Karl Malone was one of the NBA legends who weren’t critical of the Golden State Warriors’ dynasty. Instead of finding the Steph Curry and Kevin Durant-led Dubs unorthodox, Malone admired the synergy of the revolutionary NBA team.
After Curry and KD led the Warriors to their sixth NBA championship in 2018, The Mailman noticed that critics began hating on Golden State. Unsurprisingly, Malone sent a message to the Dubs haters in his typical fashion as soon as he had the chance to.
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“People are entitled to do what the heck they want to do,” Malone said on KNBR 680. “Haters gonna hate. Then you’re gonna meet somebody and ya’ll gonna have little babies — they gonna be hater babies. So people hate on the Warriors. How you stop all of that is… go beat ’em. Go beat ’em. Go beat the Warriors.”
Malone’s only concern about the Warriors’ dynasty
The modern-day Warriors were already a championship team even before Durant joined them in 2016. They have built a solid foundation with their in-house trio in Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
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However, Malone acknowledged that Golden State undeniably bolstered their squad when they brought KD in. For the Hall of Famer, the Warriors front office had been on a roll as far as adding the right pieces to the team.
Admittedly, The Mailman didn’t want to see the Warriors eventually putting their efforts to waste. Malone never doubted the Dubs’ ability to win more NBA titles. Instead, he was more concerned about whether or not the Warriors could keep their core for a longer period of time.
“It’s kinda neat watching them because they’re really being creative making sure that they can sign other players and stay like they are,” Malone further remarked.
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“My thing is — they seem like they really like each other and they like playing with each other. But I think the big dilemma with the Warriors organization is coming down the pike here pretty soon — are they gonna be able to keep all of them?” he wondered.
Jealousy plagued the Golden State
The potential issue that Malone mentioned finally hit the Warriors in 2019. Following a devastating NBA Finals defeat to the Toronto Raptors, Golden State parted ways with Durant.
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As expected, KD’s Warriors exit generated buzz across the NBA community. Fans began to speculate on what could have possibly gone wrong with such a dominant team for things to end up like they did.
Understandably, Durant left the Warriors for a number of reasons. But according to NBA insider Marc J. Spears, there was definitely drama involved and apparently, jealousy played a crucial role in KD’s decision to depart Golden State.
The Warriors were able to keep Curry, Thompson and Green for five more years. Even with Durant out of the picture, the Dubs still managed to make it to the Finals again and even won another title for the franchise in 2022.
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Two years later, the Warriors decided to take a different direction. They dealt Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks, marking the beginning of the official end of the Warriors’ dynasty.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 14, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.