In October of 2014, I decided that I was tired of not having an NBA team to root for. Pittsburgh is where I live, and naturally, we do not have a team (and we never will; get over it). My cousin, Alex Gordon, who has contributed to this sports blog in the past, lives near San Fransisco and is a big time Warriors fan. Alex and I already had a bond over sports, and I figured it would strengthen that bond if I started following his beloved Warriors. So that's what I did. I had no idea that who I chose to follow would become one of the biggest bandwagon teams in all of sports over the next year and 1/2.
As all sports fans know, between 2014 and 2016, the Warriors ruled the NBA, going a combined 140-24 over 164 regular season games. The won the title in 2015, but the joy was tampered due to whiny Cleveland Caviler fans complaining about Kevin Scrub and Kyrie Irving's injuries. Nonetheless, the Warriors were the best team in the NBA that season, and they deserved to be the champs. The next season, however, should have cemented Golden State as a dominant dynasty worthy of being discussed with the greatest teams in NBA history. They won 73 games (a new world record)! And were one win away from completing what would have been, record wise, the greatest season ever. Then, the choking began.
It started out looking like a slaughter. In the series first four games, Golden State was in command. They were up 3-1. They were already the better team. All they had to do was win one of a possible two more games on their home court, where they didn't lose until early April. They had all the firepower and all the momentum. Then they blew it.
As the Neon Trees song says; "It started with a whisper.'' A whisper, in this case, was the suspension of Golden States All-Star forward, Draymond Green, for Game 5 at Oracle Arena. The whisper led to an eruption from Cleveland's two stars, Lebron James and Kyrie Irving, combining for 82 points, allowing Cleveland to stay alive for another game. Green's suspension was for a very strange reason, and there is no telling what he would have contributed had he been active. It's possible that the Warriors would have won game 5 and, thus, the title. But he wasn't active, and the Warriors weren't champs.
As the opening line from Ben Harper's hit "Amen Omen" reads; "What started as a whisper, slowly turned into a scream". "The Scream" started in Game 6 when a fired up Cleveland team pounded Golden State by a score of 115-101. The Warriors showed signs of falling apart that night, particularly when superstar Steph Curry threw his mouthpiece into the crowd after fouling out of the contest. The momentum had shifted. But, Cleveland still had to win another game in Oakland.
No problem. Sure, Cleveland had the momentum. Sure, Golden State's center, Andrew Bogut, suffered a nasty knee injury in Game 5 and would not be available. Sure, Cleveland clearly frustrated and flustered Golden State in Game 6. But who could be against the home team in a series deciding game, especially when the home team had the greatest home-court advantage in the NBA, possibly of all time? Well, Lebron James happened.
Before I explode on Golden State, I have to give credit where credit is due. The Clevland Cavaliers deserve all the credit in the world, and Lebron James deserves all the credit in every other Galaxy. The Cavs were determined. The had an entire city on their backs, and they would not throw in the towel. Kyrie Irving was fantastic, Lebron James was godly, and his performance in game 7 was the greatest Game 7 performance in the history of the game, as was his performance throughout the series. Without saying a word, James told his critics to know their role and shut their mouths. Regardless of what happens in the future, Lebron has cemented his legacy, and may one day surprise Michael Jordan as the greatest player of all time, much to the dismay of all the MJ blowhards who may or may not have ever watched Jordan play. So, congrats to the Cavs, and congrats to the city of Cleveland. Party on.
As for Golden State, here is the best analogy I could conjure. Say Leanardo da Vinci started painting what would become his signature masterpiece, "The Mona Lisa.'' Leanardo works hard on it for some time. Then, when he is about 95% done with the painting, he takes the board, brakes it over his knee, and destroys the entire thing. That's what the Warriors did with the 2015-16 season.
All they had to do was not lose 3 in a row. That's it. With all do respect to Cleveland, the team that was better overall lost, and no Cavs blowhard could ever argue that. The Warriors were a historically great team. The Cavs were just a good team that won 18 fewer games in the regular season, all the while playing in the Mickey Mouse eastern conference. It was annoying that the Warriors let the series go six games. It was embarrassing that they let it go seven games. It was shameful that they lost the whole damn thing. If I had been wearing a gold shirt in Oracle on Sunday night, I'd have thrown it in
the direction of the Warriors bench. In fact, I'm surprised that fans didn't do that. A gesture of that nature would have been fitting, almost appropriate for the circumstances.
Is winning 73 games still one hell of an accomplishment? Yes. Do the Warriors still have a good shot at winning a championship or three in shortly? Of course. But the sad reality is that because Golden State could not close the deal on what should have been "the year of good feelings", this season should be remembered as a failure. If nothing else, I'll get to prove that I am not a bandwagon fan by sticking with Golden State and not shifting to Cleveland ("because they are the team closest to Pittsburgh"!) I will leave you all with a Facebook post courtesy of my cousin Alex himself.
I don't normally post long ranty things (or much of anything really), and almost never about sports, because I know that bothers a lot of people. With real world problems that need to be addressed I definitely understand why its petty to complain about a professional sports team losing that I am in no way directly involved in.
I just wanted to say this Warriors team meant a lot to me. Having loved this team since it was starting Curry, Monte Ellis, Dorrell Wright, David Lee and Andris Biedrins (never forget) they got here through building chemistry and trust. No matter what you think of them, overrated, incredible, lucky, they played basketball the way it was supposed to be played at the games highest level. That's something that only a few teams in the history of the NBA can claim. They were totally unselfish, they played for each other, and everyone contributed. It was beautiful to watch, and I loved that so many people got a chance to see that through the course of the regular season and became fans.
In the end they didn't lose because they chased 73. They didn't lose because Curry is playing hurt (the Warriors are too smart of an organization to play him if there was long term injury risk. The fact he missed three weeks of playoff intensity basketball is significant though). They didn't lose because Draymond got suspended, but I felt that the league had two different standards in the Oklahoma series and the finals. His suspension was definitely the turning point in the series. Its hard to play with a guy then without a guy then with a guy again at the highest possible level. I honestly think it cost them two games. That all being said to me they lost this series when Festus Ezeli went in with about five minutes left in the game. I love Festus, he's played great for the Warriors his whole career, but he wasn't being given the time or producing enough these playoffs to warrant having him out there at the biggest possible moment. I love Kerr's "stay ready" mindset coaching and I think its how you should do it, but it graphically backfired in these minutes, this was not the time or the place for it. The Cavs ran two straight pick and roles to get Festus switched on Lebron and he got fouled shooting a three and made a three. Six points right there. The final margin of victory was four. Who knows if the Warriors would have pulled it out had he not been in, but I'm sure they would have had a better chance. If Barnes needed a rest fine, put in Livingston, even Brandon Rush, but somebody that can switch without letting Lebron have whatever he wants.
The NBA is a predictable league, and over the course of seven games the better team almost always wins. I didn't feel like that was the case this series, and though I'm obviously biased, but as someone who spends way to much time watching basketball, it bothers me that a team that played basketball so beautifully will be penalized historically because of all these fluke things that made it so they couldn't win a championship.
(On a side note though, if it had to be against anyone im glad it was Lebron. If this finally makes people stop saying his finals record is trash, or he's never carried a team, and all this other junk on the internet I'm grateful. He plays basketball the way it was supposed to be played and should be talked about as one of the best to ever do it). sorry again about all this. Just needed to put it somewhere.
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