DALLAS — There is always, in truth, lots of chaos going on behind the scenes with every team in the NBA. Every single one.
Pro sports are like that.
The Golden State Warriors, though, made their first appearance of the season Thursday night in my city of residence immersed in a legit state of shock. Still.
They clearly remain in the midst of processing the sudden loss of Jimmy Butler to a season-ending knee tear Monday night and, by night’s end Thursday at the American Airlines Center, were forced to confront another injury issue after Jonathan Kuminga came away with left knee and ankle damage following this play in the second quarter:
Ron Harrod Jr.@RonKnowsSports
Jonathan Kuminga is in the locker room. He was holding his left knee after this basket.
1:33 AM · Jan 23, 2026 · 108K Views
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I spent three seasons virtually living with the Warriors from 2014-15 through 2016-17 as SportsCenter‘s embedded correspondent with the team, so it’s always a major calendar moment for me whenever I cross paths with them all these years later. Much has changed within the organization and on the roster since those first three seasons in a run of five successive trips to the NBA Finals — maybe most notably the fact that Klay Thompson is somehow now a Dallas resident himself — but there is also lots and lots of familiarity with Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr in Year 12 of their partnership at the forefront of the operation.
Twelve!
Title contention isn’t supposed to last for a span that long and these Warriors truly believed that, if they could add one more significant piece with an in-season deal to their Curry/Butler/Draymond Green core, this team could be a playoff factor in the West this spring. Realistically now, however, that opportunity is beyond them. Butler is out until next season after sustaining an ACL tear. There simply isn’t an in-season move that Golden State can make, even if they find a workable Kuminga trade in the 12 days before the Feb. 5 trade deadline, that can move them that far up the Western Conference ladder.
I nonetheless felt compelled to share some of the sights and sounds (and rumbles) from my evening with Curry, Kerr and Co. That’s because, even without Butler, it’s believed that Golden State will continue to factor in heavily to this Trade Season as it continues explore its options with Kuminga’s contract, which was designed to be highly tradeable at $22.5 million this season and with a team (stress: team) option in Year 2 at $24.3 million.
Let’s get into it all …
