Despite the $176 Million+ Luxury Tax Bill, Warriors’ Shocking Record Without Steph Curry

The Golden State Warriors are desperately trying to stay afloat in Stephen Curry’s absence. Steph suffered an ankle injury during Thursday’s game against the Chicago Bulls. He tweaked his right ankle while running to the basket and immediately left the game due to the injury. Curry missed the last game against the Spurs and will miss his second straight game tonight. Unfortunately, that might not work in the Warriors’ favor.

Despite the Warriors incurring a $176 Million luxury tax bill, they have performed abysmally without Steph this season. The Warriors have played 4 games without Curry this season and lost all of them. However, they have a decent 33-26 record with Curry in the lineup. That is a massive performance discrepancy for a team that pays a hefty luxury tax to sustain its star-studded roster.

The Warriors’ performance in Steph’s absence shows how important he is for the team. The Warriors suffer both offensively and defensively without Curry. Their offensive rating drops from 114.9 to 108. Meanwhile, the opponents’ points per game rise from 116.7 to 121.8. The Warriors’ field goal and three-point percentage also take a major hit when Steph is not playing. That means the Warriors might be paying the $176 million+ luxury tax bill without reaping its benefits.

Golden State paid a whopping $350 million in player salaries and luxury tax during the 2022-23 season. And that number is projected to be even higher this season, making the Warriors the most expensive roster in NBA history. However, the Warriors are still the 10th seed in the Western Conference, fighting to stay in the playoff race.

Is a big change coming in Golden State?

Despite taking a major financial hit for the last two years, the Warriors are nowhere close to being a Championship team. They were eliminated by the Lakers in the Western Conference semis last year. And their performance has been even worse this season. Warriors majority owner Joe Lacob does not want to be paying over $176 million in luxury tax and plans on stopping the bleeding before the next season starts. “Our Plan 1, or 1A, is that we’d like to be out of the tax, and we think that we have a way to do that.” Lacob said in an interview last month.

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Lacob might make massive changes in the Warriors’ roster this off-season to get rid of the hefty luxury tax. Since Stephen Curry 2009 draft, the Warriors have an 81-146 record without him in the lineup. That proves how important Steph is for the Warriors. So, Lacob might do everything in his power to surround Steph with a great supporting cast while also reducing the luxury tax so that the Warriors can return to being a Championship-caliber team.