Glaring truth about Warriors in Looney’s 2022 title comments

Glaring truth about Warriors in Looney’s 2022 title comments originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Often after a Warriors loss, there’s a consistent image: Kevon Looney speaking at the podium in a postgame press conference.

There have been plenty of times Looney has talked after a win, too. But the good-guy Warriors veteran will take the unkind assignment of talking in tough situations, like Monday after a 40-point throttling of a loss to the Boston Celtics on Golden State’s home court.

Looney respected questions and took his time coming up with honest answers that protected the team, as he always does.

The last question asked of Looney didn’t require a pause before he answered. Looney smiled and gave the question a quick, truth-telling laugh when asked how long the Warriors’ 2022 championship over the Celtics feels.

“Seems like an eternity ago,” Looney said. “We’ve had a lot of different iterations of the team since then. Each season brings on a new challenge. That year seems further and further away, but hopefully, we can get back to that feeling of being a champion

“We got a long way to go, but we still got to remember those times so you can know what you’re really shooting for.”

His answer continued after those first five words, but they’re all that really matter.

Seems like an eternity ago.

Yes it does. Let’s run through just a few things that have happened to that roster, and the Warriors as a whole, since they raised the Larry O’Brien trophy 950 days ago.

A large portion of the role players are long gone. Andre Iguodala, Otto Porter Jr. and Nemanja Bjelica all retired. Damion Lee is on the Phoenix Suns, and Juan Toscano-Anderson is playing in the G League for the Mexico City Capitanes.

James Wiseman, the former No. 2 overall draft pick who didn’t play a single game in the championship season, was traded the following year at the deadline to bring back Gary Payton II, who has missed more games to injury than he has played the last three seasons. Neither rookie lottery pick from the championship season, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, have turned into a star and much of their time has been spent trying to find their role.

There was one player who proved he could be a bridge of the two-timeline plan. Jordan Poole at 22 years old wasn’t a small part of the Warriors’ success to bring them another title, but a major part. We know what happened next.

The brutal punch Poole took from teammate Draymond Green derailed the 2022-23 season for both players and the team. New general manager Mike Dunleavy then traded Poole to the Washington Wizards on the morning of the 2023 NBA Draft for one season of Chris Paul in a Warriors jersey with nothing to show for it.

Green since has been suspended multiple times by the NBA for his actions. Klay Thompson went from being benched to putting up a donut in his final game in a Warriors jersey and leaving for greener pastures by way of the Dallas Mavericks this past summer. Steph Curry has still been Steph Curry, only now he’s less than two months from his 37th birthday and playing through two injuries to try and lift a middling .500 team.

Draining drama without the kind of success Curry, Green and the Warriors are used to.

“We have an entirely different roster pretty much,” Curry said Monday night when asked about 2022. “Especially without (an injured) Draymond out there. You look out there and aside from [Kristaps] Porzingis, [the Celtics] have pretty much their whole rotation still.

“And they are the defending champions, so they’re coming in with a level of confidence and swagger about them. It’s the exact opposite of what we have right now. Obviously great memories, but it definitely feels like a long time ago.”

Curry on an off-night Monday scored 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting and made four of his 12 3-point attempts. The rest of his starting five combined to score 18 points on 7-of-25 shooting (28 percent) and went 1 of 9 from 3-point range.

Jayson Tatum was the Celtics’ leading scorer with 22 points. Those who joined him in the starting five combined to score 53 points. The Warriors had two players in double figures – Curry and Moody with 13 points off the bench – and the Celtics had six.

The Warriors since that celebration on Boston’s home court have gone 111-95 in the regular season, a 53.8 win percentage. They have one more playoff loss than win, and that doesn’t even include the spanking they received from the Sacramento Kings in last year’s play-in tournament.

Memories are meant to be remembered. The 2022 championship and the banner that hangs in Chase Center aren’t going anywhere. From an emotional standpoint, and the product currently being played on the court, 2022 might as well have been 2002.

Dig through your closet and pull out a Bob Sura jersey. Maybe there’s a Mookie Blaylock relic in there, too.

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