Dynasty forming in Oakland
Did anyone guess at the beginning of the NBA season that the Golden State Warriors would be where they are now? If you say you did, you’re probably lying.
No one saw this coming. No one saw Draymond Green being second in the NBA in triple-doubles or receiving the nod for an All-Star appearance.
You might have seen Stephen Curry hitting an ungodly amount of 3-point shots, but 8 away from a 400 three-ball season? What about him leading the league in points per game with 29.9 and on his way to his second MVP in back-to-back years?
Steve Kerr missed essentially the entire first half of the season; did you see Luke Walton leading the Warriors to a blazing hot 24 win streak to start the season before finally dropping a game?
No one saw this coming at all. So finally, with one game left in the regular season, the only thing that stands between the Warriors and the best record in NBA history are the Memphis Grizzles, currently locked up in the sixth seed in the Western Conference.
Granted, this is the same Grizzles team that nearly ended their quest for a record breaking, 73rd win just recently, with the Warriors pulling off a 1-point win on the road.
This is a record they should have absolutely chased since it’s become reality, how many chances did any team have at this since the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls set it?
I happened to start thinking about this while watching my hometown New York Knicks falter and miss the playoffs for the third straight season and in the process disappoint me in ways I thought they couldn’t possibly do anymore. Golden State gave me a decent enough reason to continue to watch basketball this season.
The reason was to watch history unfold.
Two months stand between now and the NBA finals, and as much as we’d all like to say that none of this matters if they don’t win a title, a 73 win season in a league full of superstars and established contenders is a huge deal.
Realistically speaking, the only team with a chance to beat this team in a seven-game series are the San Antonio Spurs. Other than that, good luck.
Whoever comes out of the East hasn’t shown much promise to get out of their own issues, and that includes the Cleveland Cavaliers.
I’m not going to say we should just hand them the title now, but if they keep up this level of play throughout the playoffs, we could see a dynasty forming in Oakland.
Editor’s note: Hall of Game is a weekly commentary series covering everything sports-related. Facts not attributed are purely the opinion of the writer.
