Consistent greatness is fun. Dominance by just a few teams can make for great theater. Absolute forgone conclusion dominance becomes boring, and it’s bad for that sport especially any fringe fans.
When UCONN was on their incredible run of dominance winning 4 straight national titles, I don’t think I watched a women’s basketball game for years. When Tiger Woods has destroying the PGA Tour every week, I switched the channel once he got near the lead. Golden State is approaching that level dominance in the NBA. Should we loathe it or love it?
Golden State has obviously been a front-runner all year but the odds here suggest Toronto and Milwaukee are not far off. This year will finally have a team besides the Cavaliers coming out of the East but it’s tough to know who. With Boston and Philly in the mix as well there could be a logjam of elite teams battling it out in the Eastern Conference. That’s exactly what the NBA needs. The NBA needs a consistent rival to Golden State.
When was the NBA at it’s best over the last 40 years. For my money it was the Magic Johnson led LA Lakers battling it out with the Larry Bird led Boston Celtics. Throw in a dash of Julius Erving’s Philadelphia 76ers and you had some epic playoff battles. Then came the Bad Boys of Detroit to challenge the Lakers and Celtics. Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bull weren’t far behind to make their run. You had Houston winning a couple of titles, and then another 3 year run of the Bulls. The Spurs and Lakers had a great rivalry in the early portion of the 2000s. I wonder what we would have thought if Michael Jordan had never tried baseball, and we were looking at eight straight titles for Chicago.
I suppose we’ll never know, but we do have a problem now with Golden State. They are sucking the life out of NBA basketball. It’s not their fault. They need a challenger. Lebron James and his 2016 Cleveland Cavalier team are all that has stopped Golden State from four straight titles. The Clippers won’t much resistance in the first round either.
Golden State has shown some vulnerabilities though. They won 57 games this year, but that was fewer than the Toronto and Milwaukee teams that we’ve mentioned. There have been chemistry and injury issues much of the year. A blown 31 point lead against the Clippers in game 2 of their playoff series should also raise some concerns.
With Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins likely gone after the season, and possibly Klay Thompson too, maybe we should appreciate how good Golden State was for an extended period of time. If they win their 4th title in 5 years, they can be considered, if they already are not, one the great dynasties in NBA history. You know you’ve reached dynastic status when you are compared to other eras of basketball, and we often ask if Golden State could have played in the more physical 80s and 90s. We also ask how teams from back would have checked shooters like Seth Curry and Klay Thompson.
Maybe we should appreciate Golden State, because I sense this might be their last title in their dominant run of the last 5 years. In prefect world, Golden State would keep their roster together for a few more years while a rival came along. I’m not sure the Warriors will stay together long enough for us to see that, but we can hope.
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