r/warriors • u/JamesHuman99 • 1d ago
Discussion Why is Podz disrespected so much by NBA fans
As soon as I saw Podziemski signed his 5 year extension online all I saw in the comments (pretty much universally) were people clowning on him i.e "How tf!!!! This got to be Steve Kerrs boyfriend or something!" "He has to have some serious blackmail on one of the higher ups in the organisation wtf" "LMFAOOOOOOO" etc... Podz finished the last 27 games of last season averaging 17.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg and 4.1 apg. Say thats around what his averages are for this upcoming season, averaging 17.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 4.1 assists (while staying efficient and playing good defense) at $22M would be a fair to slightly positive value deal in today's NBA imo. I'm not saying its a great deal / a steal but its not a overpay especially for a 23 year old who should continue to get better. $22M per year is basically high-end starter money right now which is what Podz is, he just to seems to be a lightning rod for criticism among NBA fans for whatever reason.
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u/joshdej 1d ago
Genuinely, I think it's his appearance
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u/IAMY0URK1NG 1d ago
Because of his comment about him taking over for Steph. He put the spotlight on himself & now everyone wants to hold him to a different standard. He’s been getting clowned ever since. It’s his fault though. Sink or swim time!
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u/abritinthebay 1d ago
He was getting mad shit on before that though, but it didn’t help. His comments were perfectly reasonable too, if you actually bothered to read them not the headlines.
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u/Creative-Ranger-9978 1d ago edited 1d ago
It was his old hair from the start that’s where I saw any sort of criticism begin. People were seriously ticked off by how his old hair looked and moved throughout a game or clips. Then people started calling him an idiot for taking his quotes out of context or deliberately misinterpreting what he said and the sentiment. Podz hate has legitimately been weird and crazy to see from the start and again it all began with his hair now people call him a bad player it’s all just nuts
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u/jackfinch69 1d ago
As someone who lowkey hated Derrick White, I agree. We're conditioned to dislike ugly people lol
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u/_pamela_chu_ 1d ago edited 1d ago
What is it? THE BRAIDS.
Yea he’s goofy and has publicly said he wants to be great, but he just doesn’t seem to have it. So, he gets made fun of by everyone, including our fan base. He also has had a hella longer leash compared to other rookies under Steve Kerr, Kuminga was the biggest comparison made for that, which has led to our fanbase being frustrated with him and his boneheaded decision making at times. That was a whole thing for as long as Kuminga was with us.
Still, I hope he has a great season because obviously that would be great for the fans, team, and him.
E: just to clarify, I’m simply explaining why I think Podz gets a lot of hate/clowning from our fanbase and around the league. I agree that Kuminga was not right for us and I was never on the Kuminga should get Podz’s leash. Clearly that was misinterpreted by the responses I’ve gotten
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u/Open-Hedgehog7756 1d ago
Podz would make mistakes and turn it around. Kuminga just put his head down. See the difference?
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u/SquatOnAPitbull 1d ago
You're right!. I would also add that Kuminga seemed to make some pretty bone headed decisions, like ones that were very selfish. Podz got a longer leash because even when he was messing up, he'd still hustle for boards or take charges.
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u/bloxision 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's people that exclusively consume the NBA through clips on Tiktok or Twitter or Instagram, and since a lot of Podz's value is through the little things, not highlights, they never see that. Also there's a herd effect online where people like to go along with whatever the public consensus is, then these clip accounts will see that and continue to post lowlights of that player because they know that'll get views, and that snowballs into people thinking they're horrible; I genuinely have seen people say podz is one of the worst players in the league.
this effect also goes the other way which makes people think that players like jordan poole are still good in the grand year of 2026
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u/Macktologist 1d ago
This is the answer for a vast majority of the negativity toward him. Even people that have specific reasons are more than likely giving those opinions because of this reason and not something they came up with on their own.
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u/Alternative-Farmer98 7h ago
"everyone that has an opinion I disagree with doesn't actually watch basketball"
That really the argument you're going with? Because people could say the same thing about you they could just grossly oversimplify your motives for having an opin.
"Anyone that defends pods is just a fanboy that will never criticize him for anything.'
Hey look I can make an egregious oversimplification to win an argument that is totally unfair just like you did.
You would fail critical thinking class because you're engaging in a huge fallacy.
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u/amdbs 1d ago
What really started the irrational hate for Podziemski was clueless morons truly believing that the headline grabbing trade for Lauri Markkanen didn’t happen was because the Warriors wouldn’t trade Podziemski as if it was just a straight swap between them two players when it not, the salary doesn’t match and the Warriors would probably have to include the rest of their remaining assets especially the fact your trading against Danny Ainge. Another very critical drawback of trading Podziemski away for Lauri Markkanen no one wants to talk about is that it will leave the Warriors with Steph Curry as their lone playable point guard in the roster. Who will play the point guard role when Steph Curry is not currently on the floor? If Warriors trade away all their assets and with how large of a contract Lauri Markkanen was due to get, who can they get to play point guard for the very bare minimum? Whoever it is, the point guard rotation would be atrocious.
People keep questioning why Steve Kerr plays Brandon Podziemski a lot of minutes over Will Richard, Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga and Quintin Post. He plays a crucial position and role of point guard/secondary ball handler in the roster which is why he will always going to play over those guys.
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u/GioVasari121 1d ago
It was so obvious. Kerr needed a ball handling PG in the team. Jazz couldn't order anyone who could fit that role along with Lauri. Podz was that guy. Anyone who follows warriors know that if we gave up podz finding another PG who's not a traffic cone in defense was close to impossible
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u/amdbs 1d ago
There are people who are so desperate for any high-profile trades that they never think about the drawbacks for making those possible trades. Do they forget that Lauri Markkanen’s lone All-Star appearance was when Utah was hosting the All-Star weekend and for a lot of his good production were mostly assisted not self created therefore having a decent playmaking guard in the roster other than Steph Curry is crucial for the Warriors.
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u/tmperflare 1d ago
I agree with most of your take but I think the hate actually started from Joe Lacob's public comments already treating Podz like a upcoming star player.
He obviously can shoot threes. He can drive, he can pass. What can't he do? We're really excited. We think we've got a future All-Star, we really do." ... “I’m not going to get into specifics like that, there’s no way. [But] I don’t want to give him up, or JK. We love these guys... These are good young players.”
Podziemski also later revealed that Lacob had approached him privately at a Las Vegas Aces game to reassure him: "You don't have anything to worry about. You're a priority here.
I think if Joe Lacob just kept his mouth shut people wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the Warriors didn't do the Lauri trade solely cause of Podz and not cause of other factors like matching salaries + picks like you mentioned.
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u/swiftycent 1d ago
It didn’t help that the following season he decided it was a good idea to do long form interviews and tell the world that Dunleavy and Lacob had basically told him he was untouchable. Just kind of lead to the sentiment warriors high on their own supply and are over valuing him
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u/amdbs 1d ago
He? I’m sure he himself not that one who said that he was untouchable.
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u/swiftycent 1d ago
Not sure I understand your reply. He said that MDJ and Lacob individually told him he was “basically” untouchable. Said a lot of teams were calling and they weren’t trading him etc. I’m not doubting that was true in some sense by I don’t think it’s something he should have broadcast to the world.
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u/amdbs 1d ago
The rumored reports should be different to the actual official statement.
Podziemski was an All rookie first team that led the league in charges taken and the Warriors’ team for plus minus on a cheap contract for at least 4 years in an increasing restricted salary cap. The Warriors aren’t going to trade him away that easily for the 2024 offseason.
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u/Alternative-Farmer98 6h ago
It's braggadocious and when you say that to the public you become a Target.. it's just bad public relations doesn't matter whether or not it was said or not he shouldn't have repeated it
And also it's entirely possible his interpretation of what was said is wildly inflated as his human nature.
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u/amdbs 5h ago
He is not one who said it nor did he repeat it. It more likely Joe Lacob was the one who said very similarly to it and people take it in such way that they always jump into wrong conclusions that the Warriors didn’t do Lauri Markkanen trade solely because of Podziemski and from then on scapegoat Podziemski for almost everything.
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u/Meweighteen 1d ago
Because he’s a ginger white boy that idolizes Steph and he’s also had a few silly/bad plays that have gone viral so people just assume he’s a bad player
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u/orangeapple22 1d ago
Not a warriors fan but I respected Podz game. The reason I think he's a bit overrated isn't really about him, but Steve Kerr whose treated him like the new splash brother or something. On a playoff team, Podz should be a bench player. A good helpful contributor.. but the last seasons he's been treated like their 2nd option scorer/bonifide starter.
Kuminga situation showed how Kerr can see someone with talent and just say 'no'. Meanwhile Podz can do no wrong.
So yeah, Id say Kerr is the reason Podz gets so much heat.
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u/Aoes 23h ago
Cuz Kuminga ain't him... Why ppl still bringing him up? Kuminga is physically more talented, and ppl that ball wanna talk him up. But the kid is on the Michael Beasley trajectory. All the skills needed, but ain't got the mental capacity to put it together and play winning team basketball.
U might as well start questioning his mental capacity straight up... Podz got his bag... Kuminga let his agent talk him out of his.
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u/orangeapple22 21h ago edited 21h ago
Nah dude. When you have physical talent that's all a coaching staff need to make a star if you do it correctly.
It's like Zion. Of course he's weight issues are on him, but it's as much a failure by the Pelicans organization too. They haven't coached him into new moves or skills. Nor created an environment that players thrive in.
Kerr has had many young talents: James Wiseman, Jordan Poole, most recently Kuminga.. and he's never been able to develop any of them.
Warriors best teams all had players already developed by other coaches who Kerr put together well. But he's never truly developed any stars or starting 5 level players. I just don't think it's what he's good at.
Kuminga has a great base skill set. In shape.. Works hard. That should be enough for a coach. A 20 year old relies on you for guidance, but when you start making bizarre excuses for benching him despite his playoff success.. who would wanna play for that kind of coach?
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u/Aoes 19h ago
Lol lot of bs there. Wiseman spent most of his time here in a hospital bed. Poole went from g league to nearly all star before Draymond did his thing. Moody made it to the starting line up last year if not for injury, Gui is next up.
Ppl ignore the fact gsw is basically picking at the end of rd1 for about a decade. Chances draft picks develop well past the lottery is smaller than Draymond's fuse.
As far as actually coaching kuminga, there ain't no bizarre excuse. He plays mid defense, ball watches. He's a fcking blackhole with the ball, near zero court awareness to play off ball. Kuminga's "heroics" in the playoffs, wasn't his alone. The other team just fcking dared him to win the game by himself. It's like if teams left Draymond open all game cuz they know he can't shoot. It just happens kuminga made it work for a game or two.
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u/orangeapple22 10h ago
Oh man you don't see your bias. Which serious NBA defense just "let's a player get 30ppg" in the playoffs? If that was the case, everyone would do it.. not just Kuminga.
It's clear you didn't like him as a player, and that's fine, but also don't paint all he did as luck. That's just being overly biased.
The development guys you mentioned are all non-NBA starters. When Kerr has had genuine 1st talents to develop, he literally doesn't even let them get off the ground. That's on the coach, not just the player. After all it's Kerr who drafted them so don't start blaming the player when it fails. Kerr gotta accept that he's at least half the problem.
As for Kuminga, you say he's lazy doesn't close out etc. Sure but that's mostly because he fell out with the coaching staff and it was always a dissonant relationship. Kuminga seemed to close his ears to their suggestions after a while (after months/years of being benched with no good explained reason other than "he doesn't fit with Jimmy").
On Atlanta he was a great perimeter defender.. and in the playoffs single handedly defended KAT in 4th quarters (and shut him down). I'm not saying he's Jordan, but at the same time warriors fans need to realize their coach is a part of the problem. Kerr has yet to develop an NBA level starter in his 12 or so years in charge.
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u/Aoes 5h ago
right... and the 2yr prove it deal says literally everything opposite of what you're saying. if he was truly valuable, doesn't matter what ATL thought of him, he should have been signed for at least the same deal as Podz then as a sign and trade elsewhere.
I didn't paint his shit as luck, and yes every NBA team basically does this to Kuminga. they sag off his inefficient shooting ass, and clog the lanes. don't believe me? go actually look at his games in Atlanta... and you wanna talk about the NYK series? did Atlanta win that series? same with when JK supposedly did well against the Wolves, the GSW win that series? There's a reason, and a constant.
As far as developing talents goes with Kerr... Kerr didn't draft Kuminga... hell Kerr didn't draft Wisemen either. Kerr wanted Hali and Franz. basically everyone from this sub knows this, so who tf are you?
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u/orangeapple22 5h ago edited 4h ago
Geez relax dude. It's just a conversation. Your opinions aren't gospel. Neither are mine. I'm not a warriors fan so I have no reason to care about Kuminga or Kerr either way. I've watched them closely and can tell they've struggled with both drafting & free agency recruitment ever since Jerry West left as an advisor in 2017.
Curry himself would tell you your team has struggled to develop players.. hence overpaying aging & injured vets like Jimmy, Porzingis. Buddy Hield was a key player for y'all a season ago but can't get on the court with any other team.
Again, it's clear you don't rate Kuminga, but he was one of the most sought after free agents so let's not pretend he isn't appreciated around the league. I'm waiting for the day Podz & Moody average 25-30ppg in a playoff series. Only then will I ignore Kuminga's performance.
And also, you realize the Knicks toughest challenge last postseason was the Hawks right.. No other team pushed them so far except maybe Spurs. Hawks were 2-1 up on them. Every other team just got slapped.
Anyways dude I'm not tryna argue for ages. Kerr has the ability to coach great players and make em sing. But I'm just yet to be convinced he's great for young superstars who want to assert their own playing style into the league. If you don't think Kuminga was great.. cool. There's plenty who'd agree with you and some would disagree. This year will probably answer some of this questions 🤷
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u/ClimateMessiah 1d ago
People are generally addicted to drama which assigns people into 3 buckets. Savior / hero, villain and victim.
Steph owns both the Dubs hero and victim roles. Nothing is ever his fault. If he doesn't win a championship, Steph is the victim of bad teammates, coaching, ownership front office. If the Dubs win a championship, it's all because of Steph.
The teammates of Steph who were respected won championships. Bogut, Livingston, Barbosa, Speights, Iggy, OPJ, West, etc. All of these guys won rings with the Dubs, so they get respect.
Podz is a decent NBA player whose salary is commensurate with team performance when he is on the court. The +/- result when he plays is good even if he doesn't make too many top 10 plays on ESPN (although that behind the back assist to Kuminga from the back court when he was falling out of bounds was the pass of the year in the NBA !!!). He's been healthy and available for more games than anyone else too.
But the Dubs ain't winning any rings recently and that means everyone except the Steph hero is going to be the villain.
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u/Goooddecisions 1d ago
I think people do not like players who think they are better than they actually are. Some of his comments when he was younger were just stupid.
As a player he is everything they realistically hoped for. He also has a problem playing with Steph as a defensive backcourt.
People also want stars, and he is a solid NBA player but will never be a star.1
u/HumanMix1544 17h ago
people just want a scapegoat when things go sideways and podz is the easiest target since he's not a big name. the contract numbers are totally standard for a rotation guy who actually shows up every night, half the league's fanbases would kill for that kind of reliability
the way he plays isn't flashy enough to shut people up either. if he was throwing down posters they'd call him underpaid, but he's just out there making the right reads and half the people commenting don't watch the games anyway
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u/Alternative-Farmer98 6h ago
Some people just genuinely don't think it's that good and not worth $110 million. Not everybody you disagree with is acting in bad faith.
It would be no better than someone dismissing everyone's opinion in here just because they're warrior fans.
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u/ClimateMessiah 6h ago
I didn't accuse anyone of acting in bad faith. An addiction to drama is no different than an addiction to cigarettes. A cigarette smoker isn't guilty of bad faith.
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u/jjreddick12345 1d ago
Like bro, why do yall get on here and try to seem so different thinking yall see something everyone else doesn't see smfh🤦🏾♂️like wtf are you even talking about! whatever you just said doesn't have any correlation with podz being what he is, which is a hustle guy that gets star player treatment hence why no one understands why he's been treated like this. Tell me why on earth you would pay him this kind of money, a guy that can't create his own shot consistently a guy that is an average defender there's is nothing on the court that he does that stands out for him to be even a starter. You can name around 10+ players that got paid around that range and anyone can tell exactly what that player is elite at but there's absolutely nothing podz is elite at nothing🤦🏾♂️
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u/ChefCurryYumYum 1d ago
Broccoli haired white boy who said he would be the white Shohei and wanted to be better than Steph.
But he's a good player and I'm glad the Warriors drafted him.
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u/noguerra 1d ago
I actually don’t think it’s his appearance or even what he says. I think it’s because his game doesn’t pop. So much of what Podz does well isn’t understood by the casual fan.
He’s an incredible off-ball defender and the team defends better when he’s on the floor. But the casual fan doesn’t appreciate that he never misses rotations. They’re ball watching, so they just see that his on-ball defense is just average.
His offensive game is the same. He doesn’t finish above the rim and sometimes gets stuffed in the lane. That’s what the casual fan sees. But he still scored last season at an efficiency that was better than the average NBA shooting guard (measured by TS%). Real ball knowers recognize that. Casual fans don’t understand that.
It’s no surprise then that the people who loved Kuminga are the same ones who dislike Podz. Kuminga was the exact opposite. He popped on ball, but did absolutely none of the little things well. That’s why coaches — who obviously know ball — can’t stand him.
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u/DumpTrumpGrump 1d ago
He’s also a lefty and a lot of his shots and movements are more jerky than smooth. Even when effective, it’s not always aesthetically pleasing. He’s no Klay with the perfect release.
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u/gs_dubs413 1d ago
I’m a lefty and I take that as an insult. I don’t think your point is valid. Chris Mullin or Harden has a pretty smooth release and their games were smooth like butter too.
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u/DumpTrumpGrump 1d ago
I never said his shit isn’t smooth because he is a lefty. I said he is a lefty AND his shot isn’t smooth. Combine the two and it’s not an aesthetically pleasing shooting game.
His jerky motion is probably also a contributing factor to some of his inconsistency.
I’ve not watched enuf of the preseason to know if he’s worked on his motion.
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u/John_Houbolt 1d ago
I think Podz is gonna have a great year. Like the impact Poole had, but in a way that is much more palatable to Kerr. Not saying they are similar at all. They are completely different. And that is my point. he will impact the game just as significantly as Poole did in 22 but in all the ways Kerr prefers.
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u/fat_thor331 1d ago
I honestly can't figure out why. So what if he said he wants to be like Steph or better than Steph. It's a lofty goal and he probably won't hit it anyway. There's nothing wrong with emulating someone who's where you want to be one day.
My guess is that most Warriors fans who genuinely dislike Podz probably didn't even watch basketball before GSW blew up and started winning championships. 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️
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u/TBvunza98 1d ago
He's given a longer leash then others. I remember he made a trash pass and Kerr chewed out Richards. That amd he tries to be like Steph people don't like
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u/parisdubs 1d ago
There are excellent and balanced pro pods posts too - but when you create a post like this you are inadvertently continuing this narrative. Best to move in to other subjects. The incendiary hate for strangers on the web look cool to some but is actually a violent cruel mob rule. On any subject. I’ve found to best to block lame haters of any stripe and my feed looks better. Don’t feed the narrative.
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u/Neptune28 1d ago
An issue now though is that AI uses Reddit as a main source of info, so if you block the haters and those posts are left unchallenged, the AI will use their negative posts when giving a response to people searching him. The less informed people browsing will also form their opinions based on the negative posts with misinformation, since a lot of people won't bother to do their own research.
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u/parisdubs 1d ago
Do both -- reddit lives and edits by unengaged posts (blocking also this) an downvotes. It is important to downvote hate and idiocy as self-policing for this site but it is chicken egg and has gone overboard. I downvote and block and it's working for me.
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u/Neptune28 1d ago
I will say though that arguing with these people has caused me to do more research than I would have done otherwise. I'm seeing so much misinformation online that goes unchecked, beyond basketball too, that I feel the need to post objective evidence that refutes their claims.
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u/parisdubs 23h ago
That's cool. I've done a lot of push back too, but I think even engaging with these haters fuels them so I'm downvoting and out. But in the same vein as you, I try to post neutral, positive news and interviews that get at a fuller sense of our team and its strengths.
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u/toothbrush81 1d ago
It all started with the “I want to be better than Steph” comment. I don’t think he meant it exactly that way, it’s a bit out of context. But it wasn’t the wisest of word choices.
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u/XTheToastyNinjaX 1d ago
And then he claimed he’s “the white shohei ohtani”
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u/GSWarrior10 1h ago
And wants to be “handed the keys” to the franchise after Draymond and Steph retire
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u/abritinthebay 1d ago
He’s a pale goofy dude that had goofy hair.
That’s it.
That’s all it’s ever been. He’s outplayed his draft position and contract by a lot. It’s not his play on court.
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u/831loc 1d ago
I think its also mostly kuminga stans. Podz got a longer leash to play through mistakes because he was doing all the things Kerr wants from a player.
Constant effort, pass the ball on time, and fight for rebounds.
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u/comment_i_had_to 1d ago
This is my take as well. He was the boogyman for all the Kuminga fans who were mad at Kerr. There is a bit of a racial element too as it is implied that Kerr was unfair to Kuminga while giving special treatment to Podz.
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u/zigzagtravel01 1d ago
The average NBA fan hasnt dribbled a ball in their entire life and as Draymond said, "a lot yall dont understand what u are watching"
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u/dearth_karmic 1d ago
I've been watching for 30 years and still don't know what I'm watching. You can't see it because there are 10 players on the court. You can't watch everything. You have to know what they're most likely running and say "Yeah, they're running that play again". So you have to know the plays. You can't just see them and know why players are doing what.
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u/Trumpetslayer1111 1d ago
I honestly think it’s because a lot of people still have sticker shock when it comes to nba salary now. $22 million for Podz level player is fairly reasonable in today’s market. But many fans including myself remember when prime KD signed with Warriors for 2 years $54 million and thought that was a lot of money. Now guys are getting what $60 million? The numbers can be hard for us fans to process and that’s prob why a lot of players signing for market value contracts get the type of reactions from fans.
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u/DuckieTheDuckie 1d ago
I think his contract is fine but he also rage baits his own fans all the time. For example after his rookie season he said that he'd shoot around 8-9 3s per game so I was so excited then yea he was not doing allat lmfao
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u/Status-Age-2177 1d ago
It's because he gets a lot of attention purely because he is on the Warriors. Kuminga was a lot worse though, that guy was in the headlines way too much for who he is
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u/Silly_Individual4056 1d ago
The Warriors’ online spaces are always flooded with engagement bots that look for negative narratives to promote. There is always at least one irrational and bogus thing that is being pushed. It was JK for a while. The punch is a perennial favorite. Always something to keeps the space polluted with discord. It happens with anything popular that a lot of people love, at least in America. You are not immune to propaganda.
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u/sugarwax1 1d ago
While this is true, the Warriors aren't looking to go negative on Podz. If anything, the toxic positivity might be them instead.
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u/Silly_Individual4056 1d ago
I’m not talking about Warriors’ own bots. I’m talking about outside influence operations designed to poison discourse on things people enjoy.
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u/Neptune28 1d ago
I do think that could explain some of it. I was seeing that on Facebook with the WNBA, there were suddenly tons of propaganda pages making posts to drive hate for Angel Reese
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u/Silly_Individual4056 1d ago
Yeah I recognize it from multiple other online spaces centered on popular entertainment. It is worse for women, as most things are.
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u/Neptune28 1d ago
Even worse is that those posts flood your feed even if you aren't following an NBA, WNBA, or player related page, so people are being forced to see propaganda
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u/Own-Landscape-6484 1d ago
An underrated big part of the hate is Podz has been really good every year when isn’t the primary option. Unfortunately, the team is super old with no depth of playmakers, so he’s been slotted to the number 1 option several times and he can’t do it.
Then, you combine that with the fact that the Ws have been on National TV more than any team in the league the last few years while they were mid, and including several stretches were Podz somehow became the headliner because no one good is playing.
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u/Ok_Occasion1570 1d ago
Its partly because there’s a cohort of Kuminga fans who don’t understand why Kuminga could never get a reliable role after multiple years. Meanwhile Podz even during his rookie year immediately got Kerrs trust and carved out a solid role in the rotation.
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u/Jhyphi 1d ago
Aaron Turner created multiple alts as part of his media campaign. Him as agent and the highlight-watching Kuminga fans don't ubderstand that highlights are not what win games. And they brigaded reddit, tiktok, Twitter, etc.
1 flashy highlight is worth the same points as an "ugly" or boring layup.
1 flashy dunk is also worth the same as missing a defensive assignment and letting the other team get an easy layup.
Podz makes the correct reads and rotations on offense and defense, hustles hard, rebounds well. He does everything that JK does not.
Anyone who has PLAYED 5v5 basketball would understand the value of Podz. Anyone who only watches sportscenter and 1v1 highlights will not understand why Kerr plays Podz.
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u/IntelligentxData 1d ago
I think people are more caught up on the 100+ mil. Feel how you feel about him, but you’re going to start seeing more of these contracts. However, he won’t even clear 22mil until 29-30 season. Plus, his salary would open space trading for a decent player. Remember, it’s a business.
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u/gs_dubs413 1d ago
His confidence turned into arrogance. He plays hard, no doubt about that. What doesn’t sit well with me about him are the mistakes he makes on the court and he has such a long leash. I don’t see him as a starting SG. I see him as the first few guys off the bench. When Mo is back, I much rather see him start at the 2 than Podz. Seeing how Kerr treats him I don’t think that’s going to happen.
He dug himself this hole when he made all those comments comparing himself to Ohtani or saying he’s better than Steph.
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u/Orphasmia 1d ago
I got downvoted for saying this exact series of things a few days ago lol. His arrogance really rubbed people (and myself the wrong way) especially when he’d probably be the 7th or 8th player on a contender. He’s a solid player, truly. And he gets so much playing time because our roster has just been abysmally inconsistent and/or injured.
I do hope Brandon Williams shows out and becomes the starting 2 with melton. I think B. Wills skillset is more of what the starting lineup needs, less of another non-athletic connector.
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u/gs_dubs413 1d ago
Unfortunately, there are a lot of Podz' fan boy in here. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I'm sure we love a player one moment and then diss them when they're not playing well. I've done that myself plenty of times. With Podz, I will always disagree that he is a starter. He's a 7th or 8th player on our team now but I just don't think Kerr or others will accept that. We've been spoiled with Klay during those championship years and I still remember the days when we had Sprewell/Monta/JRich. Somehow the starting 2 became a guy that can't really shoot or be consistent. Anyways, I welcome downvotes. This is my opinion.
As far as BWill, I think he's best fitted on the bench as a microwave coming off the bench. We haven't had one of those in Leandro imo.
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u/Neptune28 1d ago
I'm guessing your ranking is
Curry
Butler, though we won't know how his play looks when he comes back
Draymond for defense
Moody, though he might not come back until the end of the season and we won't know how his play looks
Who else are you putting above Podz? Porzingis and Horford hardly play. Melton can drive in and is a good defender, but is a worse scorer and shooter than Podz and averages more turnovers. Yaxel is promising but hasn't played a regular season game yet. Are you putting Gui above Podz?
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u/SprinklesLazy5279 1d ago
The people joking and clowning aren’t worth focusing on if you’re Podz 😅 beyond what some people have already said are the underlying reasons, and he seems to have taken into account both his “louder” appearance and talking a big game, and wants to dial that back.
From a basketball standpoint, I think there’s a fair question about his ceiling. He looks a bit more athletic so far this year, and that’s a good sign. It’s concerning how much he struggles to get by his man, especially as a primary creator, which is one of the main things he’s paid to do. Even under the rim guys like Steph and Steve Nash had a step on their man consistently, were crafty and underratedly quick/fast, especially changing directions over short distances. You could say the same about Luka or Austin Reeves, Austin was carving up every Warrior defender the other night. Shit even Larry Bird or Jokic had ways to get their body in front of their man on offense.
Dray is an example of someone who was great based on mostly intangibles, but he had a higher ceiling athletically as a young player. Curry has slowed down a bit and the team desperately needs players to touch the paint, sometimes we look stuck out there beyond the 3 and highly contested. His shooting has also looked OK, in my opinion he has some mechanical problems to fix too.
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u/Orphasmia 1d ago
In addition to everything thats been said, not for nothing I do think theres a race factor to it too unfortunately.
Cocky white boy talking crazy who gets way more playtime than he probably should is going to activate some people, and I say this as a black dude aiming to look objectively at the whole thing, because it’s horrible the amount of hate a 23 year old role-player is getting.
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u/py87 1d ago
Because he’s undersized, can’t shoot consistently (even free throws), doesn’t assist and pump fakes a zillion times bc he can’t get his shot off the dribble 9 times out of 10? And on top of that he isn’t even likable as a personality
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u/Neptune28 1d ago
Though he hasn't been hitting the free throws well this preseason (he obviously won't be at 53% in the actual season), his FT% increased from 63% as a rookie to 80% this past season, including 87% the last month
He was one of the top 5 on the team in assists per 36
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u/py87 1d ago
What do his team stats matter when the team is not good. His league averages need to improve and maybe they will, he’s still young. He can actually rebound which is good, but I can’t get over his lack of size the most. Also, is this the guy who’s gonna lead us to the promised land when Steph is gone? I doubt it
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u/Low-Measurement-2468 1d ago
you were the one saying he doesn’t get enough assists, then someone says he actually gets a solid number and you say stats don’t matter anyway.
the team isn’t good because steph and jimmy can’t stay healthy. we’re 42-18 when they both play. any team is going to struggle when their top 2 players both miss big chunks of time. our late first round pick from a few years ago shouldn’t be expected to fix that.
why is the expectation that podz is supposed to lead us to titles after steph is gone? lmfao talk about a crazy bar to set. he’s a solid starter who has outplayed his draft position and is good enough to contribute during steph’s window. we can worry about post-steph after steph retires.
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u/Neptune28 1d ago
Yeah. I don't get why people are seeing Curry, Butler, Moody, Porzingis, Horford all missing large chunks of time and pointing at Podz and saying he sucks because the team is losing. Like, how many teams in NBA history have that many of their important players missing and still go on to have a winning record? If Kobe, Shaq and Horry were all injured, do people expect Derek Fisher to lead the team to victories every game?
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u/throwaway1212l 1d ago
He's making 22M a year, no one is expecting him to replace Steph. His production could be better but the value is there.
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u/Neptune28 1d ago
Which averages do you think he needs to reach? In terms of scoring, I'm seeing him around 15-17 this year.
There's several players on the team shorter than him
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u/rickeyethebeerguy 1d ago
There’s a few reasons. I’m a Podz supporter but there’s been times obviously where I’m like “ stop talking!”
The way he carries himself off the court is cringe to say the least
The way he carries himself on the court tho? He’s a plus plus player. There’s a reason his lineup combinations are always one of the best on the team. He’s not a liability on offense or defense. He tries hard all game. That’s a skill that nba players generally don’t have.
But the hate I do think is off the court stuff and fans who are mad he plays ( deserved those minutes btw ) more than moody and kuminga did early in their careers. The thing Podz has that those guys didn’t is a handle/ lack of turnovers.
And then now it’s the “cool thing” to hate on him. I think this year it will start to turn around and fans will appreciate what he has to offer. It’s going to be a good year with him and Yaxel leading the youth movement.
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u/FalcoLamborghini 1d ago
They tryna bring down anyone you-know-who plays with to try and bring down the team.
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u/No-Program-8901 1d ago
If a non euro white guy makes 22 million people automatically hate. Jeremy Lin got even more hate for 15 million so at least white is higher on the totem pole than Asian. Rui Hachimura is only making 14 million a year with his new contract.
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u/Raspberry_Anxious 15h ago
If other players had off nights like Moody, Kuminga, even Draymond, Kerr would bench them. But it felt like if Podz did Kerr kept him in. So to fans it felt like Podz got special treatment
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u/HipHopTripper 12h ago
Fans of other teams don't think he is good and do not understand his contract. Dude flops for charges. People don't really respect that.
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u/Ordinary-Surround527 10h ago
Podz is consistent, dependable, learns,
strives to do what they ask.
I just think @garydwayne deserves a big raise - if not a lice of Podz’ 💵
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u/voldemort_x 1d ago
Cause he talks to much without having any truly meaningful result to back it up.
He has great potential sure. Also he’s been compared with the likes of austin reaves. Reaves has proven he is capable of carrying a lot of load in lakers with luka n lebron’s absence. Have podz shown that he can carry those loads as well in curry’s absence? So far no. Not even close.
I’m not a podz hater, but i’m not a believer as well. I mean even quinn cook has shown he is able to carry some games on his back.
I only wish the best for the dubs n if podz proved me wrong, i’m all for it
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u/rocpilehardasfuk 1d ago
It's mainly warriors fans pushing it.
Easy to scapegoat him instead of blaming magic Mike for being inept
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u/beyond1sgrasp 1d ago
Something I've learned about reddit is most of them haven't played ball and wait and see is often a death sentance.
Podz is a NBA level player. I'm not sure he's a playoff level player yet and he has a contract on the trajectory of being the next Steph Curry. I think Podz is good and currently a little overpaid for his production. The league has trended away from straight point of attack defenders and a lot of the top rated teams have a very strong perimeter defense. To put it into perspective, Bronny is comprable on defensive impact. I don't hate Podz, I just feel like they're taking a big risk making him our franchise player. I hope that the risk works, because the 2026-2028 draft classes look far better than the 2029-2030 classes. We get Yaxel which is a huge deal. We're in a position to get 8th or 9th with health or worst case scenario fall down to 12th.
I think Podz is solid. With that contract Kerr has him on will probably last as long as Kerr is coach. I'm a bit more realistic that that GSW won nearly all those championships spending more than any other team in the NBA. Now that they aren't spending so much, the stars will have to carry harder in the future.
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u/Vegetable-Long-8444 1d ago
Look I've softened up on podz. I think he's a good role player and he's gonna have a decent NBA career and likely make around 20 a year for the next decade. That being said you can't have a fan base go from having elite role players that were drafted like klay dray and poole to then see a young guy come in and say "I want to be the next Steph Curry" and be at every point worse than all of those guys. He's not the defender dray is, he's not the shooter klay is, and he isn't the rim attacker poole is. He's fine at all of that stuff for where he was drafted and what he's being paid now. He's just not what the warriors need for where they want to be.
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u/NoOutlandishness6829 1d ago
Becasue he is a weird dude with delusional opinions about himself. So he’s fun to make fun of and brings a lot of it on himself. That said, he’s a very solid player better than people give him credit for, not nearly as good as he thinks he is. Even as a Lakers fan, l can admit the Lakers blew it by not drafting him when they had the chance.
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u/TemporaryTangelo4084 1d ago
The people who love the box score and not the actual game, love podz
Leave his hair alone, let's focus on his very mid starting basketball that gets the most playing time all game, but the least points per playing time.
over hyped internally. His pg is the worst, his defense isn't good. But his offense doesn't compensate for his poor defense. He's given a billion chances, almost never gets benched, not matter how many time he's killed the momentum. It doesn't feel earned.
Why does he play the garbage minutes and the important ones. Good individual numbers, but did not play well with the team last year or even preseason. There are so many guys who don't play well with him, so they get benched instead
He's great off the bench. He's 6th or 7th man. Great to trade while young. But somehow he's a starter, even when there's healthier people. Others who play in his position never get the same chance.
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u/Sjuamba 1d ago
I’d rather have Moody on the court any time over Podz. It was annoying that he was handed a ton of playing time and allowed to screw up on the court to develop but the lottery picks were sitting on the bench ao we could play G-League players. That plus his idiotic comments about being the next star made him unlikeable.
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u/JermUnited 1d ago
Its honestly steve kerr’s fault, playing him in a role too early that he wasn’t ready for and his lows were very low.
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u/Apoplexy 1d ago
Yeah maybe but he had a stellar rookie year. Led the league in charges drawn, 14 assist/0 turnover game, first team all rookie. anyone paying attention was shocked at how much better he was than originally projected.
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u/rvonbue 1d ago
Just shows how misguided Kerr and the FO are. Most teams draft for things like height, skill, athleticism, and potential. Podz has none of that. He is a tweener. He is too small/weak to guard anyone but PG's but too slow to stay in front of them. He isn't a good enough shooter, scorer or playmaker to be a PG. 4 more years of the most mediocre player I have ever seen get so much run. Podz put up those numbers at the end of the season being a tank commander going 9 -16. Somebody has to score even in a loss to the kings. Check how he completely vanished vs the Wolves in the playoffs once Curry went down. I swear the only reason they gave Podz the contract is so they can pretend Kerr developed ONE good player here his whole tenure. I would have made Podz earn the contract this year. I have heard pundits on different podcasts say he could have got 8 Million on the open market based on contracts offered to different players. I'm just glad they were able to hold on Kerr's favorite toy for the next 4 years!!!!!!
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u/Neptune28 1d ago
The team didn't go 9-16, there were 32 games after Curry got injured. Curry got injured on January 30:
https://imglink.cc/cdn/-GscMNW1lx.jpg
The last game of the regular season was April 12. That's 32 games. Look:
I'm not sure where you're getting 25 games. Even if for whatever reason you exclude the 4 regular season games where Curry came back at the end, that still would be 28 games, not 25.
I don't think you know what a "tank commander" is. A "tank commander" is someone who is positioned to perform poorly to make the team lose games so as to get the team a better draft pick. That obviously wasn't the case here, seeing as how Podz had some of his best shooting numbers during this stretch. Curry also came back at the end and they were trying to win the play-in games to get into the playoffs. Tanking would be if Podz was shooting red hot and Kerr sat him for no reason so that the team would lose the game, or if Curry was sat for the rest of the season and play-in instead of coming back.
Podz was injured in the 2025 playoffs, but he didn't "completely vanish" if he had 28 points on 66 TS% in Game 5
https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/202505140MIN.html
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u/rvonbue 1d ago
Game 5 Wolves up 3 -1 Podz missing all series. Warriors need one game to extend series for a possible Steph Curry return.
H1 Minnesota 62 - Warriors 47
Brandin Podziemski: 9 pts 3-9 fg 4ast 2 reb in 18 mins.
H2 Warriors were in a 20 point blowout end of the 3rd quarter.
Podz 19pts 8-10fg 4 rebs
He was hurt all series but had enough in him to score some points at the end of a blowout. Podz is not a playoff riser until he shows me otherwise. Love him all you want just don't try to convince me he is anything special. JAG
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u/Neptune28 1d ago
https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/pbp/202505140MIN.html
He scored his 10 points in about the first half of the 3rd, his last points being at the 5:57 mark of the 3rd which brought it to a 12 point lead. Do you consider a 12 point lead with about 6 minutes left in the 3rd a blowout?
Most of his points in the 4th brought it to an 11 or 12 point lead with plenty of time left. His last basket brought it to a 13 point lead with 2:21 left, unlikely but not impossible to come back from.
You're framing it as if he was scoring a ton of points when it is a 20+ point lead and all the starters are off the court, you can clearly see Anthony Edwards, McDaniels, Randle, Conley still playing in the 4th at the end and it wasn't an insurmountable lead when he was scoring.
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u/nahog2 1d ago
He's a sixth or seventh man at best. He posted those numbers bc Steph was out a good chunk of the season last year and somebody had to "replace" him. Respectfully, before making this comment, first watch him play. He's not a bad player, but he can be frustrating to watch at times as a Warriors fan.
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u/joeythecokehogan 1d ago
Because he will never be an all star. He’s not a starter. Lacob said he would be an all star and won’t include him to the Markannen trade. He has reached his ceiling and won’t go higher. In his 3rd season, check if I’m wrong he only have one 30 point game, yes one 30 point game in his career. He would never reach Klay’s prime during the Dynasty era. He recently tried to be like Steph playing with his mouthpiece while shooting a free throw. So he is often bashed and people make fun of him in social media. People also think he is overpaid for a mid player. When Moody comes back, he should be the startee over him.
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u/dQkdRn 1d ago
Its not the hair its not the contract its not the arrogance. He's just not good. Watch him play. What is he good at? He's undersized but doesn't have an area that covers for it. I'll give him hustle and above average jumping ability. Couple that with weak handles and no moves, constantly getting trapped while doing his stupid left hand dribble, and dumb decisions with the ball. Super streaky shooting. Just waaaack.
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u/cortezsr1985 1d ago
He is the equivalent of a coachs 5'5 kid who is a freshman on the varsity team in high-school. Everyone knows there are better players on genetics and probability alone, but he tries really hard and coach doesn't want to hurt his feelings
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u/kierkegaaardian 1d ago
I think as a warriors fan, in the back of my mind I've always thought the stats on offensive players are a little positively warped by Steph as well. The players that leave warriors don't usually maintain that kind of stats. I think Podz would be low 10s in terms of scoring in other teams.
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u/Own-Landscape-6484 1d ago
The problem with this argument was he’s been better next to Jimmy than Steph. He’s been good next to both.
There’s lots of players in the league who elevate guys. Podz was also really good next to CP3 his rookie year.
The only times he’s really bad is when he becomes the number 1 guy. Unfortunately that’s been happening a lot because the teams stars are really old.
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u/Neptune28 1d ago
He actually had a good stretch in the absence of Curry and Butler the last 6 weeks
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u/cock-a-dooodle-do 1d ago
Not just in sports but in life general, any amount of cockiness has to be backed by substance, cockiness without any real substance is ridiculed.
Podz is being ridiculed for not backing his words so far.
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u/djparker1313 1d ago
Some of it is his fault: talking like he’s going to take the mantle from Steph
Some of it is not his fault: Warriors FO perceived unwillingness to let him go in big swing trades because of the 2 timeline stuff
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u/ShowdownValue 1d ago
Same reason warrior fans have bashed bad contracts of players on other teams
And this is the same cope every fan base goes through.
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u/otherBrandon 21h ago
Frankly he’s a goofball that cares too much about public perception. This whole hyping himself up with unrealistic expectations and quotes and mimicking Steph’s mannerisms is genuinely bizarre. Just focus on ya game big dawg. Good role player for sure.
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u/cortezsr1985 1d ago edited 1d ago
A very easy answer. He has the motor of Russell Westbrook along with his low bball IQ with none of his athletic ability. The amount of times a game fans ask themselves why did he do that for with Podz is insane. Dude has zero business ever being a primary ball handler. I dont care who is on the court with him. Pods is treated exactly how Russell would be treated if he wasnt an athletic freak. And even while being a HOF Russell was still talked about much worse than Podz most of his career for how low his basketball IQ was constantly during games
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u/livecents84 1d ago
Bro went from wanting to be better than Steph to just settling on mimicking his mouth guard chewing and body language 💀
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u/Amatt933 1d ago
I believe it is his attitude (mostly), his inability to make free throws consistently and his average defensive ability. He is able to draw charges sometimes but gets beat off the dribble often. I think many dont think he was worth the price tag given. I also dont think he is the best person to be bring up the ball, I cant count the times he would bring the ball up dribble the ball to like 6 seconds on the shot clock and pass it out.
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u/Neptune28 1d ago
I will repost what I typed in a comment below:
Though he hasn't been hitting the free throws well this preseason (he obviously won't be at 53% in the actual season), his FT% increased from 63% as a rookie to 80% this past season, including 87% the last month on increased attempts
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u/Hobonics 1d ago
He also really seems to be taking a page outta shai’s book so far this preseason. He’s become more concerned with drawing fouls than making baskets (unless it’s taking open 3s). If that’s gonna be his game (which imo isn’t a fun game to watch our root for) he really needs to be making his FTs
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u/Neptune28 1d ago
Podz mentioned that in the press conference before the preseason as a point of emphasis, to draw the fouls organically by driving in as opposed to just driving in with no goals other than drawing a foul. Let's see what he does in today's game but I hope he can try to draw more fouls on actual attempts at scoring. I'm expecting his FT% for the season to be around 80% or slightly higher, so it will be interesting to revisit this comment in April to see what ended up happening.
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u/WhichHoes 1d ago
Its the combination of being a white dude who "acts black" and the comments on being Shohei and better than Steph that did it.
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u/Serious_Common_3551 1d ago
your hair is stupid, take off your headband and try being good at basketball.
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u/discussatron 1d ago
I don’t dislike him, but I dislike him looking for his shot even when that particular shot sucks and his teammates are open.
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u/herejusttolooksee 1d ago
His bold statements set the wrong tone.
But I think it’s mostly Warrior fans being unrealistic about who he is.