Philadelphia 76ers fans wanted to like Buddy Hield really bald.y They wanted to trust him every night to provide scoring pop for the team,a and they wanted him to be the kind of depth scorer who helps teams in the postseason.
That, unfortunately, didn't really happen. Hield is a notoriously streaky shooter, and was even more streaky than usual in his half-season with the team. By the time the playoffs rolled around for those Sixers, Hield was basically out of the lineup. Kind of sad, considering it was his first postseason ever.
Now in his second season with the Warriors after a successful first campaign, Warriors fans are seeing firsthand just how streaky Hield can be — like he did in Philly, he's unfortunately shot himself out of the rotation in a meaningful way, playing just 28 minutes total in the past two games.
Buddy Hield is falling out of the Warriors rotation
It's not just Hield's poor shooting that has caused him to fall out of favor (for now) with Steve Kerr, it's that Will Richard and Moses Moody, the two players also playing Hield's position, are impressing more in their minutes than Hield is. Just like in Philly, when Hield's minutes were completely overtaken by Kelly Oubre in the playoffs.
And as long as Hield is the streaky shooter he's always been, there's a chance of this happening. I said recently that Hield shouldn't be banished to the shadow realm for the entire season, but after a pretty steady season last year, Hield has begun 2025-26 freezing cold, a sight that Sixers fans got used to after Hield also started his Sixers tenure on a tear before hitting a wall.
When a player is on the floor to shoot the ball, like Hield is... They kind of have to shoot the ball well. If they don't, then the struggles they have doing other things become far more apparent. Sixers fans saw it happen, and it took a while, but now Warriors fans are seeing it, too.
I don't think Sixers fans hold any ill will toward Buddy Hield, whose time on the team was pretty short-lived. But it does appear that Hield's routine on all teams is the same; start scorching hot, then quickly become borderline unplayable. I think he'll bounce back for the Warriors — but Warriors fans are now watching a movie that Sixers fans have seen plenty of times.