En route to their third title in four seasons, the Warriors won nine fewer regular-season games (58) last season than they did the year before (67). That led some to believe that Golden State devauled the time before the playoffs, and was just going through the motions while a star-studded cast primed for the postseason.
That won't be the case this season, according to general manager Bob Myers.
"In the regular season, this notion that it doesn't matter ... All the games matter," Myers told broadcasters Bob Fitzgerald and Jim Barnett during the Warriors-Suns telecast on NBC Sports Bay Area on Monday. "Either you're building habits, or you're working on your seeding. All of those areas are to be worked on, so you've got to keep moving in that direction."
The Warriors are trying to win their third consecutive title, which head coach Steve Kerr has said is the hardest to win, based on his experience with the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 1990s. Myers is well-aware of the conventional wisdom, too.
But, the general manager said, he hasn't noticed that from his team two weeks into training camp. Instead, they're just trying to take it all in.
"I know that's true from everything I've seen in the practices and all that. It's just a different feel," Myers said. "[A preseason trip to] China took a lot out of us, and we had a sense going into camp almost a little bit like, 'We have to show up. It's more of an obligatory thing.' This seems a lot more joy, like Steve [Kerr] talked about, coming into camp and trying to enjoy it, and having fun with it. And that's what you're seeing."
