I am not an NBA fan.
That’s not to say I’m not a big basketball fan… there is nothing more exciting than high school and college basketball.
But I don’t like the way it’s played on the professional level. You don’t see teamwork. You don’t see hustle. All you see is self-promotion… and a complete flaunting of the basic rules of the game. (When was the last time you saw a pro player called for traveling? Never. Exactly.)
But I was a big fan of the Golden State Warriors this year.
Because they played like no other NBA team. They played with teamwork and hustle. The played unselfishly. In doing so they brought up the level of play from their opponents, making games fun to watch again. In doing so they also won an NBA record 73 regular season wins.
Sadly the Warriors didn’t complete their magical season… losing Game 7 of the championship.
It’s only sports… but it matters to the Bay Area… we’re in shock… and mourning.
We’re swimming in a sea of “what if’s?”. What if the Warriors didn’t lose their big man Andrew Bogut? What if the Warriors were actually able to adjust to the obvious, that the Cavs were simply standing on the 3-point line taking away those shots, and that all the W’s had to do was simply take some easier/higher-percentage 2-point shots? What if the officiating wasn’t completely and utterly against Step Curry? What if the league didn’t job the Warriors and ridiculously suspend Draymond Green for Game 5 in an effort to balance out the series? What if Klay Thompson had just apologized for wearing a f***ing Dodger cap to a Giants game?
I suspect we’ll be talking about this for a long time into the future.
But — while this may be premature — let me be the first to pick myself up off the canvas and start the chant:
“74… 74… 74… !”
Here’s to an incredibly deserving Warriors team AND 74 regular season wins next year AND a 2017 NBA Championship!