Even with Jimmy Butler, Warriors find themselves in similar spot as last year

Even with Jimmy Butler, Warriors find themselves in similar spot as last year originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – There’s a strong argument that the most introspective player on the Warriors, a team centered on three NBA stars 35 years and older, is 23-year-old Moses Moody.

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He’s a reader and a poet. He spits meaningful bars at the podium that your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper wishes they could think of. He’s wise beyond his age and always worth listening to. He also took a long pause Tuesday when asked about the mood of a 13-14 Warriors team that already has gone through countless ups and downs in the 2025-26 NBA season.

“Good question,” Moody began.

“I would say good, through and through,” he continued. “A lot of highs and lows. A lot of professionals on the team, so it’s not dealing with childish emotions or anything like that. It’s more so grown men trying to figure something out. And that’s from the coaching staff to the last player on the bench.

“It’s not a bunch of emotions of, ‘Oh, you said this, you said that,’ rather than a group of men trying to figure something out, and that’s cool to see.”

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Moody chose his words carefully. Frustrations for the Warriors have been seen in numerous ways. This is a team that went 23-8 down the stretch last season after trading for Jimmy Butler, beat the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs and felt like they were destined for the Western Conference finals until Steph Curry’s hamstring strain.

There even was a contingent within the franchise that believed a healthy Warriors team could beat the Oklahoma City Thunder last season. This season’s team can’t keep leaning on that run. It’s done, it’s over.

The Warriors, as the calendar year gets close to ending, feel much more like the pre-Butler team they were around the same time a year ago than the post-Butler one right now.

Even coach Steve Kerr sees the similarities.

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“Yeah, it feels a lot like last year, ironically,” Kerr said Tuesday. “At the trade deadline I think we were .500….

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Publish date : 2025-12-18 07:54:00

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