It is impressive that the Golden State Warriors are still as good as they are with them entering Year 17 of the Stephen Curry era. However, even with all the talent they still have on the roster, having one of the oldest starting fives ever is a bad omen for what's to come. If there's one team that knows this for sure it's the Utah Jazz.
No, not the current Jazz. More like one of the last Jazz teams of the vaunted Karl Malone-John Stockton era. For context, Evan Sidery falsely shared that the Warriors would be the first team to feature a starting five featuring four players that are 35 or over - Curry, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler,
Salt City Hoops David J. Smith revealed that such was not the case in response to Sidery, revealing that the Jazz's starting five from the 2000-01 season were actually the first ones to make such a mark, and the one before wasn't too far off from it.
The Utah Jazz did it in 2000-2001:
— David J. Smith (@davidjsmith1232) October 2, 2025
John Stockton: 38
Karl Malone: 37
Olden Polynice: 35
John Starks: 35
Almost did it in 1999-2000 too (Stockton 37, Malone 36, Jeff Hornacek 36, Polynice just weeks shy of 35). https://t.co/xv7qk18l1c
Of course the two situations are different. The Warriors have more star power now than the Jazz did around that time. However, the Jazz back then were only two years removed from making the NBA Finals while the Warriors are only three years removed from winning the NBA title.
However, the fate of the 2000-01 Jazz may be a sign of what's to come for the Warriors this season.
Jazz got ousted early in the playoffs that year
While the Jazz's age as a group as a whole didn't stop them from making the postseason, the team was ousted by the young and promising Dallas Mavericks, who featured rsing stars Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash. Utah gave Dallas a good fight, but the Mavericks beat them in a best-of-five.
More importantly, it was becoming clear that the Jazz were yesterday's news. Their time as a contender was up. Granted, they made the most out of what juice the Malone-Stockton duo had left over the next few years, but their heyday was gone.
Again, the Warriors have a little more talent than the Jazz did, but one way in which these situations are similar is that the Western Conference was loaded back then as it is loaded now. Not only are there plenty of teams with the same aspirations as the Warriors, but a good amount of them are younger too.
Oklahoma City is the reigning champs, and Denver just reloaded this offseason. Houston made the splash of the offseason, Minnesota is still a fantastic team, and both LA teams have every intention of making a title run.
The Warriors have done what they could this offseason, warts and all, and they may very well reach their full potential as a team. It may not matter in the end. Like those Jazz teams from the 2000s, their problem may very well be that the sun has simply set on them.