Hi, I'm Dr. Mary Claire Haver, a board-certified OBGYN and menopause specialist. My new podcast, Unpaused, is the place for bold, unfiltered conversations about what it really takes for women to thrive in the second half of life. Every week, I sit down with medical experts, cultural icons, and powerhouse women to talk about what really matters: your health, your power, and your future. We're covering hormones, identity, finances, relationships, and so much more.
New episodes drop every Tuesday. Listen to and follow Unpaused with Me, Dr. Mary Claire Haver. Available now wherever you get your podcasts. In 2013, two brutal murders left the city of Davis, California paralyzed in fear.
The victims were an elderly couple. It was up close and personal. I'm 48 Hours correspondent Erin Moriarty. I thought I had seen it all until I encountered the mastermind behind those murders. He's uh I think the word is psychotic.
This is 15 Inside the Daniel Marsh Murders. Follow and listen to 15 Inside the Daniel Marsh Murders on the Free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you, coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. It is early. any NBA season, and I know this sounds uh shocking.
We've actually had some basketball that's been played and things not just taking place. In courtrooms and courthouses. The Golden State Warriors, it is early. They started the season 2-0, beat the Lakers a couple of nights ago and went ahead and beat the Denver Nuggets last night, took overtime. Steph Curry dropping 42 points.
Jimmy Butler and the opener is almost perfect from the free throw line. Almost perfect, period. And this is an older team. And you got Kaminga who's still here with something to prove. And so, to talk about what this squad can do and the potential of it, joining us right now is someone who covers the team full-time for the San Francisco Chronicle.
Welcome to the show, Sam Gordon. Sam, how are you, man? I'm doing well. Very much appreciate you having me. How you doing?
I'm doing damn good. Thank you for the time. I mean, I know it's two games, and so I don't want to just. Harp on the two games and go overboard. But there does appear to be some good potential here.
for the Golden State Warriors. I mean, of course we know about the age, uh but what has stood out to you just in the first two games? Yeah, I think just how much the roster makes sense in terms of fit and in terms of continuity, right? And the Warriors. You know, they make the trade for Jimmy Butler last season.
They finished the regular season 23 and 8 after he debuts. And then, of course, Stephen Curry. uh gets hurt in the conference semifinals, right?
So they they made their big move last year, but putting you know, tweaking this roster, adding Al Horford, who has been a seamless fit on both sides of the ball, right, gives him an element. uh a stretch center that's a two way stretch center that's also A bona fide defensive presence as we've seen so far the last couple games, especially. Last night against Nikola Jokic. He gives them an element that they don't have, right? Will Richard.
the late second round pick, the fifty sixth overall pick, getting second half minutes For the Warriors in both those games, a seamless fit guarding the point of attack, moving the ball offensively, knowing. when to shoot, pass, cut, maintaining the rhythm of their offense and competing at 6'4, 6'5. With the 6'10 wingspan on defense, and then and then you see the way that Jonathan Caminga h has started the season, right? you know, the the element that that he brings to the Warriors, the the explosiveness at six seven, six, eight. uh the two-way upside that he has guarding the point of attack.
Attacking the glass and then kind of funneling his force offensively, right, into. uh the rhythm of the read and react offense into the rhythm of of the ball movement that the Warriors have long employed and sought to employ.
So all those things have stood out. It's a roster that's certainly more versatile than last year's roster. There's more flexibility with Horford. with the size that they're able to to to have. Out there on both sides of the floor, and then with Kamiga's play, with how seamless of a fit.
He's been after the kind of a standoff with his contract situation. He's been spectacular, and again, gives the Warriors. a dynamic with his athleticism that they that they don't have and quite frankly that they need In the Western Conference against the top teams in the West, the Oklahoma Cities, the Houstons, the Minnesotas. Teams with a lot of length on the wing.
So, like you said, it's been two games, but it absolutely, you know, spoke. perfect start on both ends of the court for the Warriors, all things considered, getting a look at teams of two different styles, right? The Lakers, Luka Donci heavy, and and then the the Nuggets playing around Nicola Jokic. And Jamal Murray.
So another test: quick turnaround tonight, right, against a Portland squad that first game with Thiago Splinter as the interim coach. And a team with a lot of length and athleticism. They haven't seen a team with that kind of style of play yet. Curious to see how they match up, but it's a complete roster on both sides that fits the brand of basketball the Warriors want to play, which is versatile defensively and with a lot of ball and player movement offensively. Sam Gordon is here with us from the San Francisco Chronicle.
To go back about Jonathan Kaminga, we've seen him knock down some threes. He's also done a better job passing. He's probably the most athletic guy on the team, and he's still only 23 years old.
So we've seen this good start from him. But what can we expect? from him with the future. What is this? His contract situation.
We heard about him not getting deal and requesting a trade. Is it still more than likely at some point, whether it's midseason, after the season, that he's gone? Or do you think strongly that he's going to stay with the team throughout the duration of the year? Yeah, I mean I think a trade is is certainly possible as the season plays on. He's eligible to be traded in January.
15th. It's a two-year deal with the team options.
So, built into that deal is the inherent flexibility for both sides. Where Jonathan Kaminga can be an unrestricted free agent as soon as next summer, and if there is a trade and that team option gets picked up. He's a free agent in 2027. Going into his age 25 season.
So there's certainly a lot of flexibility there in that number, right? I think 23. A million this year, it's a two-year $46.5 million deal. It can make up to, I think, a little more than $48.5 million. with the tray kicker.
So yeah, that that option that option, that flexibility is available for the Warriors. But I I think big picture, I think if if they have it their way in an optimum situation, Jonathan Kaminga continues to play how he has the first couple games. And this thing continues to click, and they don't have to make a trade. He's still homegrown, number seven overall pick. The Warriors, there is, I think, value in retaining homegrown players.
They signed Moses Moody. to a three-year contract uh extension last year as well, Jonathan Kamingas. Draft classmate, and you know, kind of as you touched on, right, he's their most athletic player. If you do make a deal. For Jonathan Kaminga, it it needs to be for somebody that sort of A Yannis Anto Takumpo type, right?
It needs to be somebody, I think, that offers that kind of athleticism and upside and size on the wing. And two-way wings just aren't available like that. Those are at a premium.
So, Jonathan Kaminga, right, these first couple games. Has shown all the everything that the Warriors have wanted to see from him the past four years. Uh the rhythmic Decisions on the offensive side of the floor, the attacking the glass defensively, the versatility defensively, guarding the ball, all those things. If he continues to do those things and play this way on both sides of the floor, I don't think the Warriors are going to be in any rush. to trade them.
Let's just say that. But there is that flexibility on both ends and as the season rolls on, I think there o that opportunity will arise. But big picture, if the Warriors have it their way, Jonathan Kaminger continues to play like this. He continues to unlock some of their upside, and they keep him through the trade deadline. He's a big part of this team moving forward.
Well, Sam, we know Cominga is twenty three. Jimmy Butler just turned 30. I'm Dr. Mary Claire Haver. Ready for honest conversations about thriving in midlife?
Listen to and follow my new podcast, Unpaused. Available now wherever you get your podcasts. In 2013, two brutal murders left the city of Davis, California paralyzed in fear. The victims were an elderly couple. It was up close and personal.
I'm 48 Hours correspondent Aaron Moriarty. I thought I had seen it all until I encountered the mastermind behind those murders. He's uh I think the word is psychotic. This is 15 Inside the Daniel Marsh Murders. Follow and listen to 15 Inside the Daniel Marsh Murders on the Free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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6. When the season concludes, Steph Curry is going to be 38. Draymond is going to be thirty six years old, and Al Harford is is thirty-nine. In June next year, when the season is really done, maybe the Warriors are still playing at that point. Al Harford will be forty.
How do they plan to to utilize some of these minutes so these guys last? Who are some of the dudes that they hope kind of step up to fill in some of these gaps so the old dudes aren't just running rag or ran ragged all year long?
Well, that's that's the name of the game this season. I mean, the the whole thing, the the championship aspirations that the Warriors have and and and and you see that again, very early in the season, But the Denver Nuggets have the second shortest odds to win the NBA title behind the Oklahoma City Thunder. And they came to play last night. That was a high-level game. And the Warriors got it done coming back from down down 14.
So, you know, their championship aspirations. Are 110% legitimate whether they achieve that or not? We're going to find out over the next, that's what we, you know, what we're going to find out over the next eight months. But it's all comes down to health. They have to have their nucleus healthy and intact in April going into the playoffs.
I think what we saw last year, right, talking about that 23 and 8 finish, those were all high-leverage games for the Warriors. And then you go seven games. With an upstart Houston Rockets team with a lot of length, a lot of physicality, a lot of athleticism, and the Warriors ended up paying the price. It caught up to to Steph Curry in the conference semi-finals. I say all that to say health is absolutely paramount.
I I don't think the expectation internally Is getting 70 plus games for any of those guys. They're veterans. The reality is. They're at this stage of their careers. While their abilities remain clearly remain intact at a high level, the likelihood or the probability of injury is just higher.
So, Al Horford's not playing tonight. We already know that. He's not going to be playing in any back to backs this year. That's part of the reason Steve Kerr was able to kind of boost his minutes last night. They want to keep him between 20 to 24 minutes a game.
Throughout the course of the season, if Steph Curry, Draymond Greene, Jimmy Butler are banged up a little bit. I think you're going to see the Warriors err on the side of caution. And then, you know, to your question about who's poised to step up in those situations. Uh Kaminga is is poised I mean there's upside there offensively in a featured role.
Now We've seen him the first couple games play a complimentary role on offense as the Warriors are running things. Through Steph Curry on the perimeter, Jimmy Butler on the interior. But in games that they're not playing, I mean, we saw Kaminga go for 24 a game, four straight games. Against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the postseason last year, operating with the ball in his hands, attacking. As the primary creator, there's an upside for him as a featured scorer.
I think you saw Brandon Pajemski in the preseason have a 20-plus point game. Not that we want to take away any big conclusions per se, but. Showed that in a scaled-up workload with Steph McCurry out. with Al Horford out, with Veterans out, that he has some three level scoring tests where he can increase his volume a little bit. And be a productive scorer for the Warriors.
You still have Buddy Health who you can run offense through as a shooter in the second unit when guys are healthy or in the first unit. And then, you know, more than anything, I think you're also banking on just the the system that the Warriors have in place, ball movement, depth. playing uh a deep rotation to keep guys fresh, game in, and game out.
So Yeah, I I think that the youth has to be be huge for the Warriors and and that's you know, Kaminga's twenty three, Pazemski's twenty two, Moses guy like Moses Moody expected to debut tonight. 23.
So, those guys are going to be in scaled-up roles when the veterans are out for sure. Final question for you here, Sam. Do you think that this team can win a championship? Oh, that's a great question. Yes, I can they yeah.
I I that being said, I think there's a a big a wide scale spectrum of outcomes per se because so much of it hinges on health. They did match up well with the Oklahoma City Thunder last season and they were up By double figures against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the conference semifinals in that game, that Stephan Curry got hurt. Uh, it's a better roster this year. Again, it doesn't mean doesn't guarantee anything, doesn't mean that they're the favorite, right? They're obviously not, but Thunder are for good reason.
But in a seven-game series with the the pedigree that the Warriors have with Steph Curry. Coming off of a 42-point game, very clearly, still very close to the peak of his powers if he's not at the apex anymore necessarily, but. That's a that's somebody I don't think opposing teams are eager to see, uh team led by Steph Curry. Four times in a seven-game series.
So I don't think it's necessarily likely that the Warriors are gonna win the championship, but based on what we've seen, they have every reason to feel like they can compete for one. And uh if they're healthy going into the playoffs, I think they're going to be a tough out for anybody, no question about it. We'll see how they match up against some of the more athletic teams. That's what we still have to see at their age. But with their you know, with the depth that they have, And the pedigree that they have, I think they're a tough night for anybody in the West and and the East as well.
Well, Sam, we certainly appreciate the time and your expertise in covering this team for the San Francisco Chronicle. Tell everybody where they can follow you and all your coverage. Yep, very much appreciate you having me. I'm on X or Twitter at by Sam Gordon, B-Y-S-A-M-G-O-D-O-N, and then all our work is on SF Chronicle.
So, yep, excited for the game tonight and excited that the C the NBA basketball is back. Very much appreciate you having me, and I looking forward to connecting in the future. I'm Dr. Mary Claire Haver, and my new podcast, Unpaused, is the place for bold, unfiltered conversations about what it takes for women to thrive in the second half of life. Listen to and follow Unpaused, available now wherever you get your podcasts.
In 2013, two brutal murders left the city of Davis, California paralyzed in fear. The victims were an elderly couple. It was up close and personal. I'm 48 Hours correspondent Aaron Moriarty. I thought I had seen it all until I encountered the mastermind behind those murders.
He's uh I think the word is Psychotic This is 15 Inside the Daniel Marsh Murders. Follow and listen to 15 Inside the Daniel Marsh Murders on the Free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Embark on a new adventure with a scent of guests iconic for men. It's an aromatic fougere scent that opens with keynotes of bright mandarin and Sechuan pepper. develops into fresh clarisage in the heart.
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