Unnamed Warriors player says 'we've got problems and it ain't basketball'

Are the mighty Golden State Warriors (53-14) imploding? According to an unnamed player from the team, there is genuine discontent within the camp and most of the concerns don't stem from basketball-related activities.

Since losing Kevin Durant to a knee injury, the Warriors have lost five of their past eight games. Though Durant is expected to join the squad in time for the playoffs, several analysts are already picking the Cleveland Cavaliers and the San Antonio Spurs as prohibitive favourites to reach the NBA Finals in June. Prior to the season, it was almost a foregone conclusion that the Warriors and Cavs would make history by becoming the first teams in NBA history to appear in a hat-trick of NBA Finals.

"Is this malaise of theirs about not feeling motivated, not thinking they have something to play for? Is it just being tired? There's one guy in particular on the team that keeps saying the same thing to me, and I can't say who he is, but he keeps saying 'We've got problems and it isn’t basketball,'" Ethan Sherwood Strauss, who covers the Warriors for ESPN, told the True Hoop Pod on Wednesday.

Golden State Warriors due for a busy offseason

The Warriors front office will have a lot on their plate this offseason. Durant, Stephen Curry, Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala are all free agents. Though Durant and Curry are expected to re-sign, the Warriors could lose a couple of significant role players just a year after they were forced to let go off Andrew Bogut, Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli, Leandro Barbosa, Brandon Rush and Marreese Speights just to make room for Durant's maximum-level contract. Despite fielding an unprecedented four All-Stars and All-NBA players this season, the Warriors roster no longer has the depth that helped them win 67 and 73 games over the last two seasons.

According to Strauss, Luke Walton's departure to the Lakers has also had a two-pronged effect. "The Luke Walton question is an interesting one. I think what happened with Luke Walton in some ways speaks to some of the issues this team has where his success undermined Kerr's authority," revealed the ESPN insider.

"They played the best basketball they ever had when Kerr was not coaching the team, when Luke was letting them do a lot of what they really wanted and Draymond (Green) was essentially player-coach and that has ratcheted up the tension, I believe, between those two figures. And so it's so hard to say. Is it because they miss Luke Walton? Or Luke Walton's presence on the team and the success that came with it came to haunt them in some way," added Strauss.

The Golden State Warriors have lost the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference to the San Antonio Spurs. If the season were to end today, the Warriors would concede home advantage during a potential conference finals showdown with the Spurs. However, they would still own home advantage against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers if the teams can return to the NBA Finals for a third consecutive time.