I haven’t been writing much about the Golden State Warriors for one simple reason. I had no idea what to say about a flawless basketball team.
We in the sports biz are hardwired to fix things that need fixing, and for many years, the Warriors gave us plenty of opportunities to make suggestions. It was easy to feel that as a guy (or girl, for that matter) who watched the game closely and took it seriously, you could do a better job running that team than the people who were paid to do so.
Well, folks, that ship has sailed. Nowhere in pro sports do you find the combination of personnel acquisition, player development, coaching acumen, and spiritual essence this franchise has put together over the past 14 months.
As I thought about the 16-0 mark with which they’ve started this season, and the relative ease with which they’ve attained almost all of those victories, it occurred to me that the record isn’t the only thing about the Warriors that’s perfect.
When we first learn about sports, we learn that we should play for the fun of it. We learn that we should be good teammates. We learn that we should do our absolute best every time out, and that we should strive to constantly improve our play — not necessarily to win more, but to remain true to the concept of doing our best every time out.
Those tenets are embodied by the Golden State Warriors. No team has more fun playing the game, and several opposing coaches have said that they enjoy watching them despite the fact that their team is going to lose that game. They share the basketball as few teams ever have, often passing up good shots so their teammates can have great shots. It seems that half of their turnovers come from this practice, yet the benefits far outweigh the negatives.
As important as those traits are, however, it is the improvement, both during the summer and the season itself, that is really setting this team apart. Steph Curry won the MVP award last season, and worked all offseason to make himself better. He’s gone from unguardable to “are-you-kidding-me?” Draymond Green has become one of the best decision-makers in the league, and teams that double Curry have to deal with Green running a 4-on-3 game in the halfcourt. That improvement hasn’t come by accident, nor has Green’s consistently rising 3-point shooting percentage.
Festus Ezili was a typical rookie big man three years ago. All feet and elbows, a bundle of height and potential, but with no visible improvement. When Steve Kerr came in and brought Ron Adams on board, Ezili’s career arc changed completely. By the end of last season, Ezili had become a decent defensive player, and now he runs the floor and is a presence on both ends.
Up and down the Warriors’ roster you see players who, through their own work and some great coaching, have blown through whatever upside the NBA talking heads thought they had. Harrison Barnes went so far backward in his second NBA season that it was an accepted fact that he would be dealt someplace. Now he’s an integral piece of this team, capable of raining 3-pointers or thundering drives to the basket. On the defensive end, Barnes is part of the Warriors’ switching scheme, capable of guarding players bigger or smaller than himself.
The Warriors are the Showtime Lakers without the postgame party room, the New England Patriots without the sinister rule evasions, the incredible Boston Celtics without Auerbach’s cigar.
They’re setting records not only for consecutive wins, but for offense, for defense, for three-point shooting and assists. Their point guard and star player leads the league in field goal percentage inside the paint. He’s 6-3.
They won’t always have a perfect record, but in my view, the Golden State Warriors are a perfect team.
