The Golden State Warriors experienced much success last season, partly due to their impressive team chemistry. Last season, almost every single Warriors player came to the Bay Area a couple weeks before training camp to get to know their teammates and start to build that chemistry. This season, the same thing happened.
This season’s roster is missing a few key pieces to not just the Warriors’ success last season but also to their team chemistry. Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry were both great teammates, they were leaders in the locker room, and they contributed greatly to last season’s Warriors teams. When the Warriors failed to re-sign them both in the offseason, many questions arose about if the Warriors would be able to replicate the same chemistry that they had last season.
“We made the final four in the West and we didn’t have one of the top four rosters in the West, talent-wise,” David Lee said. “We played together, and we had the best chemistry in the league. We need to repeat that this year.”
The Warriors made some great additions to their roster in the offseason, but, so far in the preseason, they haven’t showed that same chemistry on the court that they had last season. Obviously, the Warriors still have a lot of time to correct that. They’ve only played in three preseason games so far, and they still have a couple weeks before the regular season starts.
The perfect time for the Warriors to improve their team chemistry on and off the court is on their current trip to China. The Warriors arrived in Beijing on Saturday night, and, ever since then, they’ve had plenty of opportunities for team bonding. After landing on Saturday, they had a team dinner. On Sunday, they had practice then went to the Great Wall and the Taijing Migrant School as a team.
On Monday, there was a welcome reception and another team dinner, and today, they have a game against the Los Angeles Lakers. After the game, the Warriors will fly to Shanghai, and on Thursday, the players will put on clinics for fans at Fan Appreciation Day at the Oriental Sports Center. On Friday, the Warriors have their second game of the trip, also against the Lakers, and then they fly home on Saturday.
Many players are excited about visiting China but also having more time to spend with their teammates. The Warriors will be able to bond as a team on and off the court during their week in China.
“I think this trip is going to be huge for our chemistry,” Lee said. “We knew it would be a process, adding as many guys as we added. I think this trip, while it’s going to be exhausting to go over there this time of year, it’s great for team building. Because really, while we’re over there, it’s just us, our team. I think this will take us even further in the right direction.”
Mark Jackson is also excited about the notion that his players will be able to gain some valuable life experience from this trip too. The fact that all the Warriors will go on a life-changing trip like this will make them closer off the court, which will impact their play together on the court.
“Any time you can experience that, see how someone else does things, how they live, it’s a learning tool,” Jackson said. “It’s a great experience for us. I value it.”
Even at the beginning of the trip, Mark Jackson started to see a transformation in his team.
“It was very valuable,” Jackson said about the team’s trip to the Great Wall of China. “When you’re talking about teams getting it done during the season, advancing to the postseason, playing for each other, it’s moments like this that really lay a foundation for togetherness and a family mentality.”
The Warriors have a chance to build on their team chemistry in a place far away from Oracle Arena. The Warriors will get some quality team bonding time through all of the travel, events in the community, and games that they will play in China. Because of this, their team chemistry will be just as good this season as it was last season.
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