A retired NBA veteran believes the Warriors are the Western Conference’s sleeper team heading into the final 23-game stretch of the 2024-25 NBA season.

Chandler Parsons, who played nine seasons in the league and had several battles with Golden State, declared the Warriors as the West’s “dark horse” team on Friday’s episode of FanDuel’s “Run It Back” show.

“What’s crazy is that the Thunder are very good, the Nuggets are good, the Lakers are very good, the Warriors are scary,” Parsons prefaced to co-panelists Michelle Beadle, Lou Williams and DeMarcus Cousins.

“[The Warriors are] deep, they have experience, they defend. Now, it’s harder to guard Steph Curry when you have Jimmy Butler, who can just punish more guys on switches in the post. They don’t even have, by the way, [Jonathan] Kuminga, who’s going to come back and give them those minutes off the bench probably.”

The Warriors are the West’s biggest nightmare! 😈🔥🗣️

“I’m taking Golden State over Memphis in a series…the Thunder, Lakers and Nuggets are good. The Warriors are SCARY.” – @ChandlerParsons@MichelleDBeadle | @TeamLou23 | @BoogieCousins pic.twitter.com/tKtTXGbak8

— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) February 28, 2025

Parsons is paying close attention to the Warriors following their 7-1 start after trading for Butler on the eve of the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline. 

Parsons noted how Butler opens up the floor for Curry and how Golden State has flourished before Kuminga – who is expected to play Saturday against the lowly Philadelphia 76ers – has returned from the right ankle sprain that has limited to him a mere 32 games played thus far.

As many NBA analysts have recently, Parsons admitted that he was wrong about his expectations of the Butler era in the Bay.

“It’s a great move. I didn’t think it would be this good so fast – what are they, 7-1? And, they locked him up for another two years,” Parsons said. “It’s a great deal. I’m more scared of them than Minnesota, the [Los Angeles] Clippers. They’re (the Warriors) the dark horse team in the West, for sure.”

The more the Warriors win, the more people pay attention. It’s clear Parsons is paying attention.

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