Even before Kevin Durant’s announcement that he was signing with the Golden State Warriors on Monday, the sporting world was already beginning to crown “The Dubs” as next year’s champions.
Good game rest of league. Give the trophy to GSW now, we can all go home
— Haralabos Voulgaris (@haralabob) July 3, 2016
The truth is that nobody knew what was going to happen with Durant. Often times it’s the mystery of horror films that’s scarier than the actual monster, like when we finally see the robotic shark in “Jaws.” This was not the case with Durant. The final outcome of Durant’s signing is perhaps the most terrifying move in sports history.
Never before have we seen a power shift of this magnitude. Durant, a generational superstar in his prime, joined a team that is not only currently the best team in the league, but probably one of the best of all-time. Yes, the Warriors lost in seven games to the Cavaliers, but keep in mind that despite all of the “Warriors collapsing” and “LeBron is on a hero’s journey” media narratives, the game was tied in the final minute.
There have been other super teams, but none like this. When LeBron joined the Heat in 2010, the hoopla was tantamount to what we’re witnessing now. However, the LeBron-Heat teams never displayed the three-point shooting prowess of the Warriors. With that, Golden State’s mastery of the current NBA victory-meta is akin to Stanley Kubrick’s mastery of visuals.
In other sports, there have been signings that bring great players to great teams, although none that match the impact of a basketball star. Take Deion Sanders as an example: an all-pro player joining an all-star team. But Primetime was a cornerback, a defensive player that at best, thwarts one player on the opposing team. In baseball, players like Greg Maddux and Barry Bonds took their incredible talents and joined star-studded teams, but it’s nearly impossible for one baseball player to carry a team like one basketball player can. The Warriors were the perfect example of this, only they were on the wrong end of the idea.
Kevin Durant joining the Golden State Warriors is an extreme example of the rich getting richer. (Maybe this wouldn’t have happened if Bernie Sanders had won.) However, given that the Warriors were already the odds-on favorite to win the title next year, perhaps this shouldn’t be described as a power shift. Let’s call it a power surge.
Durant’s abilities undoubtedly add to the Warriors capabilities, but they didn’t lose because they weren’t capable. The Warriors lost because their best player was hurt (more so than the expected wear and tear of the season), their defensive anchor was injured in the middle of the series, Harrison Barnes missed easy shots, and Draymond Green lost his cool. While these might just seem like platitudes to Warriors-haters or Cavaliers fans’, the sporting world was dead set on the Warriors being the team to bet next year before Durant signed.
The Warriors went from an already absurd 2-1 betting clip to win the title next year, to a preposterous 4-5. Right now either “heads” or “tails” are better bets than the Warriors. This is ridiculous.
Durant’s signing is significant, but at the end of the day, all he did was turn the best team into the super-best. And no team is or ever will be safe from the same obstacles that stopped the Warriors juggernaut this year. It’s not worth it to stop watching basketball, and it’s wrong to assume that the upcoming season is moot.