THE OPTION | I Hate the Golden State Warriors and You Can Too!
They're Bad for Basketball.
The Golden State Warriors are the best team in basketball.
They've got four current all-stars on their roster (Curry, Green, Thompson, Durant), as well as former all-star and two time all-defensive player in Andre Iguodala. This is a team that's boasting a level of depth far greater than any other organization in the NBA. They've got everything a team needs from three point shooters to great defensive players to guys who can play one-on-one.
Still, the team's most important attribute isn't one that most people would expect. The Warriors, more so than anything else, are a team completely unburdened by pride. Forward Draymond Green had no problem calling Kevin Durant (while crying) and begging him to join the Warriors after they choked in the NBA championship to Cleveland in 2016. It's like the old saying goes, if at first you don't succeed, cry to the NBA's second-best player until he joins your team. Here's a dramatic reimagining of Green convincing his teammates that they need Kevin Durant, despite the fact that they were 73-9 during the 2015/16 season:
And so Golden State's terrible reign began, not with a bang but with a whimper, and instead of an incredible rivalry between two powerhouse teams (Lebron's Cavs and Curry's Dubs), the fans have been slighted. We're all now forced to watch a virtual all-star team trounce everyone in their path. Last year, the Warriors lost one playoff game. One. And that was after they'd assumed a 3-0 lead in the championship series.
This year, the Warriors have rolled over both the Spurs and the Pelicans, and after last night's performance, the Dubs look pretty poised to beat the Rockets in the Western Conference Finals. Houston's iso-ball and old school style of play, in which James Harden spends 10-15 seconds of every possession just standing there, will not be enough to stop a Warriors team with this much fire power. It doesn't matter how well Eric Gordon shoots or how well Chris Paul passes, when the Warriors have three guys (Klay Thompson, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant) who shoot over 40% from three with close to a 50% field goal percentage. Even if the stars occasionally align, like they did in Houston's game two victory, the chances of Durant, Thompson, and Curry all going cold at the same time are incredibly slim. This isn't even considering how Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala can shut opposing teams down defensively.
I know it's only 2-1 right now, but barring a miracle, Golden State is going to the championship this year, and every self-respecting basketball fan recognizes them as the bad guys. They're just like the Yankees, or the Patriots. Who wants to root for a milquetoast, crybaby team? The Eastern Conference doesn't offer much in the way of competitors. On the one hand you have Brad Steven's brilliantly-coached but injury-ridden Celtics, who have nowhere near the requisite firepower to make a championship series with the Warriors interesting. On the other, you have Lebron James' Cavaliers, a team so woefully incompetent that in a game in which Lebron went 42-10-12 with 55% shooting, they only managed 94 total points. Whichever team makes it out of the Eastern Conference, is going to be a huge underdog, but with that said, they will have every basketball fan in America (outside of the Bay area) rooting for them.
Still, even if the Celtics or the Cavs find a way to upset the Warriors in the championship, it won't matter. As soon as the final game ended, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson would, all–tears streaming down their faces, have a conference call with Kawhi Leonard in order to convince him to join their horrible franchise. After they've finally signed every all-star in the league, maybe the Warriors will be able to get that perfect season they've been chasing after.
Matt Clibanoff is a writer and editor based in New York City who covers music, politics, sports and pop culture. His editorial work can be found in Inked Magazine, Popdust, The Liberty Project, and All Things Go. His fiction has been published in Forth Magazine. -- Find Matt at his website and on Twitter: @mattclibanoff
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