t ignite until the 2010s, when the Golden State Warriors built a dynasty founded on elite shooting.

Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, nicknamed the Splash Brothers, provided historic production from beyond the arc and led the Warriors won four championships in eight years. Early successors to this strategy, most notably the Houston Rockets, failed to match Golden State’s success, but the trend continued all the same. 

In the 2023-24 season, the Boston Celtics shot more three-pointers than two-pointers, becoming the first team in NBA history to do so. It was a revelatory offensive strategy that finally allowed Boston to win its 18th championship, but for some, it was the escalation that turned a dynamic offensive system into an unattractive form of basketball.

Instead of acknowledging the three-point issue, as Silver has readily done in the past, the NBA commissioner has finally taken the next step and agreed to take action. With the help of NBA Executive Vice President Joe Dumars, Silver has vowed to find a solution soon.

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Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr was furious Wednesday night after a loose ball foul cost his team in a 91-90 defeat to the Houston Rockets. The Warriors could have advanced to the NBA Cup Semifinal with a victory.

“I’m pissed off,” Kerr said told reporters after the game. “I wanted to go to Las Vegas. We wanted to win this Cup, and we aren’t going because of a loose ball foul, 80 feet from the basket with the game on the line. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life, and that was ridiculous.”

The play occurred at the very end of the fourth quarter, as two separate scrambles for possession eventually culminated in heavy contact between Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga and Rockets guard Jalen Green. Referees called a foul on Kuminga, who was reaching to try and force a jump ball. Green hit both free throws to put his team in front with 3.5 seconds remaining.

Losing a regular season matchup in such fashion likely would have been frustrating enough for Kerr, but implications tied to the NBA Cup apparently compounded those feelings. The league’s second annual in-season tournament features lucrative incentives, including more than $500,000 each to players on the team that wins the tournament final. Instead, Golden State players have to settle for roughly $50,000 each for losing their quarterfinal game.

Warriors star Steph Curry, the centerpiece of a rebuilding team, was more critical of himself than the officiating crew after the game. He pointed out he had several opportunities to put the game out of reach and failed to do so. 

“It’s a team trying to figure out who you are,” Curry said, per Sports Illustrated. “What works, what sets we need to be in. Teams selling out on our standard pick-and-roll, which I usually can make plays … If I make that last shot, you might not ask me about the last two possessions. That’s kind of the way the game goes.”

Through 22 games, Golden State is fourth in the Western Conference with a 14-10 record, but the team is merely the leader of a very tight pack that extends all the way to the 12-13 Kings in 12th place. The Rockets, a younger team on the rise, are second in the conference with a 17-8 record, and will face the similarly youthful Thunder in the NBA Cup Semifinal on Saturday, Dec. 14.

Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry signed a one-year, $62.6 million extension with the team Thursday. This will extend the shooter’s stay in a Golden State, where he has spent his entire NBA career, through the 2026-27 season.

Despite the fact that the Warriors are entering a rebuilding phase, parting ways with the 36-year-old was never more than a remote possibility. While the team let his fellow ‘Splash Brother’ Klay Thompson sign with the Mavericks, Curry was the lifeblood of the Warriors during their dynastic run and will likely finish his career with the team.

“It’s tough, right? I’ve always said I want to be a Warrior for life,” Curry said in an interview with Andscape in July. “At this stage in my career, I feel like that’s possible. And you can still be competitive, it doesn’t mean you guaranteed the championship. It doesn’t mean winning. Winning is always a priority, but obviously you’re realistic. It doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen if you stay the course. You need to shake things up and keep reimagining what it looks like to evolve with where the league is at right now, with where some of these talented teams are now.”

Though he may be firmly entrenched in veteran status at this point in his career, Curry is still playing at an elite level. He was the only consistent force for Golden State last year in a disappointing season, in which many aging contributors struggled. At the Olympics in Paris, he was almost singlehandedly responsible for some of Team USA’s wins on the way to a gold medal.

As Curry alluded to earlier this summer, the Warriors do not necessarily need to tear up their foundation to rebuild a winning basketball team. As long as the all-time leading three-point shooter continues to perform, the team can develop young talent around him. He could prove to be the perfect veteran presence for a roster that may take a season or two to find its way.

After winning four championships between 2015 and 2022, the Warriors are facing a common problem for great sports teams among all sports: the run has to end eventually. Unlike many of those teams, however, Golden State will have the opportunity to build something new with the help of the old guard. At age 36, time is still somehow on Curry’s side.

For the second time in Paris, Golden State Warriors and U.S.A. men’s basketball head coach Steve Kerr decided to bench NBA champion and three-time first-team All-NBA small forward Jayston Tatum against Serbia on Thursday. The decision almost proved fatal as the Americans faced a double-digit deficit in the second half multiple times, but ten straight possessions that ended in points propelled the U.S. to the gold medal game.

Last week, Warriors veteran Draymond Green took to his podcast to voice his displeasure against his head coach for his handling of playing time with Tatum.

“We all know it was wrong. He should’ve played. He didn’t,” he said. “What I don’t like about it is, now, to me, it feels like a covering my tracks, proving a point type of thing to where, oh, now Joel [Embiid] is out of the lineup. And then today, Jrue [Holiday] didn’t play… From the outside looking in, it comes off as, ‘We made a mistake as a coaching staff.’”

Later, Green alluded to Kerr’s strange rotations in France. After not seeing the floor during the United States’ opening game, Tatum started the second matchup with South Sudan, played 17 minutes and recorded a double-double against Puerto Rico.

“I’m sure it’s part ‘We can rest the ankle a little bit,’ but it’s part we gotta not play somebody. And quite frankly, I don’t like it. Come out with a rotation and stick with it. These teams aren’t good enough to where we’re trying to match their lineup. They gotta match our lineup… We got the best players in the world. We’ll be fine.”

Green earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic teams in Rio and Tokyo, winning two consecutive gold medals.

The United States beat France on Saturday, winning their fifth straight gold medal against the Olympic hosts.

“I don’t think [it will be replicated] just because it’s very hard to keep things together in this league,” Steph Curry told ESPN after sitting down to discuss the departure of SG Klay Thompson.

“It’s very hard to keep things together in this league. A lot more player movement. Me, Klay and Draymond, we complemented each other so well for so long. We all brought something different to the table, so we’ll see. Records are meant to be broken. Dynasties come all different shapes inside of us so we’ll see.”

Thompson spent his first 13 seasons with the Golden State Warriors after being drafted 11th overall out of Washington State in the 2011 NBA draft.

The five-time NBA All-Star departed the Warriors last week, signing a 3-year $50 million deal with the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks. Thompson and Curry had been teammates for over a decade, with Draymond Green winning four titles over seven years from 2015-2022. New faces came and went over their dynasty span, including future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant, but, Curry, Green and Thompson, were synonymous with the Warriors’ run. The trio transcended the game of basketball, turning the NBA from a defensive back-to-basket game to a high-flying, three-point-shooting track meet. Golden State took the baton from the Miami Heat’s early 2010s dynasty, which won two titles in four years and became the new face of the league.

On Wednesday, the shooting guard was introduced at a press conference as a new Mavericks player. He believed “change could spur greatness” for himself and his team. He continued, “I am very grateful for my time at Golden State. But I felt that moving on could re-energize me.”

Thompson will wear a #31 in Dallas, trading in his iconic #11. He told reporters he made the change to honor Indiana Pacer great Reggie Miller. The Washington State alum appeared ready to put his time in the Bay Area behind him and take on a new challenge.

With the new CBA beginning this season, creating a dynasty has become even more difficult. If a team spends over the second apron of the salary cap, it is fined an exorbitant tax and loses the ability to sign players at the minimum in free agency and trade draft picks. Warriors owner Joe Lacob did not mind spending deep into the tax to sign Durant, but Golden State could not make that transaction occur if the rules were applied today. The Boston Celtics attempt to prove Curry’s claim incorrect as they re-signed 14 out of the 15 players from their championship roster in 2023-24. However, some experts believe they will have to pay over $100 million in luxury tax penalties, and owner Wyc Grousbeck just put his team up for sale a week after winning the title.

Klay Thompson looks poised to hit free agency on June 30 as he and the Golden State Warriors have yet to come to an extension.

The 34-year-old struggled this past season, even being moved to the bench as the Warriors never found their rhythm and missed out on the playoffs after losing the first game of the NBA Play-In tournament.

ESPN reported that Golden State offered the Splash Brother a two-year extension, but given his age and injury history, the shooting guard seems to want longer-term security. GM Mike Dunleavy Jr.’s hands are tied with how much money he can offer the Washington State alum. According to Sportac, the Warriors are 29th out of 30 in available cap space as PG Steph Curry’s cap hit exceeds $50 million, and the team still pays PG Chris Paul $30 million.

Many teams will be interested in Thompson on the open market as young, contending teams become flush with cap space. The Athletic reported that the Orlando Magic could make a run at the four-time champion as the team needs more playoff experience and shooting but has the financial ability to make the move.

However, Thompson’s Warriors era will not end until he signs on the dotted line. Last year, the team seemed destined to break up with PF Draymond Green after a decade with the Dubs, but he signed a four-year $100 million deal on the eve of free agency last season. Even though Golden State must get younger, losing the pillars of the franchise signals the fall of the Warriors dynasty after not making it out of the first round the last two seasons.

Paired with Curry, Thompson became part of one of the best backcourt duos in the history of the NBA. His microwave scoring led to him breaking the NBA record with 37 points scored in one quarter. He constantly rose to the occasion, earning the nickname “Game Six Klay” as his post-season success ushered in a ten-year dynasty, culminating in four titles.