Golden State Warriors’ Gary Payton II and Juan Toscano-Anderson watches pregame festivities before playing Boston Celtics during Game 1 of NBA Finals at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, June 2, 2022.

Business decisions can be rough on the heart. Sentiment takes a back seat to thrift, and the bitter truth cannot overwhelm a tremendous sense of loss.

That’s where we find the Golden State Warriors in the wake of three sudden, somewhat shocking departures: Gary Payton II to Portland, Otto Porter Jr. to Toronto and Juan Toscano-Anderson to the Lakers.

Just like that, the Warriors lost a big chunk of their soul. They will recover, make no mistake about that. None of these transactions changed an overriding Western Conference mood that Golden State will get back to the Finals. But for fans still celebrating the fourth title in eight years, this is a different kind of pain.

It’s the memory of Payton getting back on the court, probably a bit too early but crucial to his state of mind, after rehabbing his fractured left elbow. He took a few warmup shots on that first night back (Game 2 of the Finals) and looked so terrible, observers figured he wouldn’t be casting off in the actual game. But he did — and hit his first shot, a 3-pointer from the left corner.

Defensively, it was hard to find an NBA guard more possessed or consistently disruptive, an invaluable weapon off the bench. When Payton set his mind to dunking through a lane of traffic, he threw it down with a ferocity that brought teammates off the bench in euphoria. It’s maddeningly difficult to accept that he’s gone, but he’s been around too long (turns 30 in December) to bypass a more lucrative commitment.

The Warriors’ roster proved to be so deep, there was barely room for Toscano-Anderson in the playoffs. He became something of an afterthought, but not in the minds of fans who knew his story: the pride in his mixed heritage, the tight family unit in East Oakland, overcoming the sting of going undrafted, how clearly and passionately he spoke of it all. You can easily spot a bummed-out player on the bench, fretting over lost playing time, but Toscano-Anderson was forever engaged, reveling in the big picture and the grand spectacle before him.

Porter didn’t have a sentimental connection to the fans, but he proved to be the latest wise acquisition by general manager Bob Myers. Go straight to the Finals — where Porter averaged 17 minutes, 58.8 percent shooting and 56.3 from 3-point range — to realize what he meant to coach Steve Kerr.

Myers has developed an especially deft touch with his reclamation projects and free-agent signings, so expect more of the same as the offseason progresses. Even in a reserve role, players know it’s a privilege to join the Warriors’ culture and fundamentally brilliant system. So what becomes of the departed?

Payton could have landed with a dull, aimless team and faded from relevance. But now he’s teamed up with Damian Lillard, who longs to get his Trail Blazers past the Warriors just one time, and an improved roster featuring Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons, Josh Hart and Joe Ingles. It should be quite a spectacle when Lillard’s crew hits Chase Center for the first time.

It appears that Porter will be a nice fit in Toronto, a team still trying to recapture the magic of its 2019 championship. The Raptors have some depth at small forward, including Rookie of the Year candidate Scottie Barnes, but there are rumors that mainstay OG Anunoby could be traded.

As much as the Lakers value Toscano-Anderson, their massive roster shakeup is just beginning with no guarantees. People didn’t know much about Talen Horton-Tucker when the Lakers acquired him from Orlando three years ago, and he developed into a valuable rotation piece. Then there was Kent Bazemore, who left the Warriors for L.A. and saw his dreams completely dismantled, playing 10-plus minutes just five times after Christmas — if he played at all.

Now it’s all about the next-level talent in the Warriors’ youth movement — explosive Jonathan Kuminga and two-way threat Moses Moody — not to mention emerging star Jordan Poole and some potentially interesting draft choices. They’re going to be fine. But when they promised fans they’d do everything possible to keep the gang together, they actually had other things in mind. Let the depression run its course.

In all of sports, there isn’t a more generously designated sector of media seating than Wimbledon’s Centre Court — right behind the service line, directly across from the Royal Box — and that was my vantage point for Serena Williams’ championship in 2002, her first at the All England Club. What she accomplished that day, and so many times thereafter, renders meaningless her first-round exit from this year’s tournament.

Nobody knew quite what to make of the Williams family at that point. Two years prior, when Serena lost to sister Venus in the Wimbledon semifinals, both of them looked miserable at the finish. Between the family ties and rumors that their match results were prearranged, one had difficulty making a full emotional investment.

That all changed in 2002, when Serena’s 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory produced the greatest power display the women’s game had ever seen. The competition wasn’t vicious or mean-spirited, but it was real, no holding back, with awe-inspiring exchanges of shots unreturnable for anyone but themselves. The crowd noise blossomed into enthusiastic roars, and I forget who was sitting next to me, but at one point we just stared at each other, trying to measure this against all we had witnessed in Grand Slams past.

I won’t remember Serena at 40, struggling with her conditioning and strategy in that three-hour loss the other day. I’ll remember her first major title at 17, over Martina Hingis at the U.S. Open, and the most soulful looks of appreciation I’ve ever seen on a teenage athlete. I’ll recall her winning the 2017 Australian Open during her first trimester of pregnancy, or returning to dominate the sport after life-threatening experiences with a hematoma and pulmonary embolism.

The greatest ever? That’s a three-way tie for me. I saw too much of Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova, the two best athletes ever to grace the big stage, to leave them out. They probably had stiffer competition than Serena’s among contemporary rivals. But Williams doesn’t need that 24th major — the one that would tie Margaret Court’s all-time record — to validate her career or solidify her legacy. It has long been written in stone.

Bruce Jenkins writes the 3-Dot Lounge for the San Francisco Chronicle. E-mail: jenksurf@gmail.com. Twitter: @Bruce_Jenkins1

Bruce Jenkins has written for the San Francisco Chronicle since 1973 and has been a sports columnist since 1989. He has covered 27 World Series, 19 Wimbledons and many other major events, including the Super Bowl, World Cup soccer, NBA Finals, four major golf tournaments and U.S. Open tennis championships.

He graduated from Santa Monica High School in 1966 and UC Berkeley with a B.A. in journalistic studies in 1971.