Stephen Curry, Warriors believe they will stay together to chase more championships

May 13, 2023 -SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry is far from ready to accept that these Golden State Warriors are done chasing championships together.

Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, too.

Same goes for Kevon Looney and Andrew Wiggins.

“No matter how different it looks, I think we understand each other, what we all bring to the table and trust that we’re just gonna compete until the wheels fall off,” the 35-year-old Curry said.

The defending champions’ season ended in a 122-101 loss in Game 6 to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Friday night, the first time this core group of Curry, Green and Thompson have been eliminated before the NBA Finals after 19 straight playoff series wins against Western Conference opponents under coach Steve Kerr. Golden State also failed to to win at least one road game after doing so in an NBA-record 28 consecutive series.

Sure, the Warriors realize all of the outside speculation that the Curry-led dynasty could be done. The franchise captured four titles over eight years, reaching the NBA Finals in five straight seasons from 2015-19.

“It’s probably too raw right now for me to think about,” Kerr said. “The one thing I will say is that Draymond, Klay, Steph, our core guys, they’ve got plenty left. There’s still plenty in the tank there. I thought they all had great seasons. It may not have ended on a high note but all three guys are still high-level players and I still feel like this team has championship potential. We didn’t get there this year but it’s not like this is the end of the road.”

Looney wasn’t quite ready to fully look back at the season to evaluate the highs and lows — or why the Warriors never could consistently find their rhythm on the road. They went 11-30 away from Chase Center on the way to a 44-38 regular-season record.

“Last year after we won, I got a chance to reflect and think about all the great things that we did. But this year, still fresh. Still a sore spot getting put out in the second round,” Looney said Saturday with the Warriors back at Chase Center making offseason preparations and going through exit interviews.

“This group has been through a lot and I feel like we’ve got a lot more to give, and watching Steph, Klay and Draymond, what they did all season, what they did in the playoffs, was spectacular, and it obviously shows that they have a lot left more to give.”

Yet the quest for a repeat title began with Green punching Jordan Poole during training camp, then the Warriors worked through that team crisis only to struggle on the road and miss key players to injury for long stretches. The continuity was rarely there.