More than America’s Team

Are the Warriors America’s team?

Got to be careful here. That term originated with the Dallas Cowboys of the ’70s and ’80s. When the Cowboys became bloated with their own Texassize self-importance and did some bad-boy things, the term became ironic.

But if there is a sports team right now that is universally admired and gawked at, it’s got to be the Warriors, right?

Maybe not if you live in Los Angeles or Cleveland, but if you’re in Sheboygan, Wis., or Sioux Falls, S.D., you’re either on the Warriors’ bandwagon or running alongside it, ready to make the leap.

Charles Barkley hasn’t jumped onto the Warriors’ bandwagon, which is good. Might collapse the whole thing. Barkley’s reservations about the Warriors are not show-biz, stir-it-up contrarianism. He truly believes they are gimmicky, and a bit soft, especially compared to the top teams of his day.

It’s hard for Barkley to shake loose of his playing days and move into the NBA’s present reality. Maybe there was more street fighting on the court back then, but if the NBA of Charles’ day was as tough as he and Dennis Rodman remember it being, they wouldn’t be around to wax bombastic about it.

Pretty much everyone else is blown away by the Warriors. It hurt them in terms of respect that they got help in the playoffs by opponents’ injuries, but the Warriors’ start this season is winning over most skeptics. Thursday night’s victory over the Clippers might have been the hottest Game 13-of-82 in NBA history.

If the Warriors’ lack Barkley Era back-alley toughness, they make up for it with stuff fans love: Speed, daring, teamwork, defense, likable players and individual greatness within a team concept.

“America’s Team” won’t work as a label. Too recycled, too Cowboyish. And too geographically limited, since Stephen Curry and his crew are white-hot in China and at the North Pole.

How about The Most Interesting Team In The World?

I bet the Dos Equis beer dude is a big Warriors’ fan. He probably sends texts to Steph and the boys reminding them, “Stay hungry, my friends.”

Frederic J. Brown / AFP / Getty Images The Clippers tried to surround Warriors point guard Stephen Curry on Thursday, but he still soared to the forefront in Golden State’s win in Los Angeles.