Goliath’s good for all business
The vilification of the Goliath State Warriors is an old trend made hotter by Boogie Cousins joining the tower of power in a city that was home to Tower of Power.
(Google it kids, and listen to their music.)
The hot take is that the Dubs are bad for basketball. That the 2018-19 season is over before it starts. That Joe Lacob and Bob My- ers and Steve Kerr gamed the system to create a monopoly and corner the Larry O’Brien Trophy market. But unlike the real world corporate three-card monte being played on Wall Street — keep a close eye and see if you can locate your pension — what’s happening in Oakland is entirely legal.
And the fault for creating this monster doesn’t even lie with the Warriors. As opposed to eight years ago when LeBron James and Chris Bosh got together with Dwyane Wade and decided to create an AAU-style team of ringers, what Golden State didn’t get through the draft and other deft moves, it got because of issues elsewhere.
Kevin Durant didn’t want to play with Russell Westbrook any longer in Oklahoma City, so he went looking for a new home. And DeMarcus Cousins wasn’t exactly lusted after by the New Orleans Pelicans or really anybody else. The Warriors didn’t recruit him; he recruited the Warriors. So that’s their fault? Most teams had questions about Cousins’ Achilles tendon tear and when he’d be available next season. And, beyond that, apprehension about Boogie’s psychological state. By all contact I’ve had with him and the word of people I trust closer to the situation, he’s a decent guy with some emotional issues that may not even be totally in his control.
The Celtics, for one club, were more than wary of Cousins’ temperament when they were incorrectly being rumored to be after him in recent years. No one would be so foolish as to deny his talent, but for the C’s and others, fit was a potential problem. Could he be counted on to play hard all the time, and be able to keep his head in the game when things got truly tense in the postseason.
And doesn’t it seem kind of funny to even be talking about that when he’s joining a team with noted volcano Draymond Green and Durant, whose penchant for getting into referees’ faces made them prime technical foul targets?
The bottom line is that Cousins was better on all accounts in New Orleans, but the Pelicans still wondered how much to offer. And when they got a chance on Julius Randle, they jumped.
So Cousins looked elsewhere, and he clearly figured that if he wasn’t going to attract a maximum contract anywhere, his best bet was on himself and a one-year deal with the Warriors. That offered him the best opportunity to rehab his Achilles without pressure and rehab his reputation.
As for whether this now makes the Warriors unbeatable, the same things were being said about them this year. But, despite the appearances from the Finals’ sweep of Cleveland, the brotherhood by the bay had some rocky internal times over the season.
And people also seem to ignore the very strong possibility that if Houston’s Chris Paul didn’t injure his hamstring in the Western Conference finals, the unbeatable Warriors may never even have made it to the title series.
The reason Golden State wins is not just because it has better players than other teams. Great collections of talent have failed before. But the Warriors seem largely devoid of the raging ego issues that doom some lesser-but-stillcapable clubs. And we recognize that even in the case of the Dubs, “largely devoid” is a relative term on today’s professional sporting landscape.
And this serves to make the Cousins signing even more valuable, for Boogie will be entering a good environment that should nurture him and his wondrous skill set.
And if the Warriors meet expectations and arrive at the 2019 NBA Finals, they could quite see another team that received the benefit of a player wanting out of somewhere else as much if not more than he wanted in to his new club.
One of the main reasons the Celtics are favored to be playing basketball next June is because they have Kyrie Irving. And they have Kyrie Irving because he didn’t want to play anymore in Cleveland, where, lest you forget, he hit the biggest shot in franchise history to secure the 2016 championship. If the Celts and Golden State meet, the latter will be atop the Vegas oddsmakers’ list. But that won’t make the Warriors bad for the game. People won’t turn away.
Just ask the PGA Tour if they were upset when Tiger Woods was regularly taking away his opponents’ will to live in the final round of tournaments. Ask the tour stops how much they missed his presence when he was fighting injuries. Ask the golfing powers how excited they are that Tiger is back with a chance to compete.
Each sport says it covets parity, but what’s better for interest, and, thus, business, is the drama that comes from the quest to best a behemoth. Those who can remember the ’80s can recall the disappointment among Celtic fans when their team didn’t get to face the Lakers in 1986, even if playing Houston meant an allegedly easier path to victory.
The Warriors are good for the game in addition to being damn good.