Preview: Warriors open season on the road vs Trail Blazers

It’s time to get vengeance for the honor of Coach Terry Stotts

There’s been a lot of revenge games throughout the history of the Golden State Warriors dynasty. There was Kevin Durant coming back to Oklahoma City Thunder to stomp the pieces of OKC’s broken heart into dust. There was Andre Iguodala coming back to Denver to serve a steaming hot plate of FOMO to the Nuggets. And of course there was JaVale McGee against every team that ever abandoned him for his Shaqtin antics.

But has there ever been a revenge game for a coach? As the Dubs gear up to face the Portland Trail Blazers, this could be vindication season for former Blazer coach-turned-assistant to the Warriors: Terry Stotts.

Golden State Warriors at Portland Trail Blazers

When: October 23, 2024 | 7:00 PM PT

TV: NBC Sports Bay Area

Radio: 95.7 The Game

We’ve seen a long history of rivals-turned-teammates during the history of the Golden Empire, with names like Andre Iguodala, Chris Paul, and Kevin Durant topping the list.But a coach? That feels new. Per Stat Muse, Stotts had a record of 11-21 against the Dubs during the regular season as the Blazers chief. Considering he had to deal with Prime Splash Bros and the hellacious power of the Hamptons 5, that’s not bad.

It was much worse for him in the playoffs, as his Blazers were absolutely destroyed by the Golden Empire in the playoffs, to the tune of a record of 1-12. Egads! Talk about being dominated.

But now he gets a chance to even the score on the other end of the hammer as he makes his return to Moda Center. This team is damn near unrecognizable from his heyday with the squad, per our blog buddy the Blazers Edge:

On paper, the Blazers have a decent amount of talent and a few prospects. Let’s not sugar-coat it though. They have no all-stars, no track record of success, and no back-up plan to support their shaky first options. They didn’t make big moves over the summer. All the trade talk surrounding them involves losing talent for future assets, not gaining it.

This will be a fascinating season to watch from a basketball perspective, if nothing else because of the young players on the team, but it could be a hard year to swallow for victory-hungry fans. Portland will have to over-perform to even reach mediocre. Until they find their next big star, that’s likely to be the story. The only question is whether that star is already on the roster or whether they’re going to pray for ping pong balls next May as their great hope of salvation.

Uhhh sounds like the Warriors better go in there and take away their hope for opening night and for the season, pronto! FOR COACH STOTTS!