For the first time since the 2014 regular season, the Golden State Warriors’ annual visit to Cleveland will not be the expected NBA Finals preview. That’s what happens when LeBron James leaves town, as the four-year rivalry between the Cavs and Warriors has come to an end.
Golden State leads their rivalry 3-1 (ironically enough) in championships, with the lone blemish on that record being the incredible comeback from 3-1 down by Cleveland in 2016. That series, ultimately, set in motion everything that led to the ultimate demise of the Cavs. Kevin Durant decided to join the Warriors and has noted he probably wouldn’t have had they won. LeBron James delivered on his promise to bring Cleveland a championship, freeing himself up to eventually leave without the feeling of betrayal from 2010, and somewhere in there, Kyrie Irving grew frustrated enough to want out.
So now the Warriors head to Cleveland on Wednesday to take on the Cavaliers in a game that has no hype and no real stakes beyond the impact of a win or loss has on the two teams’ regular season record. That’s a bit weird, and in the build up to the game The Athletic’s Anthony Slater spoke with a number of the Warriors’ stars about the rivalry, its end, and their feelings about going to Cleveland now.
There are plenty of interesting quotes, but the absolute best one comes from Klay Thompson, who was asked about the infamous Cavs Halloween party in 2016 that featured all the 3-1 trolling about their comeback against the Warriors.
“Oh, yeah. Ha!” Klay said. “That was funny. Look how that turned out. Psssh. Bums. That was crazy. I forgot about that. Well, look at what pettiness gets you. Gets you 1-8 in the Finals. Idiots.”
It’s a spectacular quote from Thompson, who isn’t always recognized for being, quietly, one of the best interviews in the league. Thompson doesn’t really care about what people think of him or what he says, so while Draymond is often considered the one most likely to say something controversial because he embraces trash talk more, every once in a while Klay will drop an incredible quote like this one — the “Bums” part is the best.
The Warriors got the last laugh, obviously, in their rivalry with the Cavs, but if you ask anyone in Cleveland, they wouldn’t do anything differently and even if Golden State got more titles, they will always lord the 3-1 comeback over them until the end of time.
