OAKLAND, Calif. _ At this point, the Warriors can barely think.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr has struggled processing that their failed championship run coincided with losing Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson to debilitating injuries. Warriors general manager Bob Myers struggled to comprehend that the NBA draft starts on Thursday, exactly a week after the Warriors lost to the Toronto Raptors in Game 6 of the NBA Finals in their final game at Oracle Arena.
So, Kerr and Myers could use this weekend to recharge, sleep and not think about basketball. As Kerr said, "everybody is fried right now" after the Warriors appeared in five consecutive NBA Finals. Just because the Warriors may feel burned out, however, does not mean they lack a big-picture view on their future. Hence, Kerr's bold conviction on whether the Warriors face the end of their dynasty with Durant, Thompson Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala.
"No. I don't look at it or think about it in those terms," Kerr said. "I really don't. Steph is going to be back next year. Draymond is going to be back. We're going to have a bunch of players from here and we can still be really good, assuming we get some breaks health wise. Klay and KD ___ they can recover and can be really good again. So I don't look at it from that standpoint at all."
Instead, the Warriors are looking at things from this standpoint. The Warriors had won three of the past five NBA championships. Yet, Warriors general manager Bob Myers admitted, "nobody said you have to do it every year." Therefore, the Warriors are preparing themselves to become this generation of the San Antonio Spurs. They won five NBA titles in a 14-year span, including a seven-year gap between their last two titles in 2007 and 2014. Even when the Spurs lost in the Western Conference finals (2008, 2012), the semifinals (2010) and the first round (2009, 2011), they still maintained continuity and remained in contention.
"The similarity is the internal culture and internal stability," said Kerr, who had played for the Spurs in two different stints under Gregg Popovich (1999-2001, 2002-2003). "I felt it through Tim Duncan, David Robinson and the core guys there that provided that foundation. Our team is the same way with the strength of the group and the character of the group with guys like Steph, Klay, Draymond and Andre. All of these guys, because of who they are and because of their commitment to one another, are going to survive whatever adversity comes our way."
