Warriors Officially Out
A widely watched video posted in the last 48 hours declared the Golden State Warriors officially eliminated from playoff contention, marking the end of their 2025–26 chase. (youtube.com) The clip joined wider social conversation about aging cores and roster timelines. (youtube.com)
Golden State’s 2025-26 season ended Friday night with a 111-96 loss to Phoenix in the Western Conference play-in. (espn.com) The Warriors finished 37-45, good for 10th in the West, and had to win twice in the play-in to reach the playoffs. They beat the Los Angeles Clippers 126-121 on April 15, then lost at Phoenix on April 17. (espn.com) Phoenix ended the regular season 45-37 and held the West’s No. 8 play-in spot, while Golden State entered at No. 10. ESPN’s final standings list the Suns ahead of the Warriors by eight games. (espn.com) Stephen Curry scored 35 points in the win over the Clippers, then 17 points on 4-of-16 shooting in the loss to Phoenix. Brandin Podziemski led Golden State with 23 points and 10 rebounds in the elimination game. (espn.com) The finish closed a season built around an older core and midseason reshuffling. Stephen Curry is 38, Draymond Green is 36, and Jimmy Butler III, acquired from Miami on February 6, 2025, is 36. (espn.com; nba.com) Golden State traded for Butler to extend its window around Curry, and Butler signed a two-year extension through the 2026-27 season as part of that deal. The move sent Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Dennis Schröder and Lindy Waters III out in a multi-team trade. (nba.com) The roster around that trio skewed older too. Al Horford is 39, Seth Curry is 35, and Gary Payton II is 33 on the current team page. (espn.com) The numbers matched the record. Basketball-Reference lists the Warriors 22nd in the NBA in scoring at 114.6 points per game, 18th in offensive rating, 17th in defensive rating and 20th in net rating. (basketball-reference.com) Curry remained their top scorer at 26.6 points a game, but he appeared in 43 regular-season games. Team pages list Podziemski as the club’s regular-season scoring leader among players who played the full schedule at 13.8 points a game, while Draymond Green led in both rebounds and assists at 5.5 per game. (espn.com; espn.com) The Warriors now head into an offseason with Curry, Green and Butler all under contract, but without a playoff berth to show for this version of the roster. Friday’s loss turned the online “officially out” posts into the final line on their season. (espn.com; espn.com)
