Dub Hub: NBA players vote Warriors the league’s best organization

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Wednesday, April 23rd.

In today’s Dub Hub:

• According to The Athletic’s anonymous player poll, NBA players vote the Warriors as the league’s best organization.
• Steve Kerr confident playing a two big lineup in short stints against the Rockets in Game 2.
• Celtics Payton Pritchard named Sixth Man of the Year for the 2024-25 NBA Regular Season.

With four championships in the past decade and a culture built around excellence, the Golden State Warriors have long been the gold standard in the NBA. Now, that status has been reaffirmed by the players themselves.

In a recent anonymous player poll conducted by The Athletic, the Warriors were voted the best organization in the NBA, receiving 21.9% of the vote

A dynastic run, a state-of-the-art facility like the Chase Center, and a legendary presence in Stephen Curry have helped build Golden State’s elite reputation. But according to players, it goes far beyond wins and hardware.

Via The Athletic:

“They were first-class,” the player said. “(Warriors coach) Steve (Kerr) came from San Antonio. He knew a lot of the principles. They do a really good job of taking care of the players and the families.”

The Oklahoma City Thunder (17.5%) and Boston Celtics (15.3%) rounded out the top three, but even in a league full of well-run franchises, Golden State continues to set the standard—both on and off the court. Now, in the midst of another postseason run with championship aspirations, the Warriors are looking to further cement their renowned legacy across the league.

For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Wednesday, April 23rd:

Warriors News:

Warriors confident in new two-big lineup for short stints vs. Rockets | NBC Sports Bay Area

Post and Looney’s few minutes together weren’t great overall. The first sample also didn’t cause Kerr any concerns.

“They’ve never played together, but the playoffs sometimes dictate maybe a minute or two here and there,” Kerr said. “We obviously did it to combat their two bigs. We like it because Loon’s our best rebounder and Quinten’s one of our best shooters. We’re able to space the floor against them with those two big guys and present a little more size.

“Actually, the most size we can.”

Kerr isn’t going to play them next to each other for long stretches. If they are on the court together, it will be for short stints and based on the Rockets’ personnel.

2025 NBA playoffs: Stats that could sink title contenders | ESPN

Stat category: 2-point percentage (52.8%, 23rd)

Why it matters: Golden State’s shooting inside the arc isn’t quite as negative as Houston’s was, so it gets downgraded to a moderate concern in this tier list. Still, the Warriors are not a great finishing team inside and they were one of the worst midrange shooting teams in the NBA this regular season. Smartly, that’s not a huge part of their game plan anyway, but it still would be nice to have more reliable conversion rates on the interior for a team that ranked 15th in offensive efficiency.

Amen Thompson once attended Steph Curry’s camp. Now he’s guarding him in NBA playoffs | San Francisco Chronicle

But Amen and his brother idolized LeBron James, who soon became Golden State’s annual Finals adversary. So the twins didn’t become swept up in the Warriors’ success, as Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson launched a dynasty.

“I wasn’t a fan, but I liked what they did for the community,” Amen said of the Warriors. “Everybody wanted to be like Steph. I was mostly going against them, one of the only people out there doing that. … I was going for Bron, man.”

The NBA’s latest trade and free agency and coaching carousel chatter | The Stein Line

The Brooklyn Nets have long loomed as a potential suitor that the Warriors have been monitoring given the Nets’ projected cap space. Brooklyn’s true level of interest remains to be seen, but Kuminga could not come to terms with Golden State last fall when he was seeking a contract higher than the $30 million in average annual salary that went to fellow Class of 2021 first-round draftees Jalen Suggs (Orlando) and Jalen Johnson (Atlanta).

The Nets, at present, are projected to be the only team with $40 million in salary cap space this summer, theoretically positioning them to mount a firm Kuminga pursuit if they wish. That lack of abundant cap space has led various team strategists this week to suggest that a sign-and-trade could be the ultimate mechanism that delivers the former No. 7 pick out of the Bay Area come July.

Draymond Green and Baron Davis call out the Nuggets for their “We Believe” playoff towels

NBA News:

Lakers even series with Wolves after Redick tears into team | ESPN

With the Lakers’ lead, which was once 22 points, cut in half midway through the third quarter of Tuesday’s Game 2 against the Timberwolves, an irate JJ Redick stormed onto the court to call timeout before Luka Doncic could inbound the ball from the sideline.

“What the f— is going on?!” Redick could be heard shouting on the TNT broadcast, with his team leading 62-51 with 7:40 to go in the third. “What the f— are you guys doing? Come on!”

After the huddle, Los Angeles used a 9-0 run to push its lead back to 20 and held on to win 94-85 to even the first-round series 1-1.

Anonymous NBA player poll 2025: MVP pick? Most overrated? Too many 3s? | The Athletic

“I don’t (understand) the Defensive Player of the Year stuff when you don’t guard the people who have the ball most of the time, the ones who are making most of the decisions,” a player who chose Gobert for most overrated said. “I just don’t see it, nor does he strike any fear in me in my heart as a defender.”

Celtics’ Payton Pritchard named NBA Sixth Man of the Year

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

Did Warriors Draymond Green hint that Jonathan Kuminga will enter rotation in Game 2?

“Both of them young fellas playing well man,” Green said in reference to Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski before transitioning. “And one thing I will say is I think this series is going to turn in Jonathan Kuminga’s favor, and it’s going to be good to see him play well as well. But we need them young guys to play well in this series as well”

“I’d love to see a Jonathan Kuminga sighting,” Davis responded. “Because I have this feeling that he’s ready to breakout and be the difference maker in this series.”

Follow @unstoppablebaby on Twitter for all the latest news on the Golden State Warriors.