The Warriors have high hopes for their last first-round pick, banking on his potential both now and for the future. As a rookie, he wasted no time proving his worth, jumping into a key role ahead of veterans like Klay Thompson. This season, though, hasn’t gone as planned. In a recent game in Denver, the Warriors were in control and poised to take the win. Then, a series of mistakes yanked the door open, and the Nuggets barged back in. Brandin Podziemski had his fingerprints on several of those errors, and not the good kind.

But Kerr has always defended his young star, the franchise has put its faith in him, and he’s not looking to walk away from such a supportive bunch!

The 59-year-old coach has defended his stance about Brandin Podziemski on 95.7 The Game. “The reason I sent it to the media is there’s a little, you know, it puts a little pressure on him and I, I never say anything that I don’t think about first. So that didn’t just come, you know, out of anger for the loss that came because, uh, he needs to get the message. And the message is a really important one because he’s such a good player. He’s such an important player for us, but he’s a typical young player.” 

Although Kerr understands that young players make mistakes in order to find their own identity, “We just need Brandin to speed up the process because, you know, you guys were talking about it.” The Warriors’ head coach is confident that Podz will step up and eventually fit in with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green seamlessly.

Podziemski has had back-and-forths with Green before. The 34-year-old forward noticed the rookie was hard on himself over missed shots and mistakes. The veteran floor general thinks Brandin’s overthinking is making things worse. “He kind of puts this pressure on himself of what he needs to be and every shot means so much… None of us are thinking that way,” Green candidly clarified.

Dray acknowledged that getting over the ‘sophomore slump’ is “tough” and he encouraged the young guard to stop dwelling on the mistakes and move forward in this fast-paced environment. So, we rest easy because it looks like he’ll be staying in the Bay for a while.

Brandin Podziemski owns up to his mistakes, takes criticism sportingly

The Warriors were cruising with a 10-point lead at the Ball Arena when Brandin Podziemski snatched the ball from Nikola Jokic, setting up what should have been a clean fast break. Instead, the youngster’s left-handed lob found Jamal Murray, who quickly turned it into an assist for Jokic’s easy layup. After the 119-115 loss, Steve Kerr didn’t hold back, calling the play “frankly insane.”

It wasn’t just that moment that stood out—it was a pattern of errors in key situations.

In a critical fourth-quarter stretch with GSW up by 9, Podziemski tossed a wild pass into the crowd, bricked a step-back three against Jokic, and fouled Michael Porter Jr. on a three-point shot for the second time that half. Sadly, the young guard’s 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting, four rebounds, and four assists couldn’t outweigh his costly mistakes.

Steve Kerr laid it out bluntly after the game. “Podz is a hell of a player, but he needs to—and I’ve told him this—be a smart player. He’s one of our guys who’s capable of making really good decisions,” Kerr said.

“I love Brandin. Hell of a player. He’s got a hell of a future ahead of him. I hope he watches this clip of me talking because he needs to hear it. He’s got to be a smart, tough, great decision-maker. And he’s very capable of it. That’s his next step.”

Brandin Podziemski, taking it in his stride, agreed. “I’ve got to be better. I know I’ll be better. I know the coaching staff trusts me to be better,” he said.

Well, it certainly does look like the popular Santa Clara alum is going nowhere anytime soon. Thoughts?