The Golden State Warriors are the favorites to win the 2017 NBA Championship. At this point, that isn’t a controversial statement. Steve Kerr’s team entered the season as the front-runners from an odds perspective in Las Vegas, and after adding Kevin Durant to a 73-win team, that made all the sense in the world. Since then, Golden State racked up the best record in the league at 67-15, and for good measure, blew away the competition with a top-five net rating in the history of the NBA.
However, everyone (and I mean everyone) will judge the 2016-2017 Warriors based on what transpires in the postseason. That is the nature of the beast after blowing a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals, and everyone seems to recognize what is at stake for Golden State over the next two months. Well, almost everyone.
Stephen Curry, who is still the reigning two-time MVP of the league, doesn’t quite agree with that sentiment. In fact, he apparently believes that “there’s no pressure” on the Warriors as the playoffs arrive.
Curry. "In theory, we're not the hunted. We have the best record, but we're not defending a championship. Really, there's no pressure."
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) April 14, 2017
To be at least somewhat fair to Curry, the Cleveland Cavaliers are facing an immense amount of pressure, simply because they were also the consensus pick to represent their conference in the NBA Finals. Still, LeBron James already eased the most considerable burden by bringing a title to the franchise, and the notion that Golden State isn’t facing pressure to claim glory is, quite frankly, preposterous.
Curry and the Warriors might want to play free and loose because that is when the team operates at its highest level. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. However, it seems crystal clear to everyone else in the NBA world that the Warriors are the definition of a “title or bust” team based on their roster composition and the extenuating circumstances following last year’s historic collapse. Deep down, Stephen Curry probably realizes that his team is under considerable pressure, but if he doesn’t, he’s just wrong in this case.
