San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Bruce Jenkins: WarriorsThunder matchup relegated to obscurity, but there’s hope.
The Stephen CurryChris Paul relationship dates to Curry’s teenage years in North Carolina, when he loved watching Paul tear up the ACC at Wake Forest. The two eventually struck up a friendship, and Paul was a big reason Curry worked so hard in his collegiate years to add pointguard skills to his resume.
Mutual admiration can turn to resentment in the heat of the NBA playoffs, and such was the case in Curry’s classic battles with Paul. Whether the Warriors were dominating the Clippers or fighting for survival against Houston, these two always represented the pinnacle of backcourt confrontation.
How radically the times have changed. As the Warriors visit Oklahoma City on Sunday for their second game of the season, both men feel the sting of an identity crisis — and neither team even remotely connects to the past.
We can’t possibly know how it all turns out for the Warriors, but already we hear the concern in head coach Steve Kerr’s voice — about youth, an appalling lack of defense and Curry’s demanding task to keep it all together. For Paul, suddenly thrust into a wilderness, it’s just a matter of staying relevant.
With all of the Thunder’s storied players gone — first James Harden, then Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Paul George — Paul has every right to feel in charge of this broken outfit. He’s 34, bound by one of the NBA’s richest contracts, and he still has that commanding air about him.
Then you check the box score of OKC’s embarrassing 9785 homecourt loss to Washington on Friday night.
In 30 minutes, Paul shot just 3for9 and committed five turnovers. The crucial pointguard minutes went to Shai GilgeousAlexander, acquired in the deal that sent George to the Clippers. Already a special talent in his second season, GilgeousAlexander scored 28 points and ran the floor like a veteran. Paul will certainly have his moments, through the sheer force of his will, but it seems increasingly likely that he’ll be dealt to a contender before the Feb. 7 trading deadline.
Not so long ago in this setting, WarriorsOKC meant Klay Thompson saving the Warriors’ 2016 postseason with an epic Game 6 of the Western Conference finals. It was Durant getting roundly booed by his oncedevoted fans, then exchanging bitter oncourt words with Westbrook. It was a galaxy of stars, pulsating tension and absolute mustsee TV.
On Sunday, one can only hope for some vintage CurryPaul exchanges, or Draymond Green in a heavyweight showdown with Steven Adams. With heavy doses of Jordan Poole, Glenn Robinson III, Terrance Ferguson and Nerlens
Noel. All in all, it wouldn’t be a bad place for the Warriors to pick up a win. Scary to think how badly they need one.
Around the NBA
Willie CauleyStein couldn’t have been happy with an SI.com preview featuring anonymous comments from NBA scouts. “He’s talented,” one of them said of CauleyStein, recovering from a foot injury as he prepares to join the Warriors’ rotation. “But he’ll have some issues fitting into a system where you have to know how to play.”
That’s an insult to CauleyStein, who told the Kansas City Star a few weeks back, “Playing basketball in a small town in Kansas (Spearville), you learn to play the game the right way. There isn’t any oneoneone (isolation) ball. It was everyone is moving, everyone touches the ball, and it doesn’t matter who shoots as long as it goes in . ... Learning to play the game the right way made that transition to college way easier. I already knew how to play the game the right way.” We go through this every year with Curry: far too many turnovers (eight on opening night against the Clippers), and no correction despite the gentle admonishments from his mother, Sonya, and the coaching staff. Curry also needs to cut down on his fouls, because the Warriors can’t afford any limited playing time from their superstar guard. “If I’m Kerr,” ESPN’s respected Jackie MacMullan said during the summer, “I’m plopping Steph Curry in the front row of the film room, splicing together a reel of his senseless, impulsive, tickytack, reachin fouls and forcing him to watch it. Twice. He’s no good to the Warriors on the bench.” Ridiculous uproar: When Michael Jordan ran down his alltime starting five — featuring himself, Magic Johnson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Scottie Pippen and James Worthy —he was asked about Curry and responded, with a wink, “He’s not in the Hall of Fame yet.” Everybody got all ticked off, but take Jordan literally: Unlike the aforementioned players, Curry isn’t in the Hall. Because he’s still playing. End of controversy. (But you know Jordan enjoyed that little dig toward a very good friend.)
In the realm of sporting blowhards, it’s tough to beat Houston. The Astros’ World Series has been befouled by Brandon Taubman, fired as assistant general manager after his caustic remarks to a group of women reporters, and GM Jeff Luhnow, who went into complete denial and stumbled through some lame excuses before finally acknowledging that something was amiss. Now we get billionaire Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, who has quite the lofty opinion of himself.
Fertitta recently published a book on his selfmade success, rudely titled “Shut Up and Listen!” (Recommended response: talk loudly amongst yourselves and hit the streets.) Then there’s this gem from Amin Elhassan on ESPN: “You go to Toyota Center, they’ve got a mural. And it’s got James Harden, and it’s got the (team) huddle, and Mike D’Antoni. But the biggest picture of them all is ... Tilman Fertitta! Like people are coming to Rockets games to see the owner.”
Bruce Jenkins is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: bjenkins@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Bruce_Jenkins1