The Warriors won the 2016-17 NBA championship on June 12, 2017.
The Warriors essentially won the 2017-18 NBA championship less than a month later.
Here we are, the smoke of NBA free agency nearly clearing, and the Warriors are champs again: Champions of maneuvers, champions of spending, champions of savvy, champions of culture and champions of talent.
The rest of the league is looking like chumps again.
Joe Lacob, meanwhile, zips away for the summer in his Millennium Falcon, speed set to “Light Years.” Bob Myers rides shotgun.
The Warriors managed to:
- Make sure Stephen Curry got his $40 million-per-year deal, the largest average annual value in the history of the four major US sports;
- Make sure Andre Iguodala returned, at an eye-popping three years, $48 million, far above what we all thought they could pay;
- Make sure Shaun Livingston returned at a tidy and frugal three years, $24 million;
- Make sure Kevin Durant made it all possible by accepting a $25 million deal, not the expected $34 million or $31 million;
- Make sure to flesh out their bench shooting by adding Omri Casspi at the minimum $2.1 million;
- Make sure to flesh out their bench shooting even more, and add to their intrigue factor, by adding the eccentric and funky Nick (Swaggy P) Young at $5.2 million;
- …and make sure the league knows that Lacob, now welcoming the luxury tax into the Dubs’ financial books, isn’t here to mess around.
Now, you might be. But he is not.
The NBA must be flabbergasted at it all. Surely, the age-old human traits of greed or selfishness would eventually settle into the Warriors locker room. Surely, their budding dynasty, two titles deep, would begin to feel the pressure of egos clashing. Surely, a clash of management and player would lead to an inevitable fracture.
Surely, you can’t be serious. And stop calling the Warriors “Shirley.”
It sounds incredible to say, and with respect to Paul George in Oklahoma City and Chris Paul in Houston and Gordon Hayward in Boston, and with respect to the always-respectable Kawhi Leonard-led Spurs, but the Warriors are in the same place they were a year ago, after Durant’s seismic 4th of July fireworks in 2016: Waiting for the NBA Finals again.
Barring a nasty injury none of us would like to think about, the Warriors have re-loaded their shotgun and are ready for the hunt, as young and fresh as ever. The fear of Iguodala and Livingston’s departure never materialized. The fear of the luxury tax crippling them has not materialized.
The fear of on-court complacency may be the only legitimate opponent left in the Western Conference. That, and any fears that Swaggy P’s shoot-first, pass-later mentality will hurt the Steve Kerr offense. Based on Draymond Green’s Snapchat posts partying with the Swag Man, one senses they’ve already embraced him.
Yes, they would like more help at the ‘five’ position, and it’s likely to come with any of Zaza Pachulia or JaVale McGee or perhaps free agent Willie Reed. Yes, they still need to play the schedule and stay healthy.
But other than that? Any rumors of the Warriors’ demise have been greatly exaggerated. Or, did not exist at all. These are the salad days. The Warriors are champs, are in their prime, and are ready for more.