Take a look at what’s on the Golden State Warriors’ holiday wishlist for rest of the 2017-18 season.
I don’t want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
I don’t care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I just want the Warriors to win
And for the postseason to begin
Make my wish come true oh
All I want for Christmas are W’s
Yes, in case you wondering, the above lyrics are a re-imagining of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas”, done by yours truly with a Golden State Warriors twist. As much as I couldn’t stand that song growing up, it’s hard not to embrace it when the holidays roll around because it really does embody a lot of the excitement that comes with the holiday season.
We could go on about whether this excitement stems from receiving gifts or something a little more pure but, for the sake of your attention span and the topic at-hand, I will save that for a later date.
With the holiday season getting earlier every year (it started November 1 right?) and the climax of the holidays now rapidly approaching, I wanted to get into the holiday spirit by going behind the curtain at Oracle Arena, pretending that the entire locker room suddenly became 11 years old again and ask the question: “If the Warriors wrote a Christmas wish list, what would be on it?”
Regardless of whether you are a Golden State fan that has been riding with the team since the early holiday miracle that was the 2009 draft or you hopped on the bandwagon like an elf on Santa’s sleigh, you should naturally be excited about this year’s squad.
Despite some run-of-the-mill, early season hiccups, the Dubs are progressing as expected: sitting comfortable atop the NBA Western Conference, albeit from a slightly lower perch at second-best with their best players flourishing (mostly).
And yet, when you’re a team that’s destined to #striveforgreatness (yeah I know who started that; let’s move on) like this one is, it’s still not exactly enough — but hey, who says the rich can’t get richer?
With that being said, let’s dive into the things that would make the Warriors and their fans most happy this holiday season.
A slightly more decorated trophy case
The most obvious, and possibly relatable, wish of all. Sure, we all aren’t world-class athletes known the world over but didn’t we all when we were kids put that really cool item on the top of the list, in hopes that Santa Claus a.k.a Mom and Dad would get it for us? The thing that felt the most elusive but we still wanted anyway because it would overshadow literally everything else?
If the Warriors can secure the bag and grab the organization’s third ring in four years, all that would need to be said is “you better watch out” because we’re talking about obtaining all-time legendary status here, people.
Healthy ankles (shoulders, knees and toes)
Following Wednesday night’s 101-87 win against Charlotte, the injury report read as follows: Zaza Pachulia (returned from a shoulder injury but left midway through game), Patrick McCaw (nose contusion; out), Draymond Green (right shoulder; out) and, of course, the hometown hero Stephen Curry (severe ankle sprain; out).
No disrespect to the other three as they are key players in the rotation but Curry’s ankles have been an ongoing issue since he entered the league in 2009. I can recall a time where some talking heads and fans, including myself, worried that his ankles would derail his career. Steph has clearly outperformed everyone’s initial expectations in a major way, but his latest setback during Monday’s game against New Orleans is a scary visit from the “Ghost of Ankle Injuries Past”.
While he is only set to be sidelined for two weeks and the team has plenty of healthy stars to play in his absence, the Dubs have to do all they can to keep the ship afloat while their captain is out. They have to get the aforementioned players healthy and make sure Durant doesn’t miss any more games with his nagging leg injuries to avoid any sort of slip a la the Clippers in LaLa Land.
It’s still early in the season and managing players is something the Warriors do as well as anybody but getting it under control now will bode well as we enter the All-Star break. Definitely something to keep an eye on.
Less scrooge, more cheer out of Kevin Durant
“Bah! Humbug!”
This is what I imagine Kevin Durant mumbles to himself after every foul call he doesn’t agree with during games. It also seems to represent the doctrine that Durant has adopted heading into this season because, at the time of this publication, the “Durantula” has had his web snapped three times.
That’s right — KD has earned more ejections in just one season than he has in his entire 10-year career! It’s easy to jump right into questioning Durant’s emotional stability, but he acknowledged following his altercation with notorious hot-head New Orleans Pelicans’ center DeMarcus Cousins on Monday that he has to be better (via Nick Friedell of ESPN.com):
"“I got to be more focused, I got to be more poised,” Durant added. “I can’t let anybody take me off my game. I’ve been in the league too long. Especially somebody like Cousins, we know that he’s feisty, we know that he’s emotional. We know that he plays that way so I can’t get involved in that. That’s who he is, I got to be me.”"
He went on to follow up those comments with this classic overture:
"“We got in each other’s faces, but that’s just how it is, you know what I’m saying? It’s late in the game. Every time I get ejected I make sure it’s late in the game. I’m not messing up like that in the first or second quarter — make sure it’s late in the game if I want to do something."
At least we know he’s putting some thought into these ejections, right?
Although it may not seem like Durant is human given the incredible way he plays, he still is and, therefore, he can be allowed to mess up like the rest of us. But, as the old adage goes, “only time will tell” when it comes to seeing how he will respond to his “meaner” persona.
I, for one, as a Maryland native, support the DMV product and his new demeanor, but if he doesn’t shape up now, it could become a little more problematic (i.e., senseless suspensions) as the season wears on.
Too much milk and cookies for Cavs, Rockets, Spurs, Celtics
On LeBron! On Harden! On Aldridge and Kyrie! On K. Love! On Horford! On Coach Pop and CP3!
If you could combine the talent of these four teams, you would probably compose a roster similar to The Avengers (I like Marvel; leave me alone). Since a team like that is not legally possible, though, fans will just have to marvel at what these squads are doing. As it stands, the Rockets have the best win percentage in the West with the Spurs only 2.5 games behind the Dubs without “The Claw” Kawhi Leonard.
Meanwhile in Beantown, the Celtics continue to go all “Green Monster” on the league (and I’m not talking about The Hulk) as they have fought their way to a league-best 22-4 record without their second star, Gordon Hayward, which may or not change at some point this season. Cleveland, or Golden State’s officially unofficial rival as it were, have started to look their old selves despite still not having Isaiah Thomas as they are currently in the middle of a 13-game win streak.
The scariest part of all this for Warriors fans would be that each team has found success with incomplete rosters but, upon immediately looking back on Golden State’s body of work in the last five years, they go back to sleeping peacefully. These four teams, whether you want to take it seriously or not, are coming. They are coming for the number one spot (shoutout to Ludacris) and the Warriors have to be ready. While it may seem easy to overlook these teams as being too old or too young or too inexperienced in the postseason, it wouldn’t be wise to do.
Next: Surf City Summary (NEW Weekly Santa Cruz Warriors recap column)
We all remember Steph’s comments last month during Boston’s hot start and how blown out of proportion they were but if you look at it for the basic statement they were, it’s clear that they are paying attention. Cleveland-Golden State IV seems inevitable barring catastrophe but if Boston AND Houston AND San Antonio keep playing how they are, we could see a very different matchup in June…and I’m not talking about just in the East.