“Didn’t Play as Much as I Wanted To”: Moses Moody Discontent With Limited Time, Shares Mindset Heading Into 2024–25 Season

The Warriors had a dismal 2023-24 season that ended after a loss in the play-in tournament to the Kings. Changes are afoot for the team, and Moses Moody is expecting to play a big part in the franchise’s bid for a bounce-back season in the upcoming campaign.

The versatile 22-year-old played 66 games last season and averaged 17.5 minutes per outing. He wasn’t content with his playing time and used it as fuel in the offseason to work on his game to ensure he left head coach Steve Kerr with no choice but to bump up his minutes. In a press conference, he said,

“I didn’t play as much as I wanted to last year, so I obviously wasn’t in the place I needed to be. Over the summer I put a lot of work in on the smaller things, the details, so training camp is your first opportunity to really showcase that work. Not even necessarily looking for the gratification this early on.”

While Moody expects to play a lot more than he did last year, he understands that there’s a possibility that his plan might not come to fruition. He said,

“If anybody doesn’t get what they want, it’s going to mess with them to a certain level, but as a grown-up, you gotta think of it like that. It’s a job.”

Kerr has already hinted that playing time could be an issue for the 22-year-old in the upcoming campaign. In a press conference, he claimed that the Warriors have a deep roster and suggested that Moody has to earn his minutes. He said,

“We’ve got 12-13 guys, who are all really good players. This is probably the deepest team I’ve seen here, in terms of rotational guys. Moses is a rotational player.”

The versatile guard was impactful last season. He averaged 8.2 points on 46.2% shooting and 36% from beyond the arc. Warriors fans on social media pleaded with the coaching staff to give Moody more minutes, especially when Thompson hit a rough patch and was benched for Brandin Podziemski.

However, their pleas fell on deaf ears. While fans remained steadfast in demanding more playing time for the guard, he never complained about his lack of it publicly and will refrain from doing so in the upcoming campaign as well.

Moody doesn’t intend to be moody

While some players may resort to complaining about their lack of playing time to reporters or post cryptic messages on their social media profiles, Moody doesn’t plan on using any such tactics. When asked why, the 22-year-old said,

“I’m being professional because that’s the best way for me, mentally, to come into work every day, to approach life. So I can’t change that. If you do it to get something out of it, then that’s how these dudes get lost. That’s when you get out here and you’re doing wild stuff. Then it’s unpredictable, because you got too far away from principles.”

Moody’s mindset is commendable but it remains to be seen whether it helps him become a key part of the rotation or he remains an underutilized asset.