42/82 W San Antonio 144-113
43/82 L Chicago 118-132
44/82 W Washington 127-118
45/82 L Boston 118-121 in OT
45/82 W Cleveland 120-114
Let’s start in the middle of this road trip, with the visit to the White House to celebrate their championship. Here are the Warriors arriving
As they walked up, looking both really sharp and slightly uncomfortable in their hard shoes, I was reminded of this scene from Ted Lasso
There was something sweet in seeing Oakland-born Kamala Harris and her genuine glee in greeting the Warriors in a How It Started/How It’s Going moment. I was moved by how the Warriors used their time in D.C. At the ceremony, they talked about gun violence, the inspiration of sports, the importance of education and thanking the administration for bringing Britney Griner home. Klay, Moody and Steve Kerr met with Biden officials about reducing gun violence. Many Warriors went to the annual Howard/Morehouse men’s basketball game hours after they finished playing the Wizards. At the game, the Warriors and the Wizards gave a scholarship to two young mothers to cover their college costs. The Howard golf team received rings for winning their conference. Steph has given a large multi-year donation to Howard to fund their golf team for six years. The next day, Steph showed up in the golf team’s weight room, still wearing his suit from the White House, to work out with the team. Steph and Ty Jerome were spotted at a Virginia/Virginia Tech basketball game (Jerome was a star at UVA and both of Steph’s parents went to Virginia Tech).
Does any of this matter? I think it does. How would you feel if the best in your field showed up to watch you to teach your lesson/give your presentation/sing your song? It would be amazing.
This week has been filled with inspiration.
Maya Moore officially retired from the WNBA this week, though she stepped off the court four years ago, at a time when she was a dominant and engaging player. Watching her was watching excellence and joy in one package (sound familiar?). She stepped off the court to focus her energy on freeing a man from prison, larger issues on criminal justice reform and ending modern-day slavery. Whatever Maya Moore does next, we should pay attention to it, unless of course, she doesn’t want our attention.
Here’s the trailer for the ESPN 30 x 30 episode about her. If you have access to ESPN, it is well worth watching the full episode.
A Farewell to Maya Moore: A Team Player Who Is One Of A Kind
Or there’s this moment from Sheryl Lee Ralph, of Abbott Elementary and one of the original Dreamgirls, after she won a Critics Choice Award
So much inspiration. Now back to basketball, kind of. It’s the Australian Open so when I’m not watching basketball, I’m watching tennis. I’ve long thought that basketball players should watch tennis–maybe they do. In Grand Slam men’s matches, it is rare to see one player dominate from start to finish. Lulls are inevitable. Great tennis players manage the lulls in their game without losing, they know how to hang in and more importantly, how to put their mistakes behind them. Every time I see Klay be hard on himself or Jordan get frustrated or Draymond walk off the court before the game is over, I want to tell them to watch tennis. Tennis players get it. They know how to capitalize on the smallest moments and see what happens next.
Maybe you saw Rafa Nadal’s second round match. He was not playing well and then he clearly strained something in his hip. At first he could barely walk. Slowly and cautiously, he started to play the third set. He couldn’t hit his backhand. His only chance was to go big on everything he could without having to move too much. He started getting his first aces. He was ripping shots. It started to work. Nadal decided that his opponent was going to have to win–he wouldn’t hand the match over. The odds were low, but people freeze up in key moments, anything could happen. He lost the match but his effort was valiant and completely in line with who he has always been on the court - someone who plays every point with everything he has.
Then there’s Andy Murray. 35 years old, banged up player with a metal hip. His doctors told him before his surgery a few years ago that they hoped he would be mobile enough to play with his children. He got that back and more. Andy Murray does not give up. Here’s Murray, in what turned out to be a 5 hour 45 minute victory for him, in which he returns 4 slams.
I want the Warriors to play with the same spirit as Andy Murray and Rafa Nadal, taking advantage of small moments and playing until the end.
There’s already someone on the Warriors who embodies this–Kevon Looney. Looney has had to recover from significant injuries himself and reinvent his playing style in the process. Players and coaching staff talk a lot about how he is a key figure in the locker room - Kerr calls him the moral compass of the team. These past two games shed some light on that. For the Celtics game, Poole started in Looney’s place, and Kerr said that moving forward, he plans to start Poole—making Looney a reserve. This has happened to Looney before with the Warriors but that doesn’t mean it is easy. He has three NBA titles with the Warriors. He has played in every game this year and last year. Not only was he no longer starting, but in the Cleveland game the next night while Steph, Klay, Wiggins and Draymond sat out, Looney played in a game the Warriors were expected to lose, pulled down 17 rebounds and was a key element to their victory. If he was irritated or frustrated or tired, none of it showed on the court. I want the Warriors to play like Kevon Looney. Against the Cavaliers, they did. All the reserves, the ones scrambling to not get traded or to pick up a roster spot or to get more playing time (please don’t trade Moody, please don’t trade Moody), everyone played hard.
During the game, we saw this. The Warriors did not score, but notice the effort and how much Kevon is involved:
Effort like that results in endings like this:
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These are the Warriors I know. These are the Warriors I want to see more often. Joyful and determined.
Finally, I want to introduce the Timeout Books. When I watch a game, I’m also reading a book during any time out. I can make pretty good progress over the course of a game. This week’s read was The Marriage Portrait.
The Warriors have a tough week ahead–all weeks are tough when you’re at .500--but with the return of Kuminga and JaMychel Green, I remain hopeful.