A Dynasty On Break

(Originally written on December 21, 2019)

*contains controversial opinions

If anyone were to look at the NBA standings right now, they would (to put it simply) be surprised. The Warriors, who broke a record when they won the Western Conference for five consecutive years and 3 championships, are suddenly the worst team in the NBA. People might blame their disappointing performance on several factors: Kevin Durant leaving the team due to free agency, Klay Thompson having a torn ACL, the new team members who barely have any NBA experience; there is a multitude of reasons. However, I argue that the Warriors still have the potential to get through this slump. They just need a little time to settle in and learn how to play as one, fight as one, and win as one. This season for them is far from ‘disastrous’ or ‘pathetic.’ In fact, it is likely to be the most exciting and beneficial year for the Warriors and their fans.

However, when I say that this season might be exciting for the Warriors, some people might be confused. Take a step back and imagine it from a fan’s point of view. If you’re a fan of a team which won every single game, then there would be no point in being a fan. Supporting such a predictable team can lack the excitement and adrenaline that normally accompanies sports. Sure, the team may not be amazing, but who cares? You’re a fan. You live to see your team try as hard as they can, not always be victorious! There’s no point in going to a game if your team always wins. The Warriors barely even tried, because they knew they would always win, no matter what they did! But, if you look at the new Warriors, the team that is full of rookies they are much better than the old Warriors because they try to win. Shooting every open shot they can get, sweat dripping down their face from the effort they put in just because they want to win one game for their team, fouling and fouling until they’re almost fouled out; that’s trying. Seeing these Warriors play is and will always be the most exciting games to watch. Always.

Beneficial? people might say. Well, I certainly don’t see it. Being last in the NBA is not beneficial. Well, let’s take a deeper look at this. One major reason we’re last place is that these players haven’t been teammates for long. They’ve never played with each other and it takes a while to adjust to new teammates. But we do still have an ‘original’ on our team who isn’t injured: Draymond Green. He’s spent all of his career playing with Curry and Klay, and half of his career with Kevin Durant. Now, with Curry and Klay injured and Kevin leaving for another team, Green has had to make some adjustments. And I mean, you can’t really blame the guy. Now, he's the only championship player left on his team, surrounded by rookies. It’s hard! You have to find new plays to run, new ways to shoot. When I’m saying this season is beneficial, I mean it in the way that this season is sort of like an adjusting period for the Warriors. It is a season to experiment and see where the team is heading. It’s a time to learn each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and how to play as a team. As the season starts to go on, you can see the bond between all of them start to form. On November 1st, D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Poole scored a combined total of 50 points in 62 minutes, while on November 15th, Alec Burks and Eric Paschall achieved a total of 36 points in 63 minutes. These pairings are relatively good, which proves that once they learn to play together, they will end up winning together.

The Warriors as individual players are similar to coal: if you put enough pressure on them, they’ll turn to diamonds. What I mean with this is that the Warriors are, in reality, one of the strongest teams in the NBA. At this point, you guys are all probably thinking, She’s crazy. Well, you’re not wrong, but I’m not crazy for what I said earlier. When I say that the Warriors are one of the strongest teams in the NBA, I mean that they have an unbelievable amount of hidden potential. Once fans see the Warriors in last place, they dismiss them, not bothering to find the reasons they haven’t been playing well. But, if you look at a match’s highlights, or watch a match, you’ll see that even though the Warriors don’t exactly have the potential to match other teams, they are good. For example, let’s look at a match the Warriors played on November 8th, against the Timberwolves. Now, if you search this game up, you’ll see that they lost, and that this game is easily dismissed as another one of their ‘pathetic’ losses. But, if you watched the game, you know something that other people don’t. During that game, D’Angelo Russell scored a whopping 52 points, with 5 consecutive threes. On November 4th, Eric Paschall scored 34 points in 40 minutes. During a game with the Celtics, Alec Burks dropped 20 points in 30 minutes. All these players have so much potential that if this season, they just try to get their act together, they could really succeed next year and maybe, just maybe, win another championship for San Francisco.

So there you go. The Warriors aren’t last place. Sure, the amount of wins and losses says it all, but in reality, the Warriors might actually be the best in the NBA. The next time you see a Warriors match on, don’t just ignore it. Watch it. Because later on, you’ll realize, Huh. I almost missed watching a game played by one of the greatest teams ever.