A loss to the Spurs on opening night followed by a couple of narrow victories against inferior opponents, and a certain segment of the basketball cognoscenti are already writing the Warriors’ eulogy. Such is the climate in Golden State this season where, because of their offseason acquisition of Kevin Durant, they’ve had little choice but to assume the role of villains.
Even before Durant, the Warriors were always a tad bit villainous. They have the most belligerent trash taker in the league (who also has a penchant for targeting people’s privates), the way they dominate their opponents is merciless to the point of being disrespectful, and they’re just quite simply leaps and bounds better than at least 27 other teams in the NBA.
For many, adding Durant to the mix just seems unfair, and there’s been a shifting tide of sentiment toward the Warriors where it’s clear that a growing number of NBA fans are rooting for them to fail this time around.
Steph Curry weighed in on the new level of scrutiny that has accompanied their formation of a super team this summer, via Chris Haynes of ESPN.com:
“We can’t control that,” Curry said to ESPN. “It’s kind of a hard thing to get at, because we’re not the ones writing stories. We definitely have fun and play a certain style whether you like it or not. That’s who we are, but I guess it took until this summer, this offseason for some negative stuff to be written about us. But if you’re winning, and you’re winning championships and doing what you’re supposed to be doing, the scrutiny usually is for a good reason, and that’s what it is.”
The Warriors’ saving grace has always been that they’re just so much gosh-darn fun to watch. They’re banking on that being what will eventually allow them to trade in their proverbial black hats as the season progresses, because it’s clear that the majority of them – aside from maybe Draymond Green – don’t really relish the bad-guy role.
Here’s what Andre Iguodala had to say, from the same piece by Haynes:
“At the end of the day, we’re all human beings,” Andre Iguodala told ESPN of criticism from media and fans. “We try not to listen to the chatter, but it can have an effect on you if that’s all you hear when we’re outside in public. They want to paint you as whatever they’re saying about what type of team we are. They want to hate us, but I’ve said from the beginning, the way we play, people enjoy watching us play, so it’s going to be hard for them to not like us.”
That is, of course, unless your favorite team happens to be on the receiving end of one of their beat-downs. It’s also a bit presumptuous to assume that everyone is in love with their style of play. High-volume three-point shooting is a fact of the modern NBA, but it certainly isn’t the end-all-be-all.
Likewise, the backlash over their Finals meltdown, when they blew a 3-1 series lead to the Cavs, has been relentless, and regardless of how well the Warriors play going forward, it will all be for naught unless it results in a championship. That’s the ultimate lesson of a 73-9 season, during which they were the darlings of the league, and a staunch reminder of how quickly public opinion can change.
