Golden State Warriors are the most disrespected champions in NBA history

The Golden State Warriors closed out their third title in four years with an emphatic win over Cleveland, but continue to be disrespected.

The Golden State Warriors put the exclamation point on their third title in the last four years with a 108-85 thrashing of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The 23-point beatdown finished off a very convincing four-game sweep of the Eastern Conference Champs, and immediately ignited the speculation (and jokes) about James’ further in “The Land.”

Or more specifically, the lack of a future in The Land most people seem to already be taking as a given.

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It is somewhat telling though, that in the wake of Golden State’s Championship win, a lot of the attention in the media as well as across social media, was focused on James, where he’s going, where he’s not going, and the conspiracy surrounding his hand, rather than on the achievements of these Warriors.

That’s not nearly all though. If you take a look across the sometimes toxic waste dump that is social media, the reasons and excuses for the Cavaliers loss – rather than the Warriors’ win – are legion.

You caught a glimpse of it in Golden State’s epic seven-game win over the Rockets in the Western Conference Finals, and it only festered and became more pungent through that brief NBA Finals series.

For the haters, it was all about the officiating. It was the Deep State. It was Kim Jong Un’s nuclear program. It was Mark Davis’ haircut. It was the designated hitter and astroturf. It was this. It was that.

It was everything but giving credit where credit is due. It was everything but giving respect.

And that credit and respect belong to Golden State, who continue to be one of the most doubted and disrespected champions — no, dynasties — in NBA history.

Perhaps one of the most overused and tiresome of the excuses given for Golden State’s flat-out dominance over the past four years, is that old saw about the Warriors having four All-Stars on their roster, and that anybody can win when they’re loaded up like that.

That may be true, but the haters need to face some very inconvenient facts.

The Warriors didn’t go out shopping for All-Stars, like some teams do. Golden State did it the right way. The way you should build championship rosters. They did it in a way that once upon a time, was lauded as excellent franchise building.

Golden State’s talent, Kevin Durant aside, is almost entirely home grown.

Regarding the All-Stars the haters like to bang on, let’s look at facts. Stephen Curry – drafted. Klay Thompson – drafted. Draymond Green – drafted. What are Joe Lacob, Bob Myers, and Steve Kerr supposed to do?

“Oh golly gee, this just ain’t fair. I know we drafted these guys, but these players have thrived in our system and have developed into All-Stars, we need to get rid of them now.”

That’s how it’s supposed to be done. Building a winner through draft picks and a system that can best utilize their talents. Who knew it would be the reason so many would discount and disrespect a juggernaut of a team like Golden State. Maybe they should have gone out and bought up all the best talent money could buy.

Golden State Warriors

And yet, when it came down to crunch time, this team built to knock off the Warriors couldn’t come through in the clutch. When the lights were the brightest in that epic game seven, Houston proved that they weren’t ready for prime time.

It wasn’t the officials that made Harden go 2-13 from the three point line, or the Rockets to go 7-44 overall. And it wasn’t the officials who made Houston shoot 40 percent overall for the game.

Also before anybody gets off on the “Chris Paul was injured otherwise Houston would have won hot takes,” let’s not forget that with Paul on the floor, Golden State delivered a 41-point beatdown in game three.

As for the idea that James was alone on an island and had no talent around him as a means of justifying getting swept out of the Finals, let’s just call that what it is – horsepuckey.

Part of the reason the Cavaliers lacked a little punch is because some of their All-Star talent was run off and traded away. And part of that has to land at James’ feet, since it seems he has a problem working and playing well with others at times. Please see Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas.

How is it Golden State’s fault that James ran off a couple of guys who had seven All-Star appearances between them? How is it Golden State’s fault that Cleveland can’t hold on to All-Star caliber players who may not enjoy playing in the shadow of the monolith that is King James?

CLEVELAND, OH – JUNE 08: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers dribbles with the ball defended by Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors during Game Four of the 2018 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 8, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Let’s not pretend though, that this Cavaliers roster (built with heavy input from James himself), was completely bereft of talent – almost none of that talent home grown, mind you.

On Cleveland’s roster, you had five-time All-Star, Kevin Love. You also, for a time, had 12-time All-Star Dwyane Wade. Kyle Korver was an All-Star. For a brief minute, there was also three-time All-Star, rookie of the year, and league MVP, Derrick Rose. Tristan Thompson and Jeff Green were both former members of the league’s All-Rookie team. J.R. Smith was a former sixth-man of the year.

Let’s reiterate the point, since it seems to bear repeating for some of those haters out there – Cleveland’s roster was not completely devoid of talent as some might have you believe. Of course, there would have been even more, had James been able to peacefully co-exist with guys like Irving and Thomas.

None of these facts matter to the anti-Warriors and pro-LeBron crowd though. They’ll continue perpetuating the ridiculous notion that Golden State has somehow “ruined” basketball, and that because they’ve been able to develop their own draft picks into All-Star caliber players, that somehow negates and delegitimizes their achievements.

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What these people continue to ignore though, is a little thing most of us like to call “reality.” And the reality of the situation is that Golden State is in the middle of one of the NBA’s great dynasties, and show no signs of slowing down.

Yet, despite winning three titles in four years, the Golden State Warriors continue to be the single most doubted and disrespected champions and dynasties in the history of the league.

If it’s all about the rings, as some people like to claim when they talk about the greatness of LeBron and others, it bears noting that the Warriors now have as many rings as James – and they only needed four, not nine, trips to the Finals to get them.

Respect to the champions. Again.

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