Category: Basketball

Warriors' Steph Curry disliked viral, heated Klay Thompson-Ja Morant interaction originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Distance has separated the dynastic trio of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. 

But there still is a yearning to ride together. 

Curry, speaking to ESPN’s Anthony Slater and Tim MacMahon in a recent story on Thompson, did not like seeing his old backcourt partner getting into an altercation with Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant last month without his usual backup. 

Ja and Klay after the game 👀 pic.twitter.com/H3DazXqipG

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 23, 2025

“The idea that he is carrying the Warrior success no matter what jersey he has on, I do like that part of it,” Curry told ESPN. “But I don’t like people taking shots at him when he doesn’t have that coverage and he doesn’t have his guys with him.” 

It’s not unusual – especially in recent years – to see Thompson take exception to personal slights. The proud four-time champion has found himself in a few chirping matches; one notably with Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker while Thompson still was with the Warriors. 

Curry always had his teammate’s back, and it’s understandably tough to not be in a position to support him in a heated moment.  

Green, also speaking with ESPN, felt similar when Thompson got into it briefly with Miami Heat rookie Myron Gardner a few days after the Morant altercation. 

“That’s two instances in a row I saw him arguing by himself,” Green told ESPN. “What the f–k?” 

Green, known for not shying away from confrontation, very notably had Thompson’s back during a scuffle with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2023-24 NBA season. 

Now that the trio has dwindled to a duo, Curry and Green are feeling the helplessness that distance has caused. 

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A 7ft 9in (2.36m) teenager has become the tallest player to score a basket in the history of college basketball.

Olivier Rioux, of the Florida Gators, dunked late on as his side beat Saint Francis 102-61 on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old Canadian had become the tallest player to play on a college court when he made his first appearance last month.

He was declared the tallest teenager by Guinness World Records in 2021 when he was then 7ft 5in (2.26m).

While the dunk was the centre's first, he had scored a free throw against Merrimack on 21 November.

Where would Rioux stand in NBA?

If he were to enter the game's top level, Rioux would be above any of its current players in terms of height.

The NBA lists 21-year-old French sensation Victor Wembanyama as its tallest, with the San Antonio Spurs star measuring 7ft 4in (2.24m).

Zach Edey, of the Memphis Grizzlies, is next - with the 23-year-old standing 7ft 3in (2.21m).

Three other players are 7ft 2in (2.18m), according to the NBA's website.

They are 23-year-old Donovan Clingan, of the Portland Trail Blazers, 24-year-old Walker Kessler of the Utah Jazz, and Kristaps Porzingis of the Atlanta Hawks.

The NBA's tallest-ever players are listed as Manute Bol and Gheorghe Muresan, who were both 7ft 7in (2.31m).

Bol played between 1985 and 1997, while Muresan, who was nicknamed the Giant, was on court from 1991 to 2001.

Guinness World Records had previously listed China's Sun Mingming, who is 7ft 8.98in, as the tallest active basketball player in 2013 when he was playing in his home country. He retired a year later.

Why Jimmy Butler and mediocrity are a bad combination for the Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are acutely aware that the buzz around the Warriors is becoming a roar. They know this has been a most exasperating season and they’ve won enough rings to know this is not it – and, at this rate, won’t be it.

Jimmy Butler III, aching for a ring, also knows this is not it. As the driving force of two underdog Miami teams that reached the NBA Finals, he knows of habits that ensure success and habits that prevent it.

From the instant Butler was acquired by the Warriors last February and signed his $111 million contract extension, he announced his goal. He wants to win. Not Player of the Week, or Player of the Month or votes for the All-Star team. And certainly not a mere 13 of 27 games, which is what the Warriors have done over the first two months.

He wants the ring that puts a crown on his Hall of Fame career.

As the Warriors stagger about, Butler is biting his tongue and trying to play the role of the good soldier. Witness the time and effort he puts into Jonathan Kuminga (only to see him sit on the bench the last three games). Jimmy wants no part of the reputation that followed him to the Bay; some of those left on the other side of bridges he burned insist he is fabulous during the “honeymoon” phase but ultimately will become discontented.

But as the Warriors and their dizzying variety of lineups and rotations go nowhere, with wins rarer than anyone accepts, no member of the Warriors – players, coaches, front office – is content. CEO Joe Lacob expressed his frustration in an email reply to a dissatisfied fan. Kerr, Curry and Green are not hiding their irritation. And they all own the kind of jewelry Butler seeks.

It is understandable if it is difficult for Butler, 36 years old and on his fifth NBA team, to ride the storm. Let’s be clear: Jimmy has not said so, at least not publicly. But his desire to win runs so deep that mediocrity gnaws at his ethos.

Consider the words of Butler during a “Dubs Talk” podcast recording on Dec. 1:

 “If it’s about winning — if it’s about winning it, the championship – I’m all for it. If it’s not, and there are any other agendas, y’all won’t like it. Because I don’t care. I’m literally just here to win. That’s it. I don’t care about anything else.”

Consider the phrase “y’all won’t like it” a euphemism for “Do not expect joy from me if losing becomes a habit.”

It is conceivable that Butler finding it difficult to stomach a team that can’t find its way out of the NBA swamp. To care about a team that has spent most of the past month in eighth place in the Western Conference. To care, dare we say, about the urges of a coach that, eight weeks into the season acknowledges he needs to be better at maximizing Jimmy’s best assets.

“I’ve got to find a way to get him more into the groove of the game,” Kerr conceded Sunday after Butler took 11 shots as Portland came back to hang a 136-131 loss on Golden State. “Eleven shots? I don’t really consider Jimmy’s game to be dependent on how many shots he gets. But we do need his scoring. We do need his playmaking.

“We did a better job last year of putting him in position to attack and create shots for people. We need to get back to that type of control of the game where we’re going to him in the half court, especially when Steph’s out. Going to him in the half court, taking care of the ball, turning the other team over, controlling the game. And we’re not there.

“We’ve had a few moments during the season, but we’re not able to consistently put the ball in Jimmy’s hands and let him control games like we did at the end of last year.”

Butler is playing well, but his impact is not up to his high standard. The standard that put his name on MVP ballots in three different seasons. The standard that made Jimmy “Himmy.”

The standard that would be a huge step toward lifting the Warriors out of the quagmire and, perhaps, into a top-six team in the West.

As a primary ballhandler, Green also takes some of the blame for games when Butler doesn’t routinely get the ball on offense – particularly when Curry is off the floor.

“I’ve got to do a better job of that,” Green said in Portland. “And then, as I do a better job with that, I also need Jimmy to be more aggressive and demonstrative and go take the ball or come get the ball or say exactly where he wants the ball.

“And he will. You know he doesn’t shy away from that. We’re putting it together. This is game 27. Nobody’s panicking.”

Plenty of fans are panicking, but that’s typical and they don’t dictate outcomes. Kerr, Curry and Green are not panicking, partly because they believe the best Jimmy is yet to come.

The best Jimmy ought to be a priority for Kerr, the Warriors and Butler. It’s essential for the current roster, clearly imperfect, to reach its potential. No one on the payroll wants that more than Butler.

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Even with Jimmy Butler, Warriors find themselves in similar spot as last year originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – There’s a strong argument that the most introspective player on the Warriors, a team centered on three NBA stars 35 years and older, is 23-year-old Moses Moody. 

He’s a reader and a poet. He spits meaningful bars at the podium that your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper wishes they could think of. He’s wise beyond his age and always worth listening to. He also took a long pause Tuesday when asked about the mood of a 13-14 Warriors team that already has gone through countless ups and downs in the 2025-26 NBA season. 

“Good question,” Moody began.

“I would say good, through and through,” he continued. “A lot of highs and lows. A lot of professionals on the team, so it’s not dealing with childish emotions or anything like that. It’s more so grown men trying to figure something out. And that’s from the coaching staff to the last player on the bench. 

“It’s not a bunch of emotions of, ‘Oh, you said this, you said that,’ rather than a group of men trying to figure something out, and that’s cool to see.” 

Moody chose his words carefully. Frustrations for the Warriors have been seen in numerous ways. This is a team that went 23-8 down the stretch last season after trading for Jimmy Butler, beat the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs and felt like they were destined for the Western Conference finals until Steph Curry’s hamstring strain. 

There even was a contingent within the franchise that believed a healthy Warriors team could beat the Oklahoma City Thunder last season. This season’s team can’t keep leaning on that run. It’s done, it’s over. 

The Warriors, as the calendar year gets close to ending, feel much more like the pre-Butler team they were around the same time a year ago than the post-Butler one right now.

Even coach Steve Kerr sees the similarities. 

“Yeah, it feels a lot like last year, ironically,” Kerr said Tuesday. “At the trade deadline I think we were .500. We were very inconsistent. We traded for Dennis [Schröder] first, and then Jimmy obviously as we were searching for answers and we found it. And I’m very, very confident that this group will find it, because we already have Jimmy and when we’re healthy I think the lineup is very formidable. 

“I think we have depth, I think we have everything we need. So it’s on me to put it together and to help these guys find the rhythm and the confidence that I know they have inside.” 

Though Moody didn’t perfectly agree with the similarities of last year to this year, he does share the feelings of his coach in why belief is warranted. 

“It feels different,” Moody said. “I’m not exactly sure the situation last year at this time. But these last couple games – there have been so many games this year that we should have won coming down to the end like that. We’re not far off. One shot goes differently and it’s a whole different conversation. I think we’re able to realize that. Coach is able to realize that. So nobody is panicking, more so as we’re trying to figure it out. Just figure it out a little bit. 

“I think it happens a lot of times that you’ll be so close to what you want and you just need to change something, so you change something, and then you’re actually a lot further away than you’re actually trying to get to. I think it’s a delicate situation, as well as we just got to figure it out and that’s what we’re working towards.”

Needing a change became obvious enough to the Warriors last season that they traded for Schröder the first day they were able to make such a move on Dec. 15. The Warriors were 14-10 at the time. They were a game under .500 on Dec. 15 this season, and a move doesn’t seem imminent at the moment since Jonathan Kuminga can’t be traded until Jan. 15. 

From the offseason to the first third of the regular season, the Kuminga cloud has hovered over everything involving the Warriors. Kuminga has received three straight healthy DNPs, in which the Warriors won the first game against a reeling Chicago Bulls team and then dropped two straight against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Portland Trail Blazers. The Timberwolves and Blazers are both teams Kuminga is meant for with his combination of size and athleticism, especially after averaging over 24 points in the final four games of the playoffs against the Timberwolves seven months ago. 

Then this week, a fan email to Joe Lacob received a response from the Warriors owner and went viral. In the response, Lacob alluded to “style of play,” “coaches desires regarding players,” and “league trends” for why the Warriors have been struggling. Kerr on Tuesday brushed off the email, calling it “no big deal,” but it undoubtedly pulled back the curtain to the public in areas the two disagree on.

After getting DNP’d in Chicago, Kuminga said that he and Kerr have a good relationship and the coach echoed those sentiments when the Warriors returned home. Sources also acknowledge there have been some moments of high intensity between the two of them this season.

Butler has gone two straight games without speaking to the media after two bad losses, getting out as fast as he could. He and Draymond Green, who recorded eight turnovers in his return Sunday, didn’t appear to be on the same page offensively and defensively more than once during that game in Portland. 

Though Kuminga can’t be traded for another five weeks, the upcoming G League Winter Showcase in Orlando from Dec. 19 through the 22nd will be four days of agents and front offices meeting, and words can turn to action from those conversations.

After using nine different starting lineups in as many games, Kerr on Tuesday said he’s going to give an extended look to the group that began the game against the Blazers. The next day, he said Kuminga has strung together multiple great practices while doing everything the team has asked, indicating he’ll be back in the rotation perhaps as soon as Thursday against the Suns in Phoenix. With health and availability being large factors, Kerr already has used 15 starting lineups in 27 games. 

Doing so also is an indication of the roster Kerr is working with. They’re a small team in a big man’s world, and an old team in a young man’s game. The Warriors needed all 95 of Curry’s points to beat the San Antonio Spurs in two consecutive games a little more than a month ago, yet 87 points and 18 threes over two games wasn’t enough to beat a Timberwolves team that didn’t have Anthony Edwards and a 10-win Blazers team that would have just seven wins if they never played the Warriors this season. 

Is this déjà vu from a year ago, something worse or a team that leads the NBA in blown fourth-quarter leads but still feels like they’re on the precipice of something special? 

“I know that we have the answer here,” Kerr said Wednesday. “Last year I felt like we had to make a move. This year I don’t think that’s the case. I think we have what we need here, but we need to develop more consistency in our play and that starts with me giving these guys more consistent roles, making sure we get Jimmy the ball, making sure we get to that style of play from last year when we had control of games. … We’re not in control of games right now. 

“We have that ability, and that’s our focus.”

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