The Golden State Warriors are very much in the Western Conference playoff hunt, but head coach Steve Kerr refuses to go full Leeroy Jenkins.
Kerr said this week that the team will not extend star guard Stephen Curry’s minutes in order to chase victories this season.
“I’m into the long game,” said Kerr, per Nick Friedell of ESPN. “We’re counting on having Steph here a long time, many years ahead. And I’m not interested in grinding through this season, which is already a difficult season given the COVID regulations, just the nature of the games themselves, these eerie, empty stadiums.
“For me, for our organization, we’re not throwing Steph out there for 40 minutes to chase wins,” Kerr added. “We got another game [Tuesday]. We want Steph to be playing at a high level for many years, so we’re going to stay very disciplined and try to keep him at that 34-, 35-minute mark.”
Curry is putting on a show every night for Golden State, averaging a near career-best 29.5 points to go along with 5.5 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game. But he will turn 33 next month, and the team is limiting him to a semi-conservative 33.8 minutes per game thus far.
While the Dubs are ninth in the West at 12-12, this is essentially another placeholder year for them. Klay Thompson is out with a torn Achilles, rookie James Wiseman is developing, and Kelly Oubre will be a free agent after the season. Curry is getting a chance to add new wrinkles to his offensive game, but by no means will the team run him into the ground for no reason.
