The Golden State Warriors have won four of the last 11 NBA championships and over that time, no other franchise has won multiple titles. Steph Curry is the unquestioned centerpiece of Golden State's run, with players like Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant earning quite a bit of recognition along the way. However, the Warriors have received very meaningful contributions from key role players, and head coach Steve Kerr evoked a few of them on Thursday.
The backdrop for Kerr's comments was a breakout performance from another key role player in first-year shooting guard Will Richard. The former Florida Gators standout was the No. 56 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, entering the league with modest expectations, but Richard has been an intriguing player for the Warriors early in the campaign. Even during training camp, Richard was drawing rave reviews from members of the organization, but things came to a head on Wednesday when the 22-year-old exploded for 30 points and seven rebounds in a game against the Sacramento Kings.
Steve Kerr thinks very highly of Will Richard
Then, Kerr did a Thursday interview on 95.7 FM The Game in the Bay Area, illustrating the way that he feels about Richard's contributions.
"Will fits in perfectly with everything I'm discussing right now," Kerr said during the interview. "The turnovers, the decision-making, the spacing, the ability to dribble, pass and shoot -- those four things lead to good decision-making as a team, as a group. I can draw a play out of a timeout and put Will in any one of the five positions. So when you get guys like this that provide really solid play and stability, this is what has made our team go around Steph [Curry] and Draymond [Green]."
Then, Kerr dropped some very familiar names from the past, including Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston.
"I've said this to you guys a million times," Kerr continued. "Who are those stabilizers in our run over the last decade? It's Andre Iguodala. It's Shaun Livingston. It's David West. You need them at different positions because (Curry) and (Green) need stability around them to get them organized and to help them navigate the game and to get Steph the ball. So, Will Richard checks all those boxes. The whole team, the whole organization, recognizes this -- which means everybody's on notice. Take care of the ball, because we've got people who will do that. And they're ready to step in."
To state the obvious, Kerr is not saying that the rookie version of Will Richard will match the impact of players like Iguodala, Livingston, and David West. Still, the fact that he would reach for those names, in the midst of an already positive answer about Richard, speaks volumes in itself.
Richard's 30-point eruption came in his first start on Thursday and, importantly, it came in a game without Curry, Butler, or Green in uniform. As such, his role should be more modest moving forward, but it certainly seems as if Richard has made an impact in a short timeframe.