we’re back and more deprived than ever: some things I’ve noticed

we’re back

we’ve returned

IN FULL EFFECT

victory screech is due

But, really, I’ve had mixed feelings about the NBA coming back. As a 21 year old, the summer has been very stale and the NBA couldn’t come back at a better time, as far as entertainment is concerned, not to mention, the job necessity for a multitude of athletes that don’t earn top dollar because of their paychecks on top of team employees, venue employees, vendors, etc. that now don’t have work because of the NBA’s inactivity, needing the money now as it constitutes their annual income. In the same breath, I was concerned about how much the simple game of basketball would take away from the protests and the Black Lives Matter movement, seeing that it was on a much larger stage and would garner more attention, becoming a distraction for what needs to be understood. Instead, they’ve amplified the message with a megaphone through the Association’s players and their strongly worded quotes and stands, or, more fittingly, kneels against police brutality on black lives. And just as I’ve noticed the stances from the players, collectively, there are other things I’ve noticed that I predict will surely affect the outcome of the playoffs.

No excuses for fatigue

In the past, the NBA consumer has witnessed the playoff product become a slower, grind-it-out, bogged down rendition of the regular season that, while the hype is still mightily prevalent, is a consequence of the 82 game marathon of what’s been understood as the lesser important junction of the season. With a four month layoff, all players, specifically superstars oftentimes affected by said fatigue, like James Harden or Russell Westbrook, or load management, like Kawhi Leonard, have had and will have no excuse to lean on for tired legs as this is a sprint to the end now, with a total of at least 24 games played for every team that makes the playoffs. Through these first eight games, I’ve seen an increased energy and intensity, particularly on the defensive end of the floor that will surely translate even to the later rounds of the playoffs.

Some role players will play better, others will play worse

In creating the playoff atmosphere, the crowd has an incredible effect on it, providing a lightning jolt of energy for the home team while jarring the opposing team and more often than not, this affects the role players more than it does the superstars. As we’ve seen thus far in the bubble, shooters have been shooting incredibly, this may have to do with having four months off and their legs are back underneath them, but also a consistent shooting environment, coupled with no travel and no crowd, NBA courts in the bubble have become a shooter’s gym; no noise, no distractions will lead to better play by more of the offensive minded bench players. On the other hand, with no tangible crowd in the bubble, some players won’t respond as well to the environment as the playoffs wear on because, believe it or not, players feed off the energy of the crowd just as much as the crowd feeds off of them. In those cases, the players will struggle just as much as others will thrive.

This will be possibly the most competitive, energetic basketball that we’ll see for a while.

Let’s be honest here. The worst 8 teams are not in the bubble which will make for closer, more competitive games. Not only does every team have to play against another that is competing for a playoff spot, most teams are competing for positioning and seeding. 11 out of 22 teams (2-6 in the East, 2-7 in the West) are vying for strong positioning in the playoffs while the 8th seed for both conferences have yet to be determined. Now we’re going to be susceptible to a few blowouts (see; Clippers v. Pelicans), but the majority of games have gone down to the wire and I don’t really see that changing with the playoffs. Couple that with the rest for all the players that saw of almost four months of inactivity and rest and no travel, I expect the energy level will be high.

With the NBA back, I fully expect the world to be tuned in to see who will be crowned champion, but not without caveats that were different than any and possibly every other NBA championship in NBA history. With such a unique situation at hand, we, as sports deprived fans, will be tuned in with our eyes peeled to see how these effects will change the outcome of every series over the course of the playoffs.

Rose’s Damaged Petals and the Concrete

I don’t know.

I’m not sure if it was coincidence that bridged the two decades of time together; that it being the knotted tie of Tupac Shakur’s poem “The Rose That Grew From The Concrete” and Derrick Rose’s injury.

or some magical, unfortunate fate, some kind of hapless destiny.

Derrick Rose, born October 4, 1988, and former MVP of the Chicago Bulls, has become a nomad, moving from team to team these past few NBA seasons. From the Bulls to the Knicks to the Cavs to a very short stint with the Jazz to finally now the Wolves, all within a span of three years, Rose was once, along with Kevin Durant and Brandon Roy, among others, seen as the future of the NBA when the decade of the 2010 cracked open. His ascension to the top of the staircase of the Association’s ranks, just like his game, was almost superhuman; swift with the foot speed of The Flash but the booming, loud stomps of the Hulk, headstrong, determined, and almost derivative with the gameplan like Gon of HunterXHunter, yet contorting and complex on his way to the basket, slippery like Naruto’s Orochimaru.

His ceiling felt like it was ever rising.

until that day.

April 28th, 2012. The day Derrick Rose tore his ACL. Ever since that day, his fall from greatness felt more like a plummet into abyss with which we’d never see the Derrick Rose that captivated America’s attention and had taken everyone’s hearts as the whole of next season he sat out and would subsequently be hit with a litany of injuries that almost assuredly made it seem he would never get back on his feet. Especially to where he had last seen him.

The youngest MVP of all time and the Chicago-bred Derrick Rose is not unlike Hugh Glass, the main protagonist of the incredible 2015 Golden Globe and Academy Award winning film, The Revenant. 

The plot shadows Hugh Glass, a frontiersman who was the guide on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s but after being mauled in a bear attack, he is left for dead by the members of his own hunting party when three of those members, including his own son, who was murdered by one of the three that was left with him, John Fitzgerald. Glass, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, unable to speak after having his throat slashed by the bear and paralyzed after his back is shredded by the bear, is only able to witness this with bloodshot eyes; this memory is seared into his mind, inspiriting and almost reviving him as he was inflamed with vengeance, powering him to trek through the wintry terrain and find the man who killed his son.

The parallels between Glass and Rose are similar, both were essentially giving up on by people that saw them leading their respective groups to the light at the end of the tunnel, Rose leading the Bulls to a championship and Glass leading the fur trading group to a fruitful transaction that would see them all prosper. 

Both having to resurrect themselves by adapting to unjust circumstances with a scrupulous attention to detail and meticulous, tedious work habits. 

In times where most would just give in to conditions that seemed out of their power, these two recaptured their essence when it seemed nature had stripped them of it.

how?

Derrick Rose, after being counted down and out by a plethora of individuals, has had a resurgent season as the sixth man of the Minnesota Timberwolves this season. Adapting to the game of today, we’ve seen Derrick Rose shoot the three point shot exponentially (hyperbolic, but you get the drift) more efficient than the ever before, which has opened up his trademark, violent driving game with more lanes to the rim. Shooting 48% from three has made it for defenders to play him tighter than before. Not to mention how wide the court for players has become and we see that Derrick Rose is having his most efficient season to date. 

To have gone through what he has gone through at only the age of 30, as decent of a human as he is outside of basketball, has shown that nature plays favorites with no one.

Glass, from having to teach himself to walk again to essentially cauterizing his neck as he couldn’t eat or drink through it without coughing blood and his wound reopening to having to take shelter from a storm inside the belly of a horse, has gone through hell and back to see through that he avenges the death of his son. He has undergone hallucinations and dreams to wake in the nightmare that was his reality.

how does this all correlate? how does this come back full circle to Tupac’s poem?

As quoted in Shakur’s resonating poem, 

“You see, you wouldn’t ask why the rose that grew from the concrete had damaged petals.

On the contrary, we would all celebrate its tenacity.

We would all love its will to reach the sun.

Well, we are the roses. This is the concrete. These are my damaged petals. Don’t ask me why… ask me how.”

You see, the two characters rose from what nature had seemingly buried them in: despair, unforgiving circumstances, not impartial to the tenuous of will and mind. Essentially, solidly blocking them from what success or bliss they were chasing.

Almost like concrete

Even with both Rose’s injury past, perpetuating him as a glass figure and Glass experiencing what most would consider the end on multiple fronts, molding a thorny edge within him, their resolve and hardened wills to keep rising and finding slivers of cracks to reach the sun is inspiring in and of itself.

Besides, though he alludes to his roots rather than his career struggles, Rose acknowledges this himself. 

Conflicting Styles

Russell Westbrook

Kyle Lowry

Kyrie Irving

Damian Lillard

James Harden

Ben Simmons with more coming in this mold of big guards with the handles, passing ability, agility, and speed of a guard but the size of a power forward. Prototypes before Ben like Lamar Odom and LeBron James and examples even going as far back as Magic Johnson, a definitive unicorn of his time. But I digress; this is not the point of this post. Maybe it’ll be discussed in a later one though.

The golden age of point guards in the NBA isn’t upon us like the next golden age of big men; we are in the throes of it right now. From pure, all-around point guards controlling the pace and tempo while spearheading defenses like Kyle Lowry to offensively explosive point guards who can go put on scoring runs from the likes we’ve never seen at the one position like Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving to combo guards that handle the scoring and playmaking roles for the team, shouldering immense offensive loads for their respective teams like i.e. James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

Hold on,

I know what you’re thinking.

If you’re an NBA follower, let alone a junkie like myself, you’re probably looking at this list and, with elbow to lap and hand cupping a chin that is under a puzzled face, wondering where the hell is Stephen Curry and Chris Paul.

Where they are is in the subject of this post.

Since arguably the 2014-15 NBA season, these two have been compared to each other as Curry’s roaring ascension saw him come to eye level with Paul and vying for the crown “Best Point Guard in the NBA” and to this day, many believe he’s surpassed Paul

The dichotomy, since that fateful year, between these two is so apparent; they are complete antonyms of each other. 

Curry is beloved everywhere; Paul is a very polarizing figure.

Steph is a free-flowing, fun, almost formless player; Chris is a structured, technical, to-the-T type of player. Steph plays to the crowd, especially when he goes on his ridiculous three point barrages when his emotion begins to stir and churn with every three. By the time the third 30 foot three eviscerates the net, Steph is shimmying and running away without looking at the ball going through the net while the crowd erupts, blowing the rooftop off the building. Chris is a little bit different where he splash five straight elbow jumpers and in the midst of that run, throwing lobs to the center or hitting shooters on the wing and corners with pinpoint precision passes. 

Fans of not only the Warriors but even broader in basketball love Steph; so much so, to the point of parlaying his playstyle through elementary school through to high school. 

Yes, Stephen Curry has revolutionized the game of basketball.

Chris Paul has stayed the course, keeping to the way of the old guard, patterning his game after the purest of point guards like John Stockton and Walt Frazier and Isiah Thomas and Bob Cousy. He’s stayed in the classical mold of point guard that is littered with prototypes throughout the history of the game

The polarity between the two all-time great point guards is reminiscent of the ideals of Romanticism and Neo-classicism. 

Chris Paul’s game is built on structure, restraint, and objectivity, pounding the ball down in the shot clock, sifting and waiting for the best possible shot for the team. “Berating” teammates with the pure truth and nothing more. He’s even had coaches tell him to be more aggressive and look for his shot more, his restraint almost being too much. Traits that ring Neo-classicism’s bell.

Stephen Curry’s play style is formless, revolving around his innovative handling and passing of the ball. But before this, his mind-boggling coupling of range and accuracy on his jumpshot. Never before have we seen such range and accuracy and quickness of release on one’s jumpshot before, shooting jumpshots that were subjectively good, only from his point of view, making imaginative passes and shots without a regret in the world

I mean just look at this reaction from his head coach after a made shot

For those wondering, this was the shot.

These traits eerily mirroring the foundations of Romanticism.

The closest we can compare him to is a supercharged version of Steve Nash, head of the extravagant and explosive Seven Seconds or Less system in Phoenix and tip of the spear for high-powered offenses throughout the 00’s decade both on the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns, paralleling the Baroque era in a sense. Now Curry plays a lot more off-ball than Nash ever did because of his shooting ability, but their fun play style, uptempo pace of the game, how they bend defenses and pick them apart all mirror each other just 10 years apart. It’s probably no coincidence seeing that Steve Kerr was the GM of the Suns from 2007-10 and he is now the head coach of the Golden State, overseeing this operation since 2014-15.

Logic, reasoning, restraint, objectivity. 

Chris Paul

Emotion, freedom, explosive, spontaneous

Stephen Curry

Though the era now has colored Steph in a completely different light than Chris Paul, there are still those that prefer Chris Paul, all time. Just as was in the era of the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century with Romanticism and Enlighenment, the choice is yours as to who and what you prefer.

The Emperor & I

Play the game the right way.

A motto that LeBron James has stood proudly by throughout his basketball vitality, from his days as a young boy on the playgrounds of Akron, Ohio through his high school years at St. Vincent-St. Mary’s through his infant years as young man in the NBA to now as an older veteran player.

James’ on-court excellency speaks for itself, as speechless as it may leave you. A four-time NBA MVP, three-time NBA champion, and three-time NBA Finals MVP, these are just a small dosage of an incredulous dog pile of accolades that James has accounted for over his illustrious, going-into-16-year career.

His life off the court continuously reflects this as well. As laudable as his on-court play has been, such is the case, perhaps even more so, is that of his off-court expeditions. From philanthropy to humanitarian services to giving back to his community to sage counseling and everything and anything in between, LeBron James has been a guiding light, a beacon illuminating for us in need of a leader and icon to follow during these tumultuous, stormy times.

He is one, just as Emperor Claudius, for unification. Ones that members of his reign deemed headcases, unwanted, outcasts, both LeBron and Claudius refuted points, making them moot, and brought them onto LeBron’s team and Claudius’ Senate.

Can the lovefest get overbearing though?

yeah, it can.

Even now, those that follow basketball and would die at the stake for this man’s name are probably seething acidic, toxic phrases of ire and disgust at my expense because I said it can get overbearing. Simply put, he’s idolized and can do almost no wrong in the in his fans’ eyes.

Not unlike Caesar Augustus, who assigned Virgil to doctrine the historically renowned piece, the Aeneid, LeBron pushes the agenda, discreetly and indirectly, of tragic heroism, though both do in different ways.

The reality is, that in the age of today, with so many media outlets and such an excess of information available at everyone’s dispense, there is a highly intensified, microscopic, almost obsessive following for the NBA and particularly, for its face, LeBron James.

Obviously over 2000 years ago, the means to communicate such a message to the masses is cosmically different than how it is now. However, Virgil was a renowned writer who had the ear of the people; his words rang amongst the crowds of commoners and this epic was no different.

One media outlet, for instance, we know like plush of our pillow, ESPN. Another, and the focus for this particular subject, is FOX Sports, the agenda-pushing, FOX Sports.

1*

Specifically after LeBron James won after the 2016 NBA finals, FOX Sports’ group of talking heads, namely the figures circled above (left to right: Jason Whitlock, Colin Cowherd, Shannon Sharpe, Nick Wright, and Cris Carter), have begun to push the narrative as LeBron James being the possible GOAT (Greatest of All Time) of basketball and even in sports history. Not to say others have not from other networks or on other platforms because the likes of Isiah Thomas, between Colin Cowherd and Jason Whitolock, and Max Kellerman, who leaves the door open to the idea, which is respectable, between Shannon Sharpe and Nick Wright, have done so. But FOX Sports has almost a fixation on making LeBron the GOAT to the masses. Not only that, but it’s possible to say that his move to LA was foreseen since before then.

Just as King James now dons the Purple and Gold of the Los Angeles Lakers, Aeneas was described to have a “purple glow”, a sign of royalty. He was described to a work of art, chiseled as a god might be. LeBron is famously known for how well he keeps in condition, even in his 16th year in the NBA, he still looks as spry as every 25-26 year old NBA player, if not more so.

Furthermore, now I’m not saying LeBron James had a hand in FOX downplaying Kobe Bryant’s career and why they rarely at all mention some of the greatest Lakers of all time Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Magic Johnson or Shaquille O’Neal in many segments of shows, not at all; LeBron James is a student of the game with an immensely deep respect for those that have paved the way for it and that includes a past contemporary and friend in Kobe Bryant. But I just find it quite peculiar that in the time since that 2016 NBA finals, why has FOX dimmed the light so much on Kobe Bryant? Kobe was by no means a perfect player, and for an all-timer, Kobe’s faults are more accentuated especially when he followed in the shadow of Michael Jordan, almost flawlessly mimicking his game and even adding some of his own unique elements to throw in his palette. But FOX sports, with how they discuss Kobe’s legacy, in particular Nick Wright, has a scheme of some sorts to taint what Kobe has done for the game of basketball.

To be fair, there is some critique on the network on account of LeBron (like the man below), just as Virgil provided critique for Caesar in some facets of his work.

 2*

But the voices of the LeBron idolators on these media platforms are just too overwhelming. And it’s slowly begun to work. The people of this generation, the Millenials, and the ones that have followed have deified LeBron, just as they did for Caesar when he ruled over the Roman Empire. Emperor LeBron rings just as loud as he continues to expand his empire as his expedition continues.

I’m not going to go into why LeBron is not the GOAT. This is not about that certain topic

I like to theorize, especially when it pertains to the topic of basketball.

It’s fun to, right?

 3*

It’s not a fact by any means, but like Caesar, it wouldn’t be surprising to hear that LeBron has a stock or share in what is being pushed out of media outlets, specifically, FOX Sports. How much they push for LeBron rather than critique him fairly is almost jaw-dropping. His shaky performances are swept under the rug and his awe-inspiring ones dominate the airwaves for the next 24 hours.

From another angle, you could possibly also look at LeBron as Aeneas. Now, in this light, particularly how the story develops, the media, as a whole, subtly could be Virgil/Greek gods, as Max Kellerman would say, as I paraphrase, this is the epic of LeBron James, we’re just living in his world. Aeneas (LeBron) suffers tragic defeat at the hands of the Greek (the Warriors) who enlist Ulysess, Agamenon, and Achilles at their disposal (Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, not necessarily in that order). He goes to regroup once more as his mother, Venus, tells him to go to Carthage (Los Angeles), where he would meet the queen of Carthage. Delighted to meet him, Queen Dido (the fans) opens her arms to him after the debilitating loss to the Greek. Venus sends Cupid (FOX Sports) to make the queen fall in love with him and his story as he recounts it.

The difference is LeBron puppeteers, Aeneas is the puppet.

he really did play the game the right way.

Header: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/303289356148515817/

1*: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-Z8v9On-b4&t=41s

2*: https://www.google.com/search?q=skip+bayless&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwix-__j0YLeAhW_HTQIHZ68DKYQ_AUIECgD&biw=1280&bih=561#imgrc=2XJKC18bL8bipM:2*

3*: https://www.livehappy.com/lifestyle/history-smiley?nopaging=1

A Conqueror’s Will

 

You know, it’s interesting.

We, as a general whole, tend to forget how dynasties come together, how countries and empires build upon themselves  to make themselves last and endure over decades upon centuries, essentially standing the test of time, relative to humans.

It’s no coincidence that we encounter a multitude of situations throughout basketball and world history that has people forgetting what the process takes to constantly improve upon yourself when everybody is chasing your title, to conquer your throne.

Claudius’ words and the history of Rome to that point mirrored the lineage of champions the NBA has revolved around almost since its induction to professional sports.

Throughout basketball history, dynastic teams have been a staple and actually come to signify an era, carrying it through the next generation of generational players and empirical teams to bear the torch. The National Basketball Association’s least remembered time, the 1970s, saw them being rivaled by the ABA who had their own superstars like Julius Erving, Rick Barry, and Billy Cunningham dominating headlines, taking those away from the now sole highest basketball entity there is. Not only this, but the era during this time is not remembered as much because the NBA didn’t have a standout team. Parity had never been more eminent, but the loss, as a result, was no one to root against or for consistently whenever they played, consequentially, meaning less viewers tuned into the program.

Not only this, but during the 70s, the league was, more or less, about the teams rather than central figures that could accumulate masses to follow the league and put on a spectacle every night, even though there were a plethora of individuals that could’ve played the role(s), like high-flying Julius Erving when he made the transition or the daring David Thompson (33) or the awe-inspiring Alex English (not until the 80s and the next commissioner, David Stern, came along did the league start to focus on stars, but we’ll get there soon enough). Because of this, the NBA was in the midst of its most downtrodden times and was major need of both a culture and point of emphasis shift in general

Every other era or decade was dominated by dynasties and central figures.

Going back one decade, the 1960s were domineered by this man and this man, towering over luminary legends such as Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, and Elgin Baylor. Bill Russell was the anchor of the incredibly overpowering Boston Celtics, laden with a roster going eight deep with players inducted into the NBA’s Hall of Fame and dominated the decade, winning 11 out of the 13 years that Russell was in tow, losing only one NBA finals to Bob Pettit’s Atlanta Hawks and losing to Wilt Chamberlain’s Philadelphia 76ers. Speaking of Wilt Chamberlain, the record books should just be named after him, his numbers so otherworldly, newer basketball fans ogle in disbelief, gawking at the sight of such obscene totals. The Autobiography of Wilt Chamberlain, yes this is fitting. These two men stand at the apex of the 60s NBA because of their unbelievable feats and because the NBA focused on not only these two, but other stars who were putting up outrageous numbers, night after night, season after season.

Fast-forwarding one decade from the 70s and its aforementioned drought, what resuscitated and actually put the NBA on a bigger platform in the 1980s was (1) the merging between the ABA and NBA as now the stars of the ABA were assimilated into the National Basketball Association, (2) the point of emphasis being players and not teams, and (3) those players being generational, transcendental talents Earvin “Magic” Johnson (right) and Larry Bird (left). These two traded championships throughout the decade, having eight championships shared between them, all in this decade. Of course, we remember Isiah Thomas and the Bad Boy Pistons, but they didn’t incite fan fare quite like these two did, mostly because of exhibitions and activities like these and these. And surely, we cannot (Fo, Fo, Fo)get (I’m sorry, I had to do it, I knew the result, I just had to do it) the early 80s Philadelphia 76ers, headed by Julius Erving and Moses Malone, but we constantly bring up Johnson’s Lakers and Bird’s Celtics because they defined the resurgence of the NBA and its most famous, storied rivalry.

In the next decade, do I even need to go into detail? It was dominated by Michael Jordan‘s Chicago Bulls. Of course, Thomas’ Pistons and Tim Duncan‘s Spurs each won one and Hakeem Olajuwon’s Houston Rockets won two. But this was the era that stamped Michael Jordan, with all his incredible feats in the previous decade seeping into this one, as the Greatest Of All Time in basketball annals. He won three straight at the genesis of the decade, retired, and came back to win three more titles to close the decade, denying a multitude of Hall of Fame players their shot at winning a championship, palming the basketball universe, twirling it on his fingertips.

In this century, we’ve seen teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, led by Shaqobe (Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant) and later, Kobe and Pau Gasol, the San Antonio Spurs, spearheaded by Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobli, and now the Warriors, centered around Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, and even others like the Steve Nash-Amar’e Stoudemire Phoenix Suns and Dirk Nowitizki-Dallas Mavericks, that have trademarked this era and left an imprint being the next dynasty.

How does this all coalesce and relate to world history?

We can specifically look at the Roman Empire and actually refer to Tacitus’ Annals.

One of the annals focuses on one of Rome’s Emperors during the reign of the Roman Empire, Claudius. The excerpt particularly keys in on the debate of whether Gauls should be allowed seats in the Senate.

Main arguments against allowing for their seating came from an unknown, unidentified character as he exclaims that the Gauls could betray them as their valor in battle could not be washed away so easily and let them assimilate so seamlessly to the Roman Empire, and with this in play, they should be lucky just to become a part of the State.

Claudius retorted that empires that failed to integrate, ultimately, disintegrated. Those that failed to build upon themselves and incorporate other pieces and areas fell behind and were ultimately conquered, that the country was a melting pot of individuals, those that were domestic and those that emigrated to the country or were conquered.

This is not unlike the way that each of these teams continued to build upon their dynasties. Yes, they kept their core intact, each of them, but they also continually added pieces that filled a role that contributed to the journey of gaining an NBA championship.

The continuous reconstruction of the San Antonio Spurs reflects the sentiment in its entirety. A slow-paced, plodding, defensive team when Tim Duncan was drafted, towards the end of his career, the organization shifted focus to a more offensive-oriented team operating mostly with the pick-and-roll style of play as the league began to change gears, with rule changes and spreading of the court, to a more free-flowing game. As the team made this shift, so did the supporting cast around Duncan, to ultimately accommodate this play style.

An example relating even more is Curry’s Warriors. After snatching victory from the clamps of defeat from the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2016 Western Conference Finals after an incredulous record breaking season winning 73 games out of a possible 82 and Stephen Curry being crowned a unanimous MVP, being down 3 games to 1….

I’m sorry. It’s just…

It’s tough to recount is all.

*sigh*

Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors stormed back and advanced to the NBA finals, losing to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. That same summer, Kevin Durant, shockingly, decided to sign with the Golden State Warriors. There had been reports of the Warriors recruiting Durant the whole season and that his interest had been mounting to sign there.

And he did.

he really did.

The Warriors understood to continue to their stranglehold on the NBA, they needed to persuade another generational superstar to join their conglomerate.

Just so happens that was the second best player in the NBA at the time.

Regardless, The ideology is sentient among teams that are etched into basketball’s history books: understand that everyone is going for your jugular. Assimilate, not only with the times, but the players as well. Magic’s Lakers, Jordan’s Bulls, Bird’s Celtics, Duncan’s Spurs, Dirk’s Mavericks, Shaqobe’s Lakers, Curry/Durant’s Warriors. All these teams understand the principle of adding pieces so that they remain on top,

A principle commonly understood by those etched in history through time.