NBA

The ‘Mediocre’ heroes are trending high, wandering through the dog days of the NBA in midfield

ballervisions 2026年1月15日

The ‘Mediocre’ Warriors trending up, hovering during the NBA’s dog days in the middle appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area.

SAN FRANCISCO – Whoever was holding the music after the Warriors’ victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night was in a special situation. They felt an era and a style that lasted a long time.

From Notorious BIG to Mase, 90s rap took over the Warriors’ weight room and locker room walls. When they return from the NBA All-Star break that starts Feb. 12 and give Golden State eight days between games, it wouldn’t be surprising if a very different song with a very different vibe started the playlist.

A different-but-welcome vibe, to be clear.

Check out Florence and “Dog Days Are Over.”

The Warriors reached the official mark for the 2025-26 NBA season with their 22-point win over the Blazers. They have now played 41 games, but have 14 more to go before the All-Star break. In other words, the Warriors are right in the early dog days of the NBA season.

Steph Curry, almost 38 years old and in his 17th season, knows all about them. So are Jimmy Butler, 36 and in his 15th season, and Draymond Green, 36 in March and in his 14th season. The oldest and longest-tenured NBA player in the Warriors, 39-year-old Al Horford in 19 years, became familiar with this time on the calendar a long, long time ago.

One of the rare Warriors players who can’t shake his head if they finish the next 14 games is Brandin Podziemski.

“I don’t have to do that,” Podziemski said after Tuesday’s win. “I’m 22 years old. Young guy, just be ready to play every game, every day.”

There is no specific definition of dog days. Warriors coach Steve Kerr has started the new year with renewed energy and focus coming out of the All-Star break. For Butler, they start as early as Christmas, or after.

“We are among them,” said Butler. “It’s always a blessing to be able to play basketball in the best league in the world. Let’s not forget that. But I think anywhere from after Christmas, like January to the All-Star break is repetitive.

“I think you have to put your head down, get through it, compete, try to win as many games as you can. The dog days are among us.”

Each game feels harder and harder on the body. The desire to come to the gym every day begins to wane. Without being able to pinpoint the exact moment, Green remembers a moment early in his career when a friend came to his room on the street in LA. Green was feeling dog days.

At 3:30 p.m., the Warriors buses will enter the stadium. It was 3:05 and Green could feel himself staring at the wall.

“You’re like, ‘Man, what’s wrong with you? So you start to figure it out. And as you get older, you learn how to handle it a little bit. Like, I bet you [Warriors rookie] Richard’s head is spinning as if he doesn’t know whether to go left or right, up or down right now. It just happens.”

All these years later, Green began to have those same feelings. The walls were closing in on him again. He acknowledged those feelings in the locker room after the Warriors’ tough loss at the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.

“I took a shower and left immediately after the last game, and I told them in the locker room, ‘I just want you to know that I’m not mad. I’m not mad. I know people will see that I left quickly. I need to get out of here. These walls are closing in on me,'” Green said.

In the previous game, Green played 27 minutes in what was a win over the Sacramento Kings. But the game before that was a one-point loss in LA against the Clippers that broke him physically. According to Green, “he was beaten.”

He spent two extra hours conditioning his body every day after that loss since last week. Given an escape route, Green took it. He is happy to be on an eight-game home stretch. That doesn’t change the walls inside the Chase Center that feel more like a prison or a casino to him than his basketball home.

For Green, the dog days tick by without beginning or end. Just a heavy fog.

“What it is, for those who don’t know this, is like, you can’t really see the beginning of the season. It was so long ago. I can’t see the end. It’s so far away,” Green explained. “The All-Star break is also a long way off, and those make for the dog days. So here we are.”

“I have to find a way to get wins out of them, though.”

Beating the Blazers for the first time in their fourth attempt improved the Warriors’ record to 22-19, putting them on pace for 44 wins, four fewer than last season. The Warriors have yet to snap a four-game winning streak and be four games over .500. They have also won nine of their last 13 games but remain the 8th seed in the Western Conference standings and are three games behind the No. 6 Houston Rockets to escape the NBA playoffs.

Since the Warriors’ first game after their Christmas Day win, they are 6-4 in their last 10 games. Dog days.

Judging what the Warriors have been with 41 games down and 41 games remaining is an easy answer for Butler.

He said: “Mediocre. “We need to win more games, lose less games. This is where we are. I think the worst place to be is to be patient because, yes, it could go either way but no one wants to be average. Nobody wants equality.”

Nothing about the Warriors’ preseason expectations, going 23-8 with Butler and whether Curry’s life in the playoffs, was a critical situation. Rating was not the answer.

Butler was not on the aux and did not feature in the Warriors’ postgame anthem. He’s been listening to gospel rap lately, looking for something to lift him up and give him the momentum he needs to move forward. That’s what he would go with. Take that as you will.

To go through the dog days is to delay seeing the light, and the opportunities for the Warriors to grow if they can win this battle.

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