Media being asked to leave the Warriors’ locker room before a game? Unheard of. But this wasn’t a typical pregame routine. Steve Kerr stood at the door, waiting to speak to his team—a “gut-wrenching” responsibility written all over his face.

Minutes earlier, Andrew Wiggins had been pulled aside after warmups, where he learned he’d been traded. Teammates approached him one by one: Stephen Curry, Gary Payton II, and a few others, each offering quick handshakes and words of farewell. It was a sudden, quiet goodbye. And Kerr—the human side of Kerr—decided it wasn’t going to be just another transaction. He needed to tell his team in person.

The emotion hit Kerr hard, especially because it was Wiggins—a key part of the 2022 championship run—who was leaving. Reporters inside the locker room noticed the shift right away. On the Warriors Plus-Minus podcast, The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson, colleague Anthony Slater, and San Francisco Standard columnist Tim Kawakami were all on edge watching the whole story unfold.

But perhaps just this one line sums up the atmosphere well: “Steve Kerr is, like, distraught. … You can tell he’s, like, teary-eyed almost,” one of the insiders revealed. We don’t have to tell you how the rest of the night went for the Dubs. When the meeting ended, there was no time to reset. Minutes later, they had to take the court against the Utah Jazz.

The usual focus and rhythm? Gone.

The emotional toll was evident, especially in the final minutes. The Warriors blew a slim lead, giving up a 10-2 run in the closing stretch and ultimately falling by six points. Their offense stalled, with several empty possessions in the final two minutes. Turnovers piled up, and the defense—usually their safety net—broke down at the worst possible time.

A clutch three from Lauri Markkanen swung the momentum firmly in Utah’s favor, while Jordan Clarkson iced the game with a tough layup in traffic. The Warriors, rattled and fatigued, simply had no answer. The loss wasn’t just another bad night; it felt heavier—as if the weight of everything that happened pregame caught up with them in those final moments.

I’ll ride with Wiggins forever, he’s fine human being, albeit with poor hands! I’ve seen him fumble more balls than…more

A trade that cut deep for Stephen Curry & Co.

The trade itself was significant: Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, and a protected first-round pick to the Miami Heat for Jimmy Butler. With the Warriors hovering around .490 and their playoff hopes slipping away, they needed a bold move. Butler—a player known for his toughness and leadership—would supposedly bring fresh energy to the squad.

But that didn’t make it easier for the team to say goodbye to Wiggins. For Stephen Curry, the Canadian forward wasn’t just a teammate—he was someone who had played a crucial role in their last title run. Losing him hit differently. And it was clear from his reaction. “Steph goes back out after all that, and [with a] stony face comes back out. Something had gone down emotionally, and then he tried to go through his routine. The weird part was there was no one else after him,” another insider shared in the pod.

For many teams, a trade like this might be just another transaction. But Kerr’s reaction reminded everyone that there’s a human side to these decisions. It wasn’t about contracts or stats. It was about saying goodbye to someone who had been through the highs and lows with the team—a reminder that basketball is more than just a game.

In the end, the Warriors couldn’t overcome the emotional chaos that night. Their collapse in the final three minutes wasn’t about bad strategy or poor execution. It was about something much harder to control.

Because when your head coach is “like distraught”, how can you expect everything to go according to plan?