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Brandin Podziemski will start a Warriors season-opener for the first time on Tuesday against the Lakers, but the third-year guard doesn’t care about being on the floor at the beginning of games.

“I know I’m going to get my fair share of minutes,” Podziemski, 22, said. “Just depending on how I play in those minutes is really going to dictate if I’m out there at the end of the game. And that’s what I want to be — I want to be out there when it matters most.” 

Podziemski wants to close games, to be sure, but he certainly wants more than that. His aspirations include representing Team USA at the Olympics — a lofty goal for any player. Both he and owner Joe Lacob believe he has All-Star potential, too. Asked during training camp if he wants to be as great as Steph Curry, Podziemski quickly responded, “I want to be better than him.” 

Those are certainly tall tasks for Podziemski, who averaged 11.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game in a solid follow-up to his First Team All-Rookie campaign. But he only knows one way to approach the game: with confidence. 

Earlier this month, Podziemski told The Athletic (opens in new tab)that he wants to become a franchise cornerstone in the future, someone who Curry and Draymond Green can be comfortable leaving the keys to. 

“I was more so saying I want Steph and Draymond to feel comfortable leaving it with the next group that we have,” Podziemski told The Standard. “Just purely based on the culture we’ve built, how we win. I want them to feel comfortable leaving it with us in that sense, not in the sense that it looked like, ‘Oh, I want it to be my team.’ I just want them to feel comfortable having five years with (Jonathan Kuminga), three years with me already, have them feel like, ‘Okay, we can hand this down to this group and be fine,’ continue winning, and we’re not going to be a team that picks in the lottery every year.” 

Those are concerns for down the line. At present, Podziemski remains an essential piece of the Warriors’ 2025-26 puzzle. He has led the Warriors in plus-minus since joining the team two seasons ago, connecting a variety of lineups with his quick decisions and energy. He’s starting on opening night, slotting in the backcourt next to Curry as Moses Moody nurses a calf injury. A to-be-determined fifth starter will join Curry, Podziemski, Green, and Jimmy Butler — if his tweaked ankle is cleared — against the Lakers on Tuesday. 

Podziemski said he hasn’t thought about this season being a contract year (he’ll be eligible for a rookie extension next summer) and he’s assured that he used this summer to make the types of marginal improvements to his mindset that he and coach Steve Kerr are hoping for. 

“I’m going into this season with a clear head, clear mind,” Podziemski said. 

By now, Podziemski knows how the NBA discourse complex works. Say something, have a bad game, get it thrown back in your face. Rinse, repeat. Even with some grandiosity here and there, he’s more guarded, more measured at the postgame podium now than he was as a rookie. 

Which circles back to his comments from last week. He knows how people will interpret them. 

“I just think people are going to look at it in the most negative light they can,” Podziemski said. “You know, say, ‘Oh, he wants to be the face of the franchise and he’s not even doing X, Y, Z.’ And I know that’s how it’s going to be portrayed. All that really matters is that the vets know what I was saying.” 

Well, how did the vets take it? Green was asked about Podziemski’s comments on Sunday, and responded with a five-minute soliloquy only he could deliver. 

Green appreciates the respect Podziemski clearly has for the Warriors’ championship-winning veterans. And he loves the confidence Podziemski has always had. He cautions the young guard against being so public, though, hoping to shield Podziemski from the type of scrutiny star players receive. Like his mother told him when he was growing up, it’s good to be a kid as long as you can. In Podziemski’s case, there’s no need to speed up the clock on outside expectations. 

“Because the more you tell people, the more they use it against you and try to tear you down,” Green said.

Podziemski has already gotten a taste of that. He’s more of a Facetimer than a texter, but he’ll also scroll social media. He heard the noise when he shot 20% from 3-point range in the Warriors’ first 20 games last year, and again when he battled through core and wrist injuries in the playoffs (in a seven-game span, he shot below 30% from the field). 

But he finished the season strong, scoring a team-high 28 points in Game 5 against Minnesota. 

“You can look at the trajectory of this thing and where it’s all going, and we all believe that he’s going to be one of the guys who’s going to take the torch and run with it,” Green said. 

This summer, recovering from offseason surgeries, Podziemski poured over the film of his 12 playoff games. That was the toughest test of his career, playing against opponents who scouted him and game-planned to mitigate his tendencies. 

The postseason contained lessons for the guard, and both he and Kerr came out of it with a similar conclusion: growth must come in his mental game. Spend less time and energy bickering with referees. Don’t let a missed shot or turnover knock him out of rhythm. Play within himself and have a next-play mentality. 

“It was more so just between my ears, I can improve in that dramatically,” Podziemski said. 

He said he came to the realization this summer that there are things in life, and in basketball, that might upset him but are out of his control, so he has learned to let things go. 

Those are values Curry in particular embodies, and Podziemski has always been a close study of the two-time MVP. 

Green and Curry care about the Warriors organization to the point where they’ll be invested in the franchise even after they’re done playing. 

Podziemski, who’s more than a decade younger than them, feels the same way. He still has a lot to learn. At the same time, he’ll have a chance to be in blue and gold long after Curry and Green walk away — that’s the reality. With that in mind, they all want the same thing.

“When I’m 45, I don’t want to come and watch a sorry ass team play,” Green said. “I want to come and it’s jumping and you get the old feeling of how it was when you were doing it. That matters. So to hear BP say that, it’s exciting.”