Kevin O'Connor Tells Warriors Fans To "Start Praying" For Good Fortune In The Draft Lottery

At this point, the Golden State Warriors have quietly slipped into irrelevance. Once the most feared powerhouse in the NBA, the Warriors have lost one key piece after another, and they have done little to counter the effects of aging.

Through the highs and lows, Steph Curry was frequently a beacon of hope for the massive Warriors fanbase. This season, however, Curry’s injuries have become even more pronounced; he’s played in just 39 of his team’s 66 games thus far, even as the Warriors tread the murky waters of the play-in scenario.

Are the Warriors, then, going to shut down the greatest shooter of all time in the final month of the 2025-26 season? Analyst Kevin O’Connor thinks that Golden State is heading in that direction. In fact, O’Connor is looking months ahead as he surveys the future of the proud Western Conference squad.

“Warriors fans, it’s time to start praying that you are rewarded on draft lottery night,” O’Connor tweeted on Saturday. “When I said ‘let the tank begin’ in mid-February, I knew shutting down Steph Curry was on the table. Seems inevitable now.”

What a difference a year makes.

Last season, the Warriors were favored to immediately make it out of the play-in tournament (which they did). Advancing to the first round of the 2025 playoffs, Curry and company were actually favored against the higher-seeded Houston Rockets, whose core included some playoff first-timers.

The Warriors went the distance with the Rockets and eventually pulled off the series upset by winning Game 7. This year, though, the odds of Golden State replicating this underdog arc are even slimmer.

It’s not just because Curry has been unavailable for long stretches (though that’s certainly a major factor). The Warriors’ lack of size, a recurring issue over the past few seasons, has seriously hounded them as teams continue to punish them in the paint. On top of this, there doesn’t appear to be a clear succession plan when it comes to the next man (or men) up on offense.

Can Brandin Podziemski or Moses Moody take a long-awaited leap and become a truly formidable threat? Can Draymond Green salvage his relationship with Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and help usher in a new era of Warriors basketball on both ends of the floor?

There are many questions that the Warriors organization has to answer, but as O’Connor puts it, they may have no other recourse at this time other than hoping for Lady Luck to bring them good Draft fortune. Curry will soon be the past, and the Warriors will have to focus squarely on the future.