Complacency might be the biggest threat to champion Warriors
This past summer, in the afterglow of the Warriors’ second NBA title in three years, links to news articles repeatedly surfaced in the team’s group text.
It was the players’ way of making sure everyone monitored one of the most frenzied offseasons in league history. Eight marquee players ultimately switched teams, blockbuster moves made with a singular purpose: narrowing the chasm between Golden State and its NBA peers.
That franchises were willing to gamble their long-term futures to better contend with the Warriors amused the players. Golden State wants a challenge, but the team realizes that no roster makeover by opponents will change the Warriors’ undisputed frontrunner status.
“We know what we have here,” Draymond Green said. “If we do what we need to do and take care of business, we should win another championship.”
Golden State begins its title defense Tuesday returning 12 players, including Green, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, from a team
that would have gone 16-0 in the playoffs had Cleveland not sunk 24 three-pointers in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. The offseason signings of Nick Young, Omri Casspi and Jordan Bell were upgrades.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr recently told Young and Casspi, NBA journeymen who have been starters for much of their careers, not to get frustrated if their playing time is inconsistent. “This isn’t just the deepest team you’ve ever played on,” Kerr explained. “This is probably the deepest team we’ll ever have here.”
In addition to four AllStars, the Warriors boast a bench loaded with players who would be in the rotation for almost any other team. Andre Iguodala, a former NBA Finals MVP, is Golden State’s sixth man. Thompson is one of the best two-way players in the league, but probably only the fourth best member of his own team.
Thus the Warriors enter their season opener as the heaviest favorites in league history, at 5-8 odds. Ninetythree percent of general managers expect Golden State to repeat, per a recent NBA.com survey. Las Vegas has the Warriors winning 13 more games than any other team.
It all has forced the rest of the NBA to answer a tricky question: What do you do when a franchise seems almost unbeatable?
In the wake of the Warriors’ dominant postseason, many teams either opted to rebuild or mortgaged some of their top assets for the chance to push Golden State. The Bulls traded Jimmy Butler to the Timberwolves on draft night. Less than a week later, the Rockets added Chris Paul to a backcourt with James Harden.
The Warriors’ iPhones lit up frequently with news about drama unfolding in Cleveland. Eventually, Isaiah Thomas and Dwyane Wade were teamed with LeBron James on the Cavaliers. Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward joined the Celtics. Little more than a year after Durant’s departure, Oklahoma City brought in Paul George and Carmelo Anthony.
“I'm mostly worried about our team and concerned with what we're doing,” Kerr said, “but it’s always fun to follow the rest of the league, too.”
By the time free agency and a chaotic window of trades finally closed, the NBA was further stratified into the haves and have-nots.
The Eastern Conference, suddenly pillaged of many of its superstars, is left with two title contenders — Cleveland and Boston — and a cast of wannabes and talent-drained teams bound for the lottery. The Western Conference features several improved clubs eyeing deep playoff runs, but no team that would be picked to beat Golden State in a seven-game series.
“Our swag level is through the roof, as it should be,” said Durant, who took roughly $9 million less than the max contract he could have signed this past summer to help keep Golden State’s core together. “You’re the best team in the league, and you beat a bunch of teams to win a championship. Of course, your swag is going to be through the roof.”
Balancing that self-assuredness with an awareness that they’re not invincible could be more important than any opponent Golden State faces this season.
The Warriors are susceptible to inattention. Last season, after building a big lead, Golden State often got lackadaisical and let its opponent back into the game. Squandering a 24-point, second-half lead to Memphis at home on Jan. 6 was a nadir.
Only 16 months ago, a storm of adversity left Golden State grappling with the biggest collapse in NBA Finals history. And no amount of talent can shield it from the randomness of injuries or suspensions.
Now, as they again try to defend their NBA title, the Warriors are making a point not to overlook anyone. It’s why players repeatedly copied and pasted links to their group text about the league’s blockbuster moves.
“You still got to lock in every possession if you want to win,” Durant said. “The beauty about this team is that, no matter what goes on, we’re still always going to go out there and be locked in every possession of the game.”