https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/warriors/article/Warriors-ease-back-on-shootarounds-to-keep-17526425.php

Two games into the 2022-23 season, the Golden State Warriors haven’t had a pregame shootaround. Ahead of Friday’s game against the Denver Nuggets at Chase Center, head coach Steve Kerr told reporters that the team is beginning to ease back on them in an effort to keep players as fresh as possible.

“It just feels right this year to have that be our default,” he said.

Shootarounds are informal pregame practice sessions that are common at the college and professional levels of basketball. In them, teams can go over offensive and defensive concepts. Players can watch film, get shots up and work up an early sweat. Coaches can communicate any necessary adjustments before games.

However, all that requires early mornings and a certain level of effort that’s not always necessary for a veteran team like the Warriors. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green have been in the league long enough to where they don’t need shootarounds to find their rhythm play at a high level. Most of that preparation gets done in the hours before tipoff.

The Warriors’ 2021-22 season stretched all the way until June and ended with a championship. Three months later, the team was on a plane to Japan to play two preseason games against the Washington Wizards. The only week they had off before their preseason slate continued was filled with other distractions. Then they still had three more preseason games to play before rolling right into the regular season.

That’s a lot of activity packed into just a few weeks, so it makes sense that Kerr wants to find spots to get guys additional rest early on. It’s a long year, and fewer shootarounds this early on won’t make or break the Warriors’ season.

“I think winning the championship last year, long haul, short summer, any chance we get to give the guys a little extra rest we’re going to do that,” Kerr said. “This won’t be every night. There will be occasional shootarounds. But I think this will be a more regular part of our routine this year.”

Baldwin banged up: Rookie Patrick Baldwin Jr. missed Friday’s game because of a right thumb sprain. The injury isn’t believed to be serious and Kerr said Baldwin is “hopeful” he’ll be available to play on Sunday against the Sacramento Kings. He dressed in Tuesday’s season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers but did not play..

Paying homage to Run TMC: The Warriors wore their revamped “Run TMC”-style uniforms for the first time Friday night in celebration of the 30th anniversary of team legend Chris Mullin winning an Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Olympics with the Dream Team. Curry, Thompson and Green had captains’ badges sown onto their jerseys.