SAN FRANCISCO — After four missed layups by the Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drilled a 3-pointer over Kevon Looney to tie the game at 96. Just over four minutes remained.
This is a moment for Stephen Curry. But he was wearing olive green pants and jacket, not No. 30. The Warriors would have to get a bucket without him.
After a couple passes and a couple of screens, Brandin Podziemski got the ball on the left wing. He drove past the Thunder’s Isaiah Joe and into the paint. Podziemski then slowed his pace as he two-stepped into his shot. He put his shoulder into the chest of Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, who’d slid over to protect the rim, and faded backward into a one-handed floater over the 7-foot center.
For the sake of this game, it mattered that he didn’t make the shot. His push shot in the lane bounced around the rim before missing. It was part of the drought that would doom the Warriors in the 105-101 loss to the best team in the West.
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For the sake of this season, and the hope of Golden State, it mattered that he took the shot.
“Slowly but surely,” he said, “I know I’m going to score the ball and shoot the ball at a better rate. … I’m just focused on being joyful, competitive, talking to my teammates, having a high attachment to that versus minutes, shots, all that kind of stuff. So it’s been a mindset flip for me. For now, I’m just going to try to go out there, play with joy and let the eggs fall where they may.”
Podziemski believes he’s cleared a critical hurdle. But it didn’t happen on the court. It didn’t happen in the Warriors’ loss Wednesday.
The breakthrough came earlier, on Sunday. It happened upstairs, in the space beneath his strawberry-blonde curls. In an hour-or-so session that recalibrated the psyche of the second-year guard.
His plans for domination, to level up after his impressive rookie season, were thwarted by a slump to start the season. The space, once teeming with the confidence of Jack Harlow lyrics, had become infested. With frustration. With disappointment. With an anguish counterproductive to his game.
So Podziemski met with Dr. Graig Chow, director of mental performance at Cal who also works with the Warriors as a mental coach.
It sparked a perspective shift.
“I think my biggest struggle is like always wanting more and always wanting to achieve more,” Podziemski said. “And, you know, sometimes I’ve got to be reminded I’m only in my second year and a lot of guys around me been doing this for 10, 15 years now. And I know I’ve got so much to grow. But as a young guy that’s confident and wants to succeed so bad, you tend to want more than maybe what you’re capable of.”
He finished with 7 points and 6 assists in a loss Monday to Brooklyn, which he deemed as a step in the right direction despite going just 2-for-5 from the field. Thus, his production against OKC was another step: 12 points to go with 8 rebounds and 5 assists in just shy of 30 minutes. He took 10 shots, which was just the fourth time in 12 games this month he attempted double digits.
He was just 2-for-7 from 3-point range the last two games — after going 2-for-13 the previous five games — but this felt more like Podz.
GO DEEPER
Missing Steph Curry, Warriors go cold in crunch time and lose to Thunder
Podziemski was a first-team All-Rookie selection who started 28 games, averaged 26.6 minutes and became almost an instant fan favorite. His coach loved him enough to play him over veterans with rings. His front office valued him enough to make him relatively untouchable in trade talks. Then the departure of Klay Thompson created even more opportunities for Podziemski.
Podziemski didn’t run from the expectation. Didn’t deflect the possibilities. He conjured them. His visualization of his success was so clear as to feel certain. He wasn’t shy about declaring his vision.
Swag got him to this level. Belief turned him into a keeper. It makes sense it would turn up after he did so in his rookie season.
Podziemski is indeed pivotal to the Warriors’ plans. They need him. The absence of Curry underscored what’s clear even when Curry is present — a successful year for the Warriors mandates a good year from Podziemski. That’s especially true now with De’Anthony Melton out for the season.
Podziemski is the Warriors’ best option at point guard outside of Curry. The best penetrator off the dribble. One of the best playmakers. Expected to be one of the best shooters.
But the NBA has a way of humbling its proud, decelerating its ambitious and, most certainly, chastising its young.
“It’s hard,” Draymond Green said last week, “and I don’t say this from experience of myself. I say this from the experience of watching people. It’s hard having a great rookie season and then coming back and having a second year as good or better. It’s tough. … And I think for him, he’s just put so much pressure on himself for the player he wants to be and thinks he should be. And it’s unnecessary.”
Podziemski wasn’t elevated to a permanent starter role, only getting the nod whenever Curry misses a game. His minutes are slightly down, even with four starts due to Curry DNPs. The worst? He missed 44 of his first 54 3-point attempts, an eye-popping 18.5 percent from deep.
It drove him to seek answers.
“I think I’ve let the mental piece of it get to me a little bit,” Podziemski said. “Early on, when I was struggling, the first five, 10 games, I thought it was more physical. Like maybe I wasn’t putting enough into it. But everybody around here knows I’m one of, if not, the hardest workers and I put a lot into it. So I just thought outside the box. ‘Mentally, how can I get to where I want to get to?’ … And Dr. (Chow) has helped, obviously, a lot of people around here. And it doesn’t hurt to try and ask him. So he helped me give me a lot of different things that help me be my authentic self.”
This is what the vets in the Warriors locker room have subtly predicted, warned against in their veiled way. Podziemski’s brimming confidence has produced an eye roll or two, but mostly a you-just-watch disposition from those who’ve experienced the humbling.
But the important question was, is, how Podziemski responds to this inevitable position at which he’s arrived.
One of the big takeaways from his session? Trust the work.
Focusing on results leaves a player emotionally unstable, given to the ebbs and flows of basketball. The healthier perspective is to work hard at the craft and rely on the output to resemble the input. Over time. On average.
He can’t lose aggression. He can’t press. He can’t get down on himself for not delivering the big splashes. Move with felicity instead of angst. Be a prisoner to the moment and not to the vision board. Appreciate who he is now while working towards an even better version.
He’ll have every opportunity to be the player his ability suggests. Because the Warriors need him to be. Because when he’s on, the impact is felt.
BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI HOOP AND HARM ⚡️
📺 @NBCSAuthentic pic.twitter.com/dhBsTkkyhU
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) November 28, 2024
In the third quarter Wednesday, when the Warriors were clawing back from a 19-point deficit, Podziemski found himself in a minor groove. The aggression he rediscovered led to two driving layups during a Warriors run that turned the noise up in Chase Center. He hustled up a rebound on a missed Andrew Wiggins 3-pointer, leaping into the fray to deflect the ball to a teammate. He then drifted back behind the 3-point line where he received the pass from Green.
Podziemski pulled it before Thunder guard Cason Wallace could get close enough to stop him. From the right wing, it splashed beautifully.
Podziemski turned towards the roaring crowd with both arms spread wide. A moment of thanksgiving. A moment of relief. A moment of the joy he found again.
FIRED UP
📺 @NBCSAuthentic pic.twitter.com/7Og3IfJ0JB
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) November 28, 2024
For the sake of this game, it mattered that he made the shot. It was one of those timely 3s, cutting the Warriors’ deficit to 4, surging the momentum of the home team during a run that would eventually claim the lead.
For the sake of this season, and the hope of Golden State, it mattered that he took the shot.
(Photo of Brandin Podziemski: Noah Graham / NBAE via Getty Images)
