The Warriors use criticism as motivation and even have a group chat to share negative stories

The Golden State Warriors have made it clear that their championship season was no fluke.

After winning 67 games and the championship last year, the Warriors have gotten off to a scorching 24-0 start to this year.

While there's no doubting the talent of the roster, one of the knocks against the Warriors last year was that they stayed healthy throughout the season while facing diminished opponents in the playoffs.

This bothered Golden State, with Draymond Green and Stephen Curry lashing out before the season at people who criticized their fortune.

In general, the NBA world believes that continuity and the knocks against their success have fueled the Warriors' hot start. Their historic start has been a statement that they weren't lucky last year.

On a podcast with USA Today's Sam Amick, Warriors center Andrew Bogut confirmed that the Warriors are quite aware of their critics, and they find motivation in criticism. Specifically, the Warriors have a group text message where they send each other critical stories in the media that they use as motivation.

"We obviously see some headlines, whether it was how Indiana was going to beat us the last game (on Tuesday) or whatever it is," Bogut told Amick. "And we'll put it in the group chat. We're not running away from it, or trying to hide from it. We actually like that, and we're looking for different things to motivate us and fuel us along the way, along the journey."

When Amick asked Bogut if the Warriors find it themselves or if they have an aggregator, Bogut said it's a little bit of both, noting, "Most of us do, we like that stuff, and we're not afraid of that criticism or controversy."

Bogut also noted that Green is one of the teammates who's posting articles in the chat the most.

Perhaps this is commonplace for other teams, but the Warriors don't seem shy about admitting it. Athletes often talk about how hard it is to stay motivated over a long season, particularly after winning a championship. The Warriors were historically good last season, and even better this year. If people still want to doubt them, that seems like a pretty good source of motivation.

Listen to the entire podcast here >