Has Buddy Hield been a good addition to the Golden State Warriors? The NBA community has not been waiting around until the end of the season to pass an opinion on this. Ever since the shooting guard joined the team back in July 2024, his tenure has been a sort of a mixed bag. He had a good start to his season with the team, with Stephen Curry even praising Hield for being a “seamless transition” after Klay Thompson. At the same time, however, the player is often ridiculed for missing shots and displaying an overall offensive prowess that could have been better. Therefore, his recent performance did not do Hield any favors in stopping the criticism against him.

Despite having lost all of their last 5 games, the Brooklyn Nets squad provided tough competition to the Golden State Warriors during the recent game. After the first half, it became imperative for the Warriors to take the lead for themselves. Unfortunately, depending on Buddy Hield to make the points during the 3 quarter’s final minute may not have been the best decision. After all, the player kept attempting shot after shot, with none of them connecting. Even though the Warriors won, Buddy Hield ended his game run by making 0 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist! And after 23 minutes of being on the court! Hield went 0-8 with his field goals and 0-5 with his three-pointers. He did not receive any chance to make free throws.

This matchup marks the 12 time that Buddy Hield made 0 points in a game, and the 2 time it happened while he was with the Warriors. His plus/minus rating of -11 could have been worse had his other teammates not scored well for him. Now, Hield’s recent performance has given the NBA community proof to make a major claim against the player.

NBA fans call for Buddy Hield’s Warriors Exit after 0-point performance: “cherish the day”

One social media user wrote, “I will cherish the day that Buddy Hield is off this basketball team”. Yikes!

Throughout 63 games this season, Buddy Hield has averaged 11.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. Both his points and his assists are at their lowest since the 2016-17 NBA season. The 22 and 27 points he had dropped in his first 2 games with the Bay Area franchise indicated that a good replacement had been found for Klay Thompson. Unfortunately, the misfortune that followed the player later caused him to be considered less for starter roles. There was not a drastic drop in his on-court minutes. However, judging from his recent game, maybe there should have been.

One individual wrote, “Buddy Hield been a DISASTER this game. You can attribute most of the Warriors struggles tonight to all the Hield minutes”. The belief may hold some merit. After all, Stephen Curry led the scoring effort with his 40 points. Despite this, he still had a -16 plus/minus rating. 5 of the 11 players who participated in the matchup had a negative rating. The player missed so many shots and did not properly utilize his 23 minutes on the court. This meant that he would be the scapegoat for the Warriors’ abysmal performance. If the team had lost after having won their last 2 games, Hield would have faced more scrutiny.

One social media user wrote, “Im trying to be a more positive ‘analyst’ but players like buddy hield make that a difficult goal. literally zero redeeming qualities”. Warriors fans might remember that Hield began his Bay Area tenure quite well. Within the first 12 games, he had averaged 17.7 points on a 49.4% shooting from the field, along with 46.9% from 3-point range. This helped the team post a 10-2 record. However, the downfall began from there, both for the team and the player. Now, Jimmy Butler’s acquisition has saved the team, but Hield has reportedly averaged 10.1 points on 39.1-percent shooting from the field and 33.6 percent from long range in the 50 games after that memorable start. If the player has fallen, then he shall rise again. The redeeming side of Buddy Hield is yet to be seen. However, its presence should not be dismissed so easily.

One individual highlighted how inept Buddy Hield was during the game by writing, “Gui Santos was open for a 3 but Buddy Brick Hield took the shot himself to end Q3 and guess what happened? He bricked it, of course.” Stephen Curry ended the 2 quarter by making a mid-court shot. To go from that to Hield’s misses in the final seconds of the 3 quarter isn’t a good transition.

One social media user wrote, “Steve Kerr please take buddy hield outtttttt (crying emoji). I’m begging”. Well, the Warriors’ head coach has already been doing his part to limit the 32-year-old Bahamian’s time on the court. Just a few weeks ago, Steve Kerr demoted Buddy Hield from the starting rotation and instead chose to place his faith in Brandin Podziemski. The coach explained his decision by stating, “We felt like it was the right time to do it. I think Brandin (Podziemski) has played so well the last couple weeks that I think he needs to be in that starting group now”. Kerr may have limited the player’s on-court time, but Hield is still an important part of the Warriors. Therefore, he cannot restrict him anymore than he is currently doing.

Overall, the majority of reactions saw fans speaking out against Buddy Hield. With any hope, the player turns around his luck during the upcoming games. That is the only way to shut down the criticism against him.