The Golden State Warriors Have Been Buried Before, And They’re Still Standing

The Warriors got blown out in Minnesota on Monday night. There goes the dynasty.

Again.

Just like Halloween 2019, when Stephen Curry broke his hand in the wake of Kevin Durant’s departure. And Memorial Day 2023, when general manager Bob Myers finally had enough of being pulled in two directions and bailed for ABC.

The gravestones were wrong, wrong, and now potentially wrong again.

Jimmy Butler III’s torn ACL is what’s prompting the obituaries this time around. Three losses in four games since the untimely incident and the headlines are bigger and bolder than ever:

KERR NEEDS TO GO … GREEN MUST BE TERMINATED … CURRY DESERVES A TRADE.

What’s the saying?

Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Fool me three times … hey, that’s not going to happen.

According to various dunderheads who believe it takes three strikes in order to strike out, the Warriors’ dynasty is dead. Kaput. Extinct. No way they avoid it this time.

Ah, but don’t underestimate the Two Wrongs Can Make A Right Effect.

In many ways, Jonathan Kuminga is to blame for the Warriors’ current predicament.

He was supposed to be really good. So good that he could bridge the old and the new while keeping the dynasty alive.

But it hasn’t happened.

Then he was supposed to have so much potential, someone surely would ship the Warriors a win-now veteran in a trade that would, yep, keep the dynasty alive.

That hasn’t happened, either.

But it still could, thanks to Kuminga East.

You see, the Big Tease isn’t the only difference-maker despised by his own people. In fact, he’s loved compared to what most of Memphis thinks of Ja Morant.

You have to know the Grizzlies have as much interest in jettisoning a headache they’ve experienced first-half for one that, as far as they’re concerned, is one of Kerr’s imagination.

Think about it …

A Memphis franchise that’s been borderline irrelevant for more than a decade gets a chance to push reset, adding Kuminga and Moses Moody — a pair of lottery picks supposedly handcuffed by Kerr — and a 2026 first-round pick that’s quickly falling into lotteryland.

At the bargain-basement price of the Grizzlies ridding themselves of a guy who’s always hurt — including as we speak — and in no hurry to suit up for them again.

That’s a no-brainer.

And the Warriors get … well, they get accused of panicking, of mortgaging their future, of being dizzied by that power plant that’s supposedly taking down the 49ers one by one.

When really they’re getting their dynasty back.

If teaming with Curry helps Morant as much as it did Durant and Butler, then the Warriors get a jolt of energy similar to the one that produced two titles and had them on the doorstep of a showdown with the Thunder in the Western finals last May until Curry got hurt.

Making the playoffs would be a sure thing this season. Just don’t tell the Grizzlies.

But the biggest positive would be in the electric Morant joining Curry, Butler, Green and Al Horford in the league’s best finishing lineup next season, while at the same time directing a second unit that actually has a heartbeat. Curry rests and the opponent gets run ragged. That’s a win-win.

Make no mistake: Next season is the last rodeo for Kerr, Curry, Green and Horford. Maybe even Butler. And who knows what Morant’s future holds? They all warrant nice parting gifts, but Curry deserves more.

He deserves one more shot at a title. Heck, two if you like a longshot this spring.

You know who might agree? LeBron. Any chance the ring-chaser, who can pick his spot next season, would play for peanuts and jump aboard what would then become one of the most memorable teams of all-time?

Dumb question.

Where does that leave the Warriors in 2028? Likely as the worst team in the league, but one that’s located in a destination city, with one of the world’s best arenas, possibly the No. 1 pick and a boatload of cash to spend.

Or you’d rather have the scraps that couldn't sniff 90 on Monday without Curry, Butler, Green and Horford? And forget Kuminga. He’ll be gone by then either way.

Death to the naysayers. Long live the dynasty.

Well, for two more years, anyway.