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Warriors Guard Says Late Demotion Was ‘Motivation’
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- Warriors Guard Says Late Demotion Was ‘Motivation’
Will Richard #3 of the Golden State Warriors Getty
There were, no doubt, ups and downs for Golden State Warriors guard Will Richard last season. Maybe more downs than he had expected after a brilliant collegiate season at Florida, where he helped the Gators to an NCAA championship in 2025. But Richard was a second-round pick, so the fact that he earned a spot on the roster–let alone a role in the rotation–was a real positive for him.
Richard played 69 games, and as anyone who watched the Warriors in 2025-26 knows, just having a guy be available that often was a godsend for this roster. His numbers were not pretty–6.4 points in 20.0 minutes, 46.8% shooting, 33.5% 3-point shooting–but, as often happens with young players, he was much better when given more opportunity. As a starter, he averaged 8.3 points, shot 47.5% from the field and 34.2% from the 3-point line.
Warriors Benched Will Richard During Play-In
Obviously, Richard will need to improve from there. Having got a taste of NBA experience, he has seen what he needs to add to his game to have a chance to be a regular contributor in the upcoming season. And if there was one Warriors experience that brought that home to him last year, it was the way he was used by coach Steve Kerr in the Warriors' two play-in games in April.
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He wasn't. Richard got DNP-CDs in both games, and he set out this summer to change that.
He told Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area : "I just want to get better in general. I didn't play the last few games of the season and that was kind of my motivational drive toward the offseason. Just work on the things that will get me on the floor in those playoff, play-in games, like that and stuff next year."
Warriors Coaches Gave a Plan
Richard did chip in for the Warriors' summer league champs back in July in Las Vegas, and averaged 10.3 points in 23.1 minutes. But that was really just part of what he wanted to do this summer. He said he spent the offseason trying to follow the plan that the team's coaches laid out for him at the end of the season. He spent much of the summer back home in Atlanta .
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He said: "We met with our coaches out here and went over how we wanted our summer to look, the plan, the goals and stuff like that we wanted to achieve during the summer. So we did that here. And I got back home to Atlanta, and worked with my team on things I needed to focus on. We had a group effort to find that out."
Andre Iguodala 's Advice to Will Richard
But there is a challenge ahead for Richard. The Warriors will be much better stocked at guard than they were last year, with De'Anthony Melton coming back from a torn ACL and Stephen Curry missing two months because of a knee injury. The Warriors signed free-agent guard Brandon Williams , and Richard could be competing with him for playing time.
Richard can earn time by being a better defensive player, and he got some help from a Warriors legend on that.
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Said Richard: "Working a lot on being a more consistent shooter, attack closeouts and just being a very solid defender, being able to hold my own and just guard different positions. The big area for me was my leadership, my talking on the court. I talked to Andre Iguodala and asking him how he was such a good defender, and he said what I can work on right now is just talking . If you are talking on the court, everything like that, it helps everyone on the court and it helps you, too."
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