That’s the verdict of Fox Sports analyst Nick Wright.
The Warriors were sitting pretty at the top of the Western Conference earlier this month with a 10-1 record but lost Curry to injury in a heavy loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Since then, the Warriors have slipped to 12-6 having lost all of their last three games.
Two-time MVP Curry has averaged 29.5 points and 6.1 assists this season and his groin injury has left a gaping hole for the back-to-back defending NBA champions.
Golden State’s roster – which boasts five All-Stars although DeMarcus Cousins has yet to make his debut due to his own injury – is so superior to the rest of the league that it was expected Steve Kerr’s team could cope without the point guard.
But the Warriors have been engulfed in issues regarding a clash between Green and Durant after a late turnover in an overtime loss to the LA Clippers.
That has seen questions raised over the future of this Warriors team – which is looking to write itself into history with a ‘three-peat’ this season – and particularly Durant, who becomes a free agent next summer.
Discussing the team’s problems, coach Kerr said: “We’ve had such a charmed existence the last four seasons. This is the toughest stretch we’ve been in. This is the real NBA.
“We haven’t been in the real NBA the last few years. We’ve been in this dream. And so now we’re faced real adversity and we got to get out of it ourselves.”
Yet Wright – speaking on First Things First alongside Cris Carter – insists it is Curry’s fitness woes and not their off-court troubles that are the real issue in the Bay Area.
Wright explained: “I don’t know so much of it’s the real NBA as it is the Warriors without Steph Curry.
“We can go back to last year, in the last two years with Steph they’re 51-12. Without him they’re 19-18.
“That’s on a team that has had Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and this year – Draymond’s missed some of these games with injury and suspension but they’ve had Draymond Green.
“For some reason, and it’s one that I imagine has to do with the fact the Warriors’ entire identity is built around the gravity Steph has on the defense and the selflessness that he plays with – they play beneath their talent level without him.
“More so than any team that I would expect with that other superstar level of talent. That’s not what they look like without Durant.
“Without Durant they’re not as good as they are with him but without him they still win two out of every three games. They’re still one of the best teams in basketball.
“So yeah it is the real NBA and they’re going to play in the real NBA like they did last year for 31 games without Steph Curry.
“Going into the year – assuming health – I did think this team could win 70-plus games and they were 10-1 going into the game Curry got hurt.
“They lost that game and have lost four of six since then. He’s the one guy they can’t play without, the one guy.
“They wouldn’t be a 70-plus-win team if they lost any of the other guys for a substantial amount of time but they wouldn’t be below .500 and a team that is struggling to score the way they are.
“Steph is the most important on the team – I don’t care who the best guy on the team is. It’s who has the biggest impact on winning and it’s Steph by a mile.”
Curry will not be fit for the Warriors’ contest with the Oklahoma City Thunder tomorrow (3.30am tip-off UK time) and is expected to sit out against the Portland Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings after that too.