NBA Season Preview 2018-19: Preseason power rankings

Golden State is a team at war with itself. With their absurd surplus of elite talent, their championship trophies and their millions of adoring fans, it may seem like they have it made in the shade. But the truth is that an internal conflict is threatening to tear this team apart. On one hand, you have Steve Kerr who told The Mercury News:

"“We are playing with some house money… Our place in the history of the league is pretty secure. I don’t think our guys should feel a ton of pressure. I think they should feel the importance of trying to do it again, because this may be the last time we have this current iteration of the Warriors, just given all the free agents and the money crunch and everything else.”"

Then, on the other side, you have Draymond Green telling ESPN:

"“I definitely don’t approach it like we’re playing with house money. We do have three championships. They’re all in the past. It’s about approaching each year with that same goal and that same mentality. And the point you get to the point where ‘oh, man, we’re just playing house money, we already got it,’ you’re done.”"

Yikes. That’s a star player, the emotional heart and soul of this team directly contradicting his coach. This kind of disagreement is the kind of thing to keep an eye on as the season unfolds, it could boil over when they least expect it.

Of course, the Warriors are still winning the title. They don’t have to worry about that. But if they’re mad at each other when they do it, maybe it will be a bit more interesting?