Stephen Curry made his long-awaited return to action Thursday night, and even though it was cause for celebration in Dub Nation, Steve Kerr cautioned that the Warriors were “never going to be the team we were.”
Curry finished with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in the Toronto Raptors’ 121-113 road win against Golden State.
“We’ll be a new different version of the Warriors,” Kerr told reporters.
Per The Mercury News:
One of the first postgame questions he fielded was whether he has had doubts the Warriors can get back to a championship level.
“I don’t think doubt is the word that I think of,” said Kerr, hair mussed, talking softly. “I think it’s more a feeling of can we just persevere. You know, I think there’s always been the idea that when we get through this season we’re going to get healthy and we’re going to get some guys back. We’re never going to be the team we were the last five years. And I knew that last summer. How could we possibly be the same team losing the guys we lost?”
Curry’s first game back — he was the only Warriors player on the court Thursday night who appeared in the NBA Finals last June — was Draymond Green’s third consecutive DNP with a balky knee. Klay Thompson, of course, is hors de combat until after the fall equinox. What will the Warriors look like then?
“We’ll be a new different version of the Warriors,” Kerr said. “But it’s an exciting challenge and it’s one that our staff, and management, players are embracing. And all of a sudden, Steph and Draymond are the vets, and we’re raising all these young guys. We’re trying to help them develop so that they can be part of the next era of our team, the next vintage and so it will be very different.”
Added Kerr: “We still have a lot of talent and we have guys who are committed and enjoy playing the game and playing together. So we feel like we can be pretty good again. But what you saw in the past, it’ll be different than that.”
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