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Kendra Andrews, ESPN
PORTLAND, Ore. — Gary Payton II and Kyle Anderson crouched at the scorer’s table with three minutes left in the first quarter of the Golden State Warriors‘ season opener against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.
Just nine minutes into the game, the Warriors’ 10th and 11th men were about to check in. By the start of the second quarter, Moses Moody was in, meaning 12 players had seen the floor.
Throughout training camp, the Warriors had boasted about their depth. Warriors coach Steve Kerr repeatedly said there were 13 players he thought deserved rotational minutes and stressed the difficult decisions he would have to make to shrink his rotation.
But the night before the team’s opener, Kerr decided not to limit the number of players.
“This is as deep of a team as I’ve ever coached, and we’ve got to lean into that,” Kerr said after the Warriors’ 139-104 win. “I’ve never played 12 before, but we’re going to do it.
“I was thinking, well, maybe I’ll just play 10 and we’ll have to tell two of these guys that they’re going to sit. But I just couldn’t justify that.”
Golden State started a lineup of Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis, a group Kerr said he’d like to be the starting five this season.
Buddy Hield was the first off the bench, followed by Kevon Looney and Brandin Podziemski. Next were Melton and Anderson and then Moody.
“It’s the identity of this team right now,” Curry said. “We’re going to rely on our depth.”
Curry said the only team he could think of that had comparable depth was the 2014-15 Warriors, whose slogan was “strength in numbers.” But even that team had just an 11-man rotation.
“This is the deepest team I’ve ever been on,” Wiggins said.
On Wednesday, seven players scored in double figures, led by Hield’s 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including five 3-pointers, in 15 minutes. That’s the most points scored by a Warriors player in 15 or fewer minutes since 1984, according to ESPN Research.
“Without Klay, we needed shooting. Well, we needed shooting anyways,” Curry said. “We know what his skillset is. We know what he’s capable of doing. It’s been a very seamless transition so far.
Wiggins added 20 points, and Curry nearly reached a triple-double with 17 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds.
The Warriors made 20 3-pointers, and no player surpassed Curry’s team-high 25 minutes.
As the Warriors emphasize playing with a quick pace — they scored 30 points in transition against Portland — they believe their depth and ability to do an almost hockey-style rotation will allow them to be “overwhelming” for opponents. Hield called it a continuous “wave” of players.
On some nights, the rotation might shrink depending on the matchup. And there’s also an understanding that on nights when one player doesn’t have it, they will move down the bench.
“You have to have a commitment — no agendas, no egos, or healthy egos, where you know you’re supposed to be out there but if it’s not you’re night, don’t bring the team down with your energy,” Curry said. “Haven’t seen any red flags of that.”
Curry defined having a healthy ego as always maintaining the belief that you are an impactful player but having enough humility to know when it’s not your night and, most importantly, not letting that affect your attitude. The Warriors believe there has been a mutual understanding of this since the team set out to Hawai’i for training camp at the start of the month, when Kerr said there would be healthy competition for playing time.
At the time, he hoped that competition would breed their identity. For now, it has.