Warriors Veterans Sit Out First Game of the Season

The Golden State Warriors started the season hot and have since cooled off. They are attempting to contend with a mix of older veteran and young up-and-coming players, and for a time, it looked like a nice strategy. 

One thing that could potentially limit the Warriors this season is the health of their older stars. Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green are all on the other side of their primes and, at this point in their careers, pretty reliably miss chunks of the season with various injuries. 

Those missed games have already started for the Warriors’ veterans. On Wednesday night, all three of the Warriors’ top players were out with various ailments. 

This gave the Warriors' young core an opportunity to show what they could do. The Warriors faced the Kings, who were also missing some of their stars. 

Unfortunately for the Warriors, they fell to the Kings 121-116, falling to 5-4 on the season. That didn’t mean that the Warriors' young guys didn’t play well, however. 

Jonathan Kuminga scored 24 points and had nine rebounds. Moses Moody continued his hot shooting from three, going 6-of-11 from deep and scoring 28 points with four blocks and two steals. Podziemski also had a solid game, scoring 14 points and notching nine rebounds and nine assists. 

While the Warriors’ recent picks all showed up, their rookie from the 2025 NBA Draft was the true star of the night. Will Richard exploded in his first NBA start. He scored 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting. He also added seven rebounds and three assists to this stat sheet. 

So, while the Warriors lost the game, their young guys did prove something. They are able to hold their own even when the Warriors’ stars are sitting. Now, if only they could take care of the ball more (Kuminga, Moody, and Podziemski combined for 12 turnovers), they could start notching some wins without their veterans as well.