During turbulent time in NBA, Warriors enjoy smooth sailing
Coaches get fired. Players get fired up.
A lot happens over the course of the NBA season. In this wacky week, it came in one day.
The Cavaliers lost more games and apparently some patience with Kevin Love, and Jason Kidd lost his job in Milwaukee. Not even the stoic Spurs were immune on the manic Monday, with ESPN reporting there were differences between Kawhi Leonard and the team due to frustration in his recovery from a quadriceps injury.
In a time of turbulence around the NBA, the only smooth sailing, it seems, remains by the Bay Area.
The Golden State Warriors seem to be drama free, in part because of lessons Steve Kerr learned while playing for Gregg Popovich and Phil Jackson. They understood that losing games didn't mean having to lose control, and their championship teams weathered whatever storms popped up quickly and quietly.
"Wonderful balance of this is our job and we should be passionate about it, we should work our tails off every day and we should be competitive and want to win and get after it, but if we don't, it's OK," Kerr said of those coaches. "It's not the end of the world. You've got other things going on in your lives."
Teams are beyond the midway point of their seasons, when they want to be building championship habits. But the only thing the Cavs are creating is more chaos.
They followed their blowout loss to Oklahoma City on Saturday with a team meeting Monday in which fingers were reportedly pointed at Love, who missed practice Sunday because of an illness.
"I'm numb to it at this point," he said Tuesday in San Antonio, hours before another loss. "We've been to three straight Finals. We've been able to thrive under a certain amount of chaos at some points."
The Warriors just avoid it.
COMING THIS WEEK
Minnesota at Portland, Wednesday. There could be a celebratory feel in the Moda Center after Damian Lillard was selected for the All-Star Game on Tuesday.
Washington at Oklahoma City, Thursday. Scott Brooks brings his current team back to face his old one in a matchup of the fifth-place team in each conference.
Minnesota at Golden State, Thursday. Half the Western Conference All- Stars in one game, with four Warriors and Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns from the Timberwolves.
Boston at Golden State, Saturday. The current No. 1 seeds meet in a nationally televised showdown.
Philadelphia at Oklahoma City, Sunday. Rematch of perhaps the game of the season in the NBA, the Thunder's 119-117, triple-overtime victory on Dec. 15.