Golden State Warriors: Reports of their demise being greatly exaggerated

The Golden State Warriors got blown out by Houston and the talking heads immediately declared the sun to be setting on the Warriors’ dynastic run.

If you’ve had the kind of success the Golden State Warriors have had over the last few years – three titles in the last four seasons – you’re bound to engender some hard feelings along the way. To say the least.

When you stand head and shoulders above the league – and have for a number of years now – you’re going to exist in a fishbowl with everybody scrutinizing your every move, and every breath. You’re also bound to collect those people who are so invested in your downfall that they’ll find (or invent) any reason whatsoever to trumpet your demise.

In other words, when you’re a winner, the haters and trolls are going to come out of the woodwork to try and knock you off the throne. It’s just the nature of the beast.

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To that end, the Warriors – or rather, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green – have given everybody invested in Golden State’s downfall more than enough fuel to keep those fires burning for quite a while in the wake of their brouhaha in their overtime loss to the Clippers the other night.

After Green made the boneheaded decision to push the ball up the court in the waning seconds of regulation – only to stumble and lose the ball – it set in motion a chain of events that has been the buzz of the league ever since.

Yes, there is blood in the water and those who’d see the Kings of the Court unseated, are working themselves into a lather over it.

Make no mistake, ladies and gentlemen, the knives are now officially out and no matter what the Warriors do this season – be it good, or bad – it’s going to be viewed through the prism of the Green/Durant sideline scuffle turned locker room shouting match.

And, according those those brandishing the aforementioned knives, it’s the reason the sun is now setting on the Warriors’ dynastic empire.

Take for instance, Thursday night’s 21-point blowout loss to Houston. On any other night, on any other team, it would have been written off to a bad night for a good team. It happens. No team is ever going to be perfect every single night. Teams are going to have off nights from time to time. That too, is the nature of the beast.

However, in the wake of Houston’s domination of the two-time defending champs, article after article, and talking head after talking head, couldn’t seem to shut up or get over the Durant/Green brouhaha – with most citing that as a reason for Golden State’s flat performance against the Rockets.

Very little attention (or credence) was given to the fact that Green himself is dealing with a foot injury that’s hampering him a bit and contributed to his zero point, five rebound, five assist, mostly ineffective performance.

Or the fact that Klay Thompson scored just 10 points on 31 percent shooting (5/16 – 0/5 on three-pointers). Or the fact that as a team overall, the Warriors shot just 42 percent from the field (32/76) and were just 22 percent (4/18) from three-point range. Nor was the fact that Stephen Curry – the key to Golden State’s offense – is out of the lineup, dealing with an injury of his own, cited as a major contributing factor to the loss.

On the night overall, Durant scored 20 points on 40 percent shooting (6/15), but he got zero help from anywhere else. No other Warriors player scored more than Kevon Looney‘s 12 points.

But rather than chalk up a bad night to it being anything other than a bad night, it’s because of the Durant/Green fight.

Has to be, right?

After all, this is the first time they shared the court after Green served a one-game team issued suspension in the wake of the shouting match. There had to be lingering and residual bad vibes that caused the team to play so poorly, right?

Not only that, but the sight of them walking into a shootaround together and sharing a court – and even talking/fist-bumping each other during shootaround, as well as during the game – all had to be staged. It was all done for the benefit of the cameras because these two dudes hate each other and are in the midst of tearing down the dynasty, right?

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And that is exactly how the rest of this season is going to be viewed by those who absolutely need the storyline to be the crumbling of an empire. After all, if it bleeds, it leads, right?

A lingering feud between two superstars makes for a far sexier, more compelling storyline or talking point, than a team with a few injury issues having an off night – something every single team in the NBA goes through at one point or another.

But, when it’s the Warriors, all of the sudden it’s because the team is in chaos, turmoil, and on the verge of coming apart at the seams.

The Durant/Green dust up happened and that bell can’t be unrung, of course. But, it’s more than likely the product of two highly competitive, passionate guys who want to win, rather than a symptom of some larger, undiagnosed disease.

And the fact of the matter is, Green made a boneheaded play by not passing the ball – call it his J.R. Smith moment. And yeah, in the heat of that moment tempers sometimes flare. It happens on every team in every sport.

But to trumpet their argument as the harbinger of doom for Golden State’s dynastic run is absurd. Yeah, the Warriors will have to make some tough decisions this offseason with regard to Durant and Thompson. It’s entirely possible one – or both – depart for greener (as in dollar bill green) pastures.

The Warriors very well may not look the same next season as they do right now. In fact, they likely won’t. But that will have everything to do with the business side of basketball, rather than any personal beefs between the players – real or imagined. It will be a business decision on the part of the players, not a decision made because two competitive, passionate teammates got into a fight one night in November.

As for now, let all those invested in foretelling the downfall and end of Golden State’s dynasty continue throwing all of the shade, slings and arrows they can find. That’s what they do and there’s no stopping them regardless of the reality of the situation. They’ll continue viewing everything Golden State does through the prism of that Durant/Green skirmish.

But, rest assured, it was one off night in a game early in the season – one that ultimately won’t matter much in the bigger picture – and that the rumors of Golden State’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.