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Stephen Curry leads player-only meeting to address struggles
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry. Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

Stephen Curry leads player-only meeting to address struggles

It's usually panic time for a franchise when the locker room leader calls for a players-only meeting.

Stephen Curry wasn't in the holiday spirit Wednesday before his Warriors hosted the Lakers on Christmas Day. According to Trayce Jackson-Davis, Curry addressed his teammates over their recent struggles. The Warriors entered the game with a 3-10 record over the past month after starting the season 12-3.

"He's right," Jackson-Davis said of Curry, via NBC Sports Bay Area. "We're at a point right now where you can either let go and drop a few more, or you get back on the horse and start winning."

Curry's pep talk didn't do the trick as the Warriors suffered a crushing 115-113 loss, plummeting to the 10th seed in the West. And judging by Curry's post-game reaction, he was more gutted than usual over a regular-season loss. 

Other Warriors were asked about the closed-door meeting. Andrew Wiggins refused to divulge too many details. Curry highlighted how the Warriors were entering the danger zone by dropping too many games and making their path to the playoffs all the more difficult. 

"It is an inflection point on obviously which direction our season can go," Curry said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. "I think our last, whatever it is, 14 games, has just been tough trying to find any type of momentum or consistency and through that you just can't lose spirit, belief that we're a good enough team to figure it out because this league is ruthless. …Right now we're right in that window where we can still regain some momentum for the next however many weeks before the break are pivotal. Or else we're in a situation where we're chasing down the stretch and nobody wants to be there."

To Curry's point, the Western Conference is truly "ruthless," consisting of 11 teams with .500 or better records and another talented team in the Kings (13-17) capable of turning the corner. Unless the Warriors can flip the script, they face the realistic danger of missing the playoffs for a second consecutive season after losing in last year's play-in tourney. 

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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