The Golden State Warriors were a surprise NBA champion the last time they opened a season by going undefeated in exhibition play. That beloved 2021-22 squad bears at least passing resemblance to the current iteration of Golden State, too, with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green again leading one of the deepest rosters in basketball.

Whether this season's Dubs can find the special alchemy that made Golden State's whole so much greater than the sum of its parts two years ago remains to be seen. As another regular season dawns, though, Steve Kerr seems to be dreaming of that possibility—albeit with a major caveat in mind.

“Number one, I want to be in the playoffs,” he replied when asked on Tuesday what “success looks like” for Golden State in 2024-25. “That's our goal, is to get there, and then our next goal is to do damage. Our goal after that is to win the West, our goal after that is to win the championship. Those goals are all in play in my mind.”

Kerr is one of the most decorated winners in NBA history, owning five rings as a player and four as a coach. Few understand what it takes to win a championship as well as he does. It's that necessary and extremely rare confluence of talent, chemistry, luck and more that have helped afford the future Hall-of-Famer a different definition of success—one not rooted in always being the last team standing, his lofty goals for the Dubs this season be damned.

“At the end of the season regardless of what happens, it's not for me to tell you if it's successful or not. It's for you guys to write,” Kerr said. “We know what we're looking for, but we also know we can't sit here and give you statements that you can then put in headlines and use halfway through the year and use against me.

“It's modern-day sports, modern-day championship, rings culture,” he continued. “What I tell the players all the time is everyone's gonna judge us, but only we can really assess our success or not, or whether we're getting better every day, whether we're connected, whether we are fighting for each other. All those things lead to success, and that's what we measure every day.”

How Warriors stack up in loaded Western Conference

 

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) hug after the game at Target Center
Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

There's a clear-cut hierarchy in the Western Conference as the 82-game grind dawns, with last season's conference semifinalists sitting a tier above their competition. Odds are that at least one of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves will finish outside the top-four in 2024-25, beset by the injury bug. But you can't count on where that misfortune will specifically rear its ugly head before the season, and no one would argue against those teams boasting the type of top-end talent, quality depth or both needed to win the West.

Where the real discourse begins is below that quartet of championship hopefuls. It's certainly in the realm of possibility that Golden State emerges as a second-tier contender in the Western Conference, relying on elite defense, high-volume three-point shooting and a roster that goes 12-deep with proven rotation players to surpass most expectations outside of Chase Center and beyond the Bay Area. Don't completely dismiss the chances of Curry and Green putting together one last season worthy of serious MVP and Defensive Player of the Year consideration, either. Maybe Jonathan Kuminga really is the future star he's always believed, cementing that reality as a fourth-year pro while shifting up the lineup to small forward.

It might take pretty much all of those optimistic developments coming to fruition for Golden State to truly separate itself from the Western Conference's crowded middle class, though, finishing sixth or better in the standings to avoid the play-in tournament.

The Warriors can't match the Memphis Grizzlies' big three of Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane. The same goes for the Phoenix Suns' triumvirate of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, now supplemented by a superior supporting cast and the steady regular-season hand of coach Mike Budenholzer. The Los Angeles Lakers made no major personnel moves, but rookie coach JJ Redick could imbue the purple-and-gold with the two-way structure and attention to detail it sorely lacked a year ago. The Sacramento Kings aren't going anywhere, and could be better with the arrival of DeMar DeRozan and growth of Keegan Murray. Don't forget about the revamped New Orleans Pelicans, set to play Zion Williamson at de facto center when fully healthy.

Even the up-and-coming Houston Rockets have the talent and depth to be better than Golden State this season if everything breaks right. The only teams who can't say as much? The Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers, the former two of which—with a healthy Kawhi Leonard and even marginally improved Victor Wembanyama—could conceivably feature a better best player than Curry.

Kerr wasn't lying. The dynastic days of Golden State counting success by raising the Larry O'Brien Trophy at season's end are over. For a team led by a 36-year-old without a bonafide second star, just making the playoffs in an ultra-competitive West really would be a win. But the Dubs can't control who they match up with come the postseason or how talent is disbursed around them.

Just scraping their collective ceiling by mid-April should be considered successful for these Warriors. The question then would be how many Western Conference foes managed to do the same, setting the stage for what could be long or short-lived playoff runs.