×

Warriors, Curry never on level some thought

As the NBA regular season drew to a close, Golden State majority owner Joe Lacob made some comments about his club.

“We’re light years ahead of probably every other team,” Lacob said. “We’ve crushed them on the basketball court and we’re going to for years because of the way we’ve built this team.”

Perhaps he meant leap years. It would make sense then, with 2016 being one, that Cleveland was able to dethrone Lacob’s Warriors. The Cavaliers’ 93-89 victory in Sunday’s Game 7 of the NBA finals ended a 52-year championship drought in the four major sports for the city.

Hopefully that win will, finally, allow the madness to stop.

There’s a good chance that the decades-long Cleveland jokes will greatly diminish (although the Browns seem poised to provide plenty of comedy in the immediate future). But that’s not the madness to which I’m referring.

The lunacy to which I will be thrilled to no longer have to be exposed, was perfectly epitomized by Lacob’s comments. It is the deification of the Warriors and their two-time MVP Stephen Curry. Not only was it premature, it was ludicrous.

As much as anyone, I truly appreciate witnessing great sports accomplishments. The Warriors and Curry reached uncharted territory this year and deserved all the accolades.

At some point, however, the love affair with Golden State and Curry turned into insanity.

The Warriors won the 2014-15 NBA title. Their path to the crown was made a bit easier as their final three opponents suffered debilitating injuries. In a 4-2 finals victory over the Cavs, Kevin Love missed the series and Kyrie Irving broke his kneecap in Game 1.

The glorification of this team probably began during its 24-0 start this season. The Warriors went on to post an all-time best 73-9 record, eclipsing Chicago’s 1995-96 mark by one game. Almost immediately, the comparison to the ’90s Bulls began.

Let’s set the record straight: There is no comparison. That 1995-96 Bulls team closed out the season by winning its sixth championship in eight years and three-peated for the second time in that span. Were it not for Michael Jordan’s premature retirement to pursue professional baseball for two years, it’s quite likely Chicago would have won eight straight titles.

Curry would have broken into the Bulls’ starting lineup ahead of Ron Harper, but all other current Warriors would have been nothing more than role players.

Scottie Pippen, a Hall of Fame player and Jordan’s running mate, was chastised a couple of months ago when he said his Bulls would have swept the Warriors. Looking at it now, there’s a fair chance he was right.

The Bulls finished 15-3 in that postseason. Had it not been for Oklahoma City’s lack of poise down the stretch in the fifth and sixth games, the Warriors would have lost in the Western Conference Finals this season.

Is it unthinkable that Chicago would have swept OKC or Cleveland? Yet, despite the Cavs proving they were the best team in the NBA this year (as admitted by Golden State coach Steve Kerr), people gasped at the gall of Pippen. What is unthinkable is that any Jordan-led team would blow a 3-1 series lead, as Golden State did in the finals.

The Warriors won 73 regular-season games. It was an impressive year. They were fun to watch and did things their own way.

But best ever? Not even in the conversation. In fact, I’m sure they would gladly trade their 73 wins for the Cavaliers’ 73 wins (57 in the regular season and 16 in the playoffs).

Unfortunately, the class that they portrayed, until winning the title last year, began slowly dissipating. Perhaps their true colors came out. Excepting a mouthpiece-throwing incident, Curry stayed classy. The same could not be said for Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Festus Ezeli and others.

My son was at Game 6 and his sign told the story: Cover your junk. Draymond a punk.

So many Warriors appeared to buy into the deification and the press clippings, beginning with their owner. Curry and Thompson had so many fundamentally unsound plays in the final three games, maybe because they thought they were invincible.

After the series loss, Thompson said he still believed they were the best team in the world. Perhaps his feelings were hurt.

Then there’s Curry. A great player who’s fun to watch. Not blessed with the physical prowess of most NBA players, he’s an inspiration for undersized kids everywhere.

There’s no doubt his stats – 30 points per game and 400 3-pointers – certainly back up his selection as MVP for the second straight year. Unlike many others, I was not flabbergasted by his unanimous selection this year. If you can make a case for him getting one vote, you can make a case for him getting every vote.

What is ridiculous, however, is his quick elevation to all-time great and best-player-in-the-world status. It simply is not true.

Curry is a great player, for a hybrid point-shooting guard. But best in the world? Again, not even close. I think if you polled NBA owners as to what player they’d want to start a franchise with, not one (well, maybe Lacob) picks Curry.

All you need to do is look at his last two Finals. A season ago he had one very good game and two other decent ones. This year, against a healthy Cleveland squad, here’s where he ranked among players from both teams in the seven games: Points – third; rebounds – eighth; assists – fifth; field-goal percentage – 15th; 3-point percentage – fifth; steals – seventh.

That’s the best in the world? He wasn’t the best point guard in the series. That title clearly went to Irving.

Maybe Curry would trade his unanimous MVP for LeBron James’ unanimous Finals MVP. By the way, James became the first player in league history to lead everyone in a series (regarding of length) in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. By all rights he should have been the Finals MVP last season, despite being on the losing team.

James, like he has been for a decade, is still the world’s best player. And, for the third time in his career, he’s playing for the best team.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
     

Starting at $4.85/week.

Subscribe Today