The Golden State Warriors signed Kevin Durant, forming a super team while proving that owner Joe Lacob was right–they’re light years ahead of the NBA.
The Golden State Warriors lost the NBA Finals in heartbreaking fashion.
Then they turned around and broke the hearts of basketball fans everywhere by winning free agency. Signing Kevin Durant away from Russell Westbrook and his beloved Oklahoma City is one of the biggest free agency coups in NBA history, up there with LeBron James heading to South Beach and Shaquille O’Neal packing his bags for Hollywood.
The 2015-16 season was one filled with so much history for Golden State.
As records were shattered, Warriors fans let everyone know about it, taking to social media to express their feelings after so many doubted their title run the year before. Stephen Curry, the league’s first ever unanimous MVP, was skipping into every arena, dropping a light 30, and dancing on opposing team’s floors. The team embraced the villain role, asserting their dominance and then rubbing into everyone’s faces.
This #ArrogantSzn movement reached it’s peak with owner Joe Lacob and his comments featured in a New York Times profile. He made some bold comments about the Warriors’ status in the NBA:
"[Lacob] boasted that the Warriors are playing in a far more sophisticated fashion than the rest of the league. “We’ve crushed them on the basketball court, and we’re going to for years because of the way we’ve built this team,” he said. But what really set the franchise apart, he said, was the way it operated as a business. “We’re light-years ahead of probably every other team in structure, in planning, in how we’re going to go about things,” he said. “We’re going to be a handful for the rest of the N.B.A. to deal with for a long time.”"
And so the Warriors’ owner, their savior who bought them and wrestled the franchise away from toxic ownership, became the face of Golden State’s arrogant movement.
And it apparently backfired when the Warriors lost a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. They jinxed themselves, losing to both LeBron James and their own hubris. The Warriors were stunned, sent into the offseason without a trophy and with huge questions surrounding their roster and their approach.
Iguodala just spoke of hanging with Curry and Durant in Turkey. Hey, who wants to start a "Durant to GSW in 2016???" rumor?
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) July 11, 2013
Everything has seemingly gone Golden State’s way over the last few years. Even their losses, on the biggest stage, seem to have actually been positive. Instead of hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy at the end of the season, the Warriors’ consolation prize is seven feet tall with the ability to pull up from anywhere on the court.
Pursuing Durant wasn’t a move they just made in the last few weeks. They weren’t winging it, making moves on the fly like the Boston Celtics. This wasn’t a small time theft; this was a full blown heist.
The Warriors had this moment marked on the calendars for (at least) two years now. They knew when Durant was going to be a free agent and despite achieving a historic amount of success, always kept this potential union in mind. Every move over the last few years has been with the presence of mind that Durant could want to take his talents to Golden State.
All season long, the Warriors’ players were in the superstar’s ear, telling him that they could use him. That together they can accomplish greatness. Even after Golden State completed their incredible comeback in the Western Conference Finals, Draymond Green made it a point to seek out Durant and let him know that they still want him.
Losing the Finals seems to have been worth it. Like the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors were martyrs, perishing for a noble cause. A cause greater than that one moment. They traded glory for the potential of even more in the long run.
The Warriors, under Steve Kerr, have changed the game. Curry and Klay Thompson are snipers that are showing basketball “purists” that you can win with jump shooters. Green is making everyone re-think what a good center looks like. They’ve revolutionized the small-ball game, creating an all-time great offense that doesn’t stand up to their creatively stupendous defense.
As an organization, the Warriors have transformed themselves from a laughingstock to the NBA’s most prized possession. They are the standard now. They exemplify greatness at every level, from management to social media. Under Lacob and Peter Guber, the Golden State Warriors have become a symbol for excellence.
So the Warriors are going to look for redemption, boasting a lineup with four All-NBA talents, three MVPs, and fourteen All-Star appearances. Their historic offense can only get better as the team has their eyes on a potential dynasty.
Everything the Warriors have done in the last few years have been extremely deliberate. They’ve valued the process over results and both have been wonderful. They’re playing chess while most of the NBA is still learning how to play Connect Four. They lost the Finals, but they’re the ones getting the last laugh.
Light years.