The Golden State Warriors, once the NBA’s golden standard, are teetering on the edge of a familiar precipice. With a roster of just nine players, anchored by aging stars Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green, their championship window is creaking shut. While these three are still capable of brilliance, the Warriors’ path to contending in the stacked Western Conference is fraught with peril. Their situation draws an eerie parallel to the post-championship decline of LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers—a cautionary tale of mismanaged rosters and a stubborn reliance on aging talent.
In 2020, the Lakers hoisted the NBA Finals trophy, powered by a balanced roster featuring young contributors like Avery Bradley, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. These players, all in or approaching their prime, complemented LeBron James and Anthony Davis perfectly. Yet, within two years, the Lakers dismantled this promising core, trading youth for veterans who didn’t mesh. The result? A team that has stumbled out of the first round just once since their title run.
The Warriors, fresh off their 2022 championship, appear to be following the same script. Last season, they barely squeaked past a flawed Houston team in a grueling seven-game series. As Bill Simmons pointed out on his podcast, “They’re gonna be healthier this year? We went through this with LeBron for the entire 2020s. Old guys get banged up as the season goes on. I’m betting on youth every time.” With Curry, Butler, and Green all on the wrong side of 30, the Warriors’ reliance on their aging stars mirrors the Lakers’ missteps.
Golden State’s current roster is a high-risk, high-reward gamble. Curry, Butler, and Green remain elite, but an 82-game season is a marathon, not a sprint. Injuries to any one of them could derail the team’s season, and there’s no clear contingency plan. The unresolved contract standoff with Jonathan Kuminga only compounds the issue, leaving the Warriors short on young, dynamic talent to bridge the gap.
Rumors have swirled about potential additions like Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton, and Gary Payton II, who could provide much-needed two-way depth. However, even these moves might not be enough to keep pace with Western Conference powerhouses like the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder, who boast younger, deeper rosters. As Zach Lowe bluntly stated, “The window is closed, in my opinion, on this iteration of the Steph Warriors winning a title. I don’t see a roadmap for them to get back to prominence.”
While the Warriors cling to their veteran core, the Lakers have finally shifted gears. After years of building questionable lineups around James and Davis, Los Angeles made a bold move, trading Davis to the Dallas Mavericks to build around Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves as their young centerpieces. This offseason, they added Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, and Jake LaRavia—players with an average age of 27, a stark contrast to the 2021-22 Lakers squad that missed the playoffs entirely.
This youth-driven approach has reinvigorated the Lakers, who now rank ahead of the Warriors in championship odds. Meanwhile, Golden State seems stuck, unwilling or unable to pivot from their aging stars. Simmons’ critique rings true: the Warriors haven’t learned from the Lakers’ mistakes.
There’s still hope for the Warriors, but time is running out. Curry, at 37, is younger than LeBron, and his transcendent shooting could keep Golden State competitive for a few more years. Resolving the Kuminga situation and adding versatile role players could buy the Warriors time to retool around their star. But without a clear plan to integrate youth and depth, they risk fading into irrelevance, just as the Lakers did in the early 2020s.