Maybe hating on the Warriors is its own form of bandwagon-ism.
Thanks to Kawhi Leonard’s magnificent efforts, we have a new challenger from the Eastern Conference to face the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.
Just about everyone is looking forward to a Toronto Raptors win, a byproduct of the hate for the Warriors that came to life as soon as Kevin Durant made his decision to play in the Bay Area.
And yeah, I get it. Most people tend to pull for the underdog, and I’m no different. The Raptors have never even been to the championship round before, and having them around is just – put simply – refreshing.
As someone who consumes (and writes) NBA content, it also opens up so many new discussion points. Hell, just typing ‘the Toronto Raptors are in the NBA Finals’ is kinda fun!
But therein lies the difference. I like having the Raptors at this stage, and it would certainly be cool if they could win it all. But that’s me wanting the Raptors to win, not wanting the Warriors to lose. There’s a distinction there.
Why the hate for Golden State?
It’s not even about having a non-Warriors champ this year. As a Dallas Mavericks fan, the only team I really didn’t want to win was the Houston Rockets. Anyone else would’ve been alright or great by me, including Golden State.
I’d say that this is largely down to the fact that they’ve played pretty aesthetically-pleasing basketball all along. Even before the recent throwback to the pre-Durant days (which has brought up all kinds of ‘aRe gOlDeN sTaTe BeTtEr WiThOuT kEvIn DuRaNt???’ hot takes), they’ve always been fun to watch.
(For the record, as ESPN’s Zach Lowe has written, the Warriors are a championship-level team without Durant; with him, they are nigh invincible. So, the answer is no. The Warriors are objectively not better without KD.)
How could you truly dislike a team that entertains like the Warriors do?
I guess the hate stems from how they’ve made the season a journey with an inevitable end the past few years? But take a step back and think about it: It’s only been five years of GSW in the Finals.
Of that five, they lost one after being up 3-1, and were the darlings of the basketball world for the first title win. So, people are getting mad over just three years of dominance stemming from the smartest team building and fluid basketball this side of the San Antonio Spurs.
Come on, man.
Maybe it’s because I have a higher tolerance for periods of dominance, coming from a childhood of following football (soccer for any Americans in the audience). Football is a sport defined by whole decades of super-dynasties, from the Liverpool teams of the ’60s to the ’80s, to Manchester United in the ’90s and 2000s, and the ongoing virtual monopolies in Germany’s Bundesliga and France’s Ligue Un.
What I’m saying is, it could be so much worse! I drifted away from football and fell in love with basketball largely due to the existence of a salary cap.
(And, you know, Dirk. Of course.)
A salary cap means that no team can ever pull a Paris Saint-Germain and ensure a title every year. It means that even the very best teams in the NBA break up after two to three years as costs begin to outweigh production.
GSW has done a great job working within the rules – why are we hating on smart and ambitious management?
I hope that NBA fans can look forward to the Finals this season in a positive way. The hate for the Warriors is unwarranted.
Root for the Raptors, or root for Golden State, whichever team you prefer. Just make sure you’re cheering for someone to win, and not for someone to lose.