One game. One game is all that stands between the defending champions Golden State Warriors from tying the NBA record for best post-championship season start. As a former Bay Area resident and avid Warriors supporter, sometimes it astounds me to reflect upon how far this organization has come. It has truly been a beautiful process to watch unfold.
From the early 2000s when the team was unanimously viewed as the league’s worst ball club, to the ‘We Believe’ phenomenon that swept across the Bay Area where we pulled off one of the most shocking playoff upsets in NBA history and now bringing us to the present day championship caliber Warriors team; this organization stands at the threshold of legendary status as they are on their way to joining the ranks of the NBA’s most iconic organizations.
Resigning Draymond Green this summer to a $82 million/5-year contract was critical for the team to firmly cement themselves as the leagues best team since he brings ferocious interior defense to an offensively blessed squad. Re-signing Green also keeps the core of the team together for at least another year seeing as most players are signed up until 2017-2018 season. So sitting at 14-0 and one game shy of the best start in a successive season by NBA champions, the beckoning question is what is the ceiling for this team?
The straightforward answer: There is none.
As they say, the sky is the limit. That is truly the case for the reigning champions, as the NBA has never seen a team like this ever before. Correction: the world has never seen a team this dominant. Just as most people under thirty years old view Michael Jordan or Lebron James as the face of the NBA, for the next generation, reigning league MVP Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors are quickly becoming iconic. But will they be legendary?
Well, here’s another straightforward answer: Absolutely.
But it all starts with this next game against the Denver Nuggets. This Nuggets team isn’t as injury-ridden as last year and currently sits in the middle of the Western Conference standings with a record of 6-7. So they’re making strides as an organization. But this next game isn’t about the Nuggets as it is truly about the Warriors proving to themselves that they’ve reached NBA greatness by attaining this record. If they win this next game, then they will have entered the upper echelon of the NBA and established that they are one of the best teams ever assembled.
