Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports
The Golden State Warriors are set to have one of the worst, most disappointing seasons in NBA history.
Well, probably not. But I sure would love to see them fail.
In spite of an almost perfect regular season record and a 3-1 series lead, the Warriors finally succumbed to the demi-god that is LeBron James. Within a week, all their regular season success seemed worthless. The historic team failed their mission and had the summer to retool and make small adjustments to their squad.
Or they could just sign one of the top two players in the NBA not named Steph Curry.
And thus the fate of the NBA was sealed.
In case you have been living under a rock or in Amish country this summer, you probably heard about Kevin Durant’s big move to the Bay Area. The almost undisputed back-to-back champs signed the virtually un-guardable 7-foot string bean.
That’s right, KD just joined a team that already boasts two-time reigning MVP Steph Curry and two other superstars in Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. The same Warriors team that spent last season eviscerating the competition and even bested Michael Jordan’s 1996 Bulls record of 72-10.
The rich get richer.
Last year I was cheering for baby faced Steph Curry as he chucked up pre-game shots from the tunnel and chewed on his mouthpiece like a teething puppy. Hell, I even had his back when he threw a fit like a child on national television and threw his mouthpiece into the crowd.
But now that the Warriors have become the equivalent of Space Jam’s Monstars, it’s hard to root for them. Sure, the Warriors will sell the most jerseys and have signed on to have the most nationally televised games in the league. Their already hyphy fan base has only puffed their chests since their acquisition of Durant, and rightly so. The die-hard Durant fans will follow Golden State and those who simply like super-teams have already caught on.
But the rest of us (and there is a lot of us) were left with a bad taste in our mouth this summer. Durant wasn’t leaving an incapable team, he and Westbrook were one game away from sending Steph Curry home and advancing to the Finals. He wasn’t only leaving a great squad; he was joining the best regular season team of all time.
Not one, not two, not three, but four superstars are teaming up to wreak havoc on the league for years to come. I’ll take LeBron’s The Decision over Durant’s humble departure letter any day.
Regardless of how many argue with commissioner Adam Silver, he hit the nail on the head when he declared Golden State’s signing of KD “bad for the league”. Say what you will, Durant took the easy way out. He saw the easiest path to an NBA title and took it, and no one can fault him for that. I would rather go to Subway than make a sandwich, or something like that.
Still, it’s never easy to see people get greedy and take more than they need. Joe Lacob was already “light years ahead of the NBA”. He had three of the top ten players in the league at his disposal, and unless another team has LeBron James they weren’t losing a seven game series for years to come. KD’s arrival spells doom for many up and coming Western Conference teams, and that’s a bad thing.
There has been a new precedence set for superstars in the NBA: the only way to win is to group up with other superstars until the balance of talent in the league is so heavily swayed, they resemble an All-Star team.
This is good for media outlets, but it’s not good for the league. That’s why when the Warriors match up with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round, I’ll be rooting for a David and Goliath type upset.
Durant is a good guy, and a great basketball player. But his move to the West Coast felt cheap, and only encourages superstars to spurn their hometown teams and form some type of Avengers-like squad to rule the NBA. Maybe I’m wrong and maybe the new look Warriors are just what the league needs.
All I know is that I’m hoping the Warriors lose every game this season.
