Why I (Also) Hate the Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors’ complete and utter domination of the rest of the NBA is a sight to see, but has it also unintentionally ruined the fan’s emotional experience?

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I’ve been lucky enough to watch numerous Warriors games over the years, but I’ve never considered myself as lucky as I am this season, witnessing quite possibly one of the best teams ever assembled. Every time the Warriors take the hardwood, I just know for a fact that it’s greatness that I’m watching, and I can’t help but feel sorry for the opposing team’s fan base as they, too, are forced to witness the destructive power of Steve Kerr and the Warriors Three.

But maybe, that’s exactly what’s wrong with the Golden State Warriors.

Now there’s a thin line between love and hate, and I’ve absolutely loved watching the Warriors’ evolution the past five or so years after sitting through the seasons prior to “We Believe” and the couple years that followed. “Hate” is most definitely a strong word to use in this regard, but to better understand the headline, writer Yago Colás sets up the premise quite eloquently for me in his latest piece, “Why I Hate ‘the Warriors'”:

"Which brings me to my final point, the relationship between the Warriors increasingly predictable domination of all competition and the annihilation of uncertainty and of the emotional complex (and marvelous, wondering stories) to which it gives rise. Last week, the Warriors demolished the Cavaliers by 34, the Bulls by 31, and the Spurs by 30. Two of those teams (the Cavs and Spurs) were supposed to represent the only significant challenge to the inevitability of the Warriors winning a second consecutive title this year. So much for that. Even if Nate Silver at 538 only puts their chances of winning the title at 46 % (still 20 percentage points higher than the Spurs), I don’t know anybody who really thinks that the Warriors won’t repeat. Unless, of course, they get hurt. But even I don’t wish for that.But that’s kind of the point for me. I don’t want to have to wish for great athletes to get hurt so that uncertainty will be restored to the game. And, in basketball, unlike in my life, I like not knowing what will happen next, or how the story will end. I like the tension in my stomach and shoulders, the quickening of my pulse this uncertainty brings, and I like the emotions of fear, hope, elation, relief, despair associated with these physical signs. I think of basketball as a story-generating machine, but really, it’s the uncertainty that basketball creates and the emotions that uncertainty provokes that are, I think, the source from which the basketball stories I love have always come from."

Intriguing concept Colás puts on the table here: the Warriors, for everything they’ve given to the game of basketball, for everything that they will do for the game of basketball, have taken away the very thing that made DubNation the best fan base in the entire league in the first place: uncertainty.

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At least, that’s how I see it. Watching the Warriors for so many years, I feel that one of the things that I loved about watching them play WAS the uncertainty. No matter who they were playing, I always seemed to convince myself like “Hey, maybe they’ll win today.” There was always hope. There was NEVER any certainty. The only thing that was certain was that I was gonna be watching the game from start to finish, not thinking for a second that they were gonna give up another close one at home.

I didn’t care if it was Kobe Bryant they were facing. Going into a game with the San Antonio Spurs, I didn’t care that Golden State had lost every other game to them since forever. I never got up for a game saying, “Man, they don’t have a chance.” Even when Andris Biedrins was at the line, I always thought that maybe, just maybe, the next one goes in.

I didn’t care if all of Golden State’s “best players” were injured. Whenever a team (e.g., the Houston Rockets) has a significant starting player suffering from an injury (e.g., Dwight Howard), I never fail to see a fan make the excuse that they lost because James Harden didn’t have help that night.

When Stephen Curry is out, all I care about is seeing Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Shaun Livingston step up. Next man up. No excuses. That’s the team I grew up watching. When Biedrins went down, then I expected Ronny Turiaf to clog the paint and grab boards. I expected Mikki Moore to do the same. I even expected Vladimir Radmanovic to do something. Anything.

And it was ALWAYS quite the show. I was always entertained, always at the edge of my seat.

Sometimes, the Warriors let me down. Which was fine. Sometimes, Biedrins did end up making his free throws. There was one time he even made two in a row. One time, Radman had 20 in a game. It was against the Rockets. I remember. I was there. Golden State lost by two after a valiant third quarter effort. I lost my voice for nearly two days after that game, and I’m sure the rest of the fans in attendance did as well.

And not to speak negatively about other arenas, but Golden State’s fan attendance — whether in a 40-win season or a 20-win season — has always been relatively high and consistent. That wasn’t necessarily because the team was good….In fact, that DEFINITELY wasn’t the reason.

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When you get a peek into arenas of teams under .500, you’ll also notice there’s sometimes black holes in the middle of the lower level seating. You’ll see fans leaving their arena at the end of the third quarter when their team is down 20. That was never — if not, rarely — the case with DubNation.

I feel that that reason why we always filled those seats, the reason why I went into every game thinking they could break their losing streak, was the uncertainty. That feeling that you got in your stomach when the Dubs were mounting their comeback. Those moments when you would look down the aisle and realize that everyone else at Oracle was standing up right along with you. All those close games the Warriors played against good teams, and all the games against bad teams that the Warriors couldn’t quite close out — they were all filled with doubt, apprehension, anxiety.

When Monta Ellis was going coast to coast, when Anthony Morrow or Dorell Wright or Reggie Williams was lighting it up from deep, or just every single time Nate Robinson had the ball and put it on the floor…all those moments flooded me with indescribable emotions. It never mattered how low the Warriors were in the standings; I was on a basketball high every game as a Warriors fan, and GSW was my number one drug. I got addicted because of those ups and downs, the never ending roller coaster ride that was the Warriors experience.

“I think I know what the story will be tomorrow, and the day after, and in June, when the Warriors finish off their thoroughly probable title run.” – Yago Colás

Looking at the franchise now, I’m certain that this team is capable of winning another NBA title this season. I’m certain that this is greatness I’m watching every single game. I’m certain that no team in this National Basketball Association can beat a healthy Warriors squad.

Even looking back on the things I post on Twitter, I’m just not as into the game as I used to be because I know that no matter the deficit, Golden State is more than capable of coming back to win in spectacular fashion.

Of course, I’m still entertained, no doubt; I mean, this is the most beautiful basketball I’ve ever watched, and I’m in awe of some of the things these guys have been able to accomplish. But I miss the roller coaster ride. I miss the emotional outbursts. I miss the irrational thinking. I miss being uncertain.

I know this won’t last forever, and I’m by no means taking any of this for granted, but when I think about it, I’ve had more fun watching the Warriors play in a loss than watching them completely dismantle opponents in blowout wins.

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Instead of a roller coaster ride, it’s become more of like the five-day work week: you eat breakfast, go to work, eat lunch, do more work, go home, eat dinner, go to sleep, do it again. Rinse, lather, repeat. There’s really no spontaneity. No surprises. No “maybes.” Just a fixed, predictable schedule. That works for some people, and that may work for some of you, just not with Colás, and most certainly not with me.

I guess, what I’m really trying to say here is, I just wish Curry would miss every once in a while.

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