LeBron James made a grand entrance to kick off his 21st NBA season. 

James arrived at Ball Arena Tuesday night wearing an expensive Louis Vuitton ensemble before of the Lakers’ season-opening game versus the Nuggets.

Front Office Sports claims that LeBron’s pre-game attire incurred expenses exceeding $28,000. Steph Curry found himself in a strange place. He had four titles under his belt. He had completely missed the postseason. However, Curry was banished to his couch before the Finals for the first time since 2014 following the Warriors’ West semifinal loss in the previous season.

The extra four weeks of quiet during which Curry was silent increased his awareness of the passing of the window of contention that he had opened in 2015. He is approaching 36 years old, and neither are his fellow key players growing any younger. While he didn’t panic this offseason, Curry returned from his additional month off with a renewed sense of urgency to restore team camaraderie.

Curry stated, “Because you’re not the last team standing, it’s an easy way to get motivated.” “We’ve had four chances to learn what it’s like to be the team in the lead and attempt to overtake them. However, if you care about winning and are willing to put in the effort necessary to win again, losing can serve as an easy motivation.

Draymond Green stated it clearly on the media day earlier this month:

“If you’re coming off a championship, your sense of urgency won’t be the same as it would be otherwise,” he stated. “You put in a lot of effort to get to the top, and you realize how much you’ve accomplished.” You don’t spend time getting better when you take the time to appreciate that. We lost last year, but sometimes you have to lose in order to win, and I believe it has improved our chances of winning this year.

Last year’s post-championship slump sapped the Warriors’ motivation. Then, when Green hit Jordan Poole during training camp, they were no longer the same team before the season even started. After losing most of their road games and narrowly missing the play-in round as a sixth seed, Green lost his voice in the locker room and the squad played a cautious season. Longtime rival Chris Paul was acquired by Washington in exchange for Poole; in part, this was due to the front office’s concern over unresolved chemistry problems. It was possible to reclaim that lost identity.

“It’s just about giving it everything you’ve got to make sure that every ounce of energy is directed toward trying to start this year off well,” Curry stated. “Because, looking back at the last 82 games, we had some off-court issues that affected our ability to establish an identity early in the season and forced us to chase.”

Paul, Curry, Green, and Klay Thompson wasted little time in bringing everyone up to speed. They invited everyone to informal offseason minicamps in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Francisco in August and September. For every camp, almost every player was present.

Those exercises were not only about becoming comfortable on the court but also off it. They socialized and enjoyed team dinners together. Paul, a longstanding opponent of the Warriors, made sure to attend, even flying from Los Angeles to San Francisco at 6 a.m. on a Southwest aircraft. On the boat he takes to and from Chase Center, Thompson showed some of the novices around.

With the young guys we have, it’s simply about getting everyone together so that we can establish chemistry and togetherness, which was a major component of the veteran teams, Curry added. That was a big fight we had last year. It’s more of a process as a result of our extended relationship. That is something you should not take for granted.

Last season, head coach Steve Kerr expressed his personal regrets, claiming in the summer that he “failed” to connect with the squad. Thus, he instructed his coaching staff to realign and increase their attention to detail throughout practices. This implies that in order to help the rookies and younger players who were left off the roster the previous season due to a mounting backlog of errors, veterans who are already proficient in some of the fundamentals are putting in longer, more rigorous workouts.

Kevon Looney remarked, “Coming off a championship last year, there’s urgency but you’re celebrating a little bit.” “This year, we fell short of our objective in the second round. Everyone is hungry, and you’ve welcomed some new guys. It’s evident from the players and coaching staff that there is a distinct urgency. This has been the most coaching-intensive and meticulous training camp we’ve had in terms of drill execution. Thus, there’s a lot of urgency and it’s enjoyable.

A team’s start to the season can predict how it will end. When the Warriors dropped their first eight away games of the previous season, suspicions began to grow. The previous year, the Warriors began the season 18-2 and established themselves as serious contenders.

With Green sitting out Tuesday’s Opening Night against the Phoenix Suns due to an ankle injury and the defense not playing up to par, Kerr moderated expectations about how this club may look to start the season. This team is more upbeat than it was last year because of its attempts to develop chemistry without any controversy thus far.

“As a coaching staff, I believe we have clarity on the direction this team is headed,” Kerr remarked. “What a wonderful omen.”