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How will the Golden State Warriors be remembered?

How will people remember this dynasty of the Warriors? (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Roar Guru
5th July, 2018
13

Wow. Just wow. NBA free agency has been crazy. Perhaps the craziest since Kevin Durant’s choice to leave Oklahoma City, or maybe LeBron’s choice to leave Cleveland the first time.

For the Lakers, losing the offseason despite signing LeBron is tough, but Los Angeles are trying their best. The big shock, however, is that an All-NBA talent and perhaps the best centre in the NBA is going to the reigning champs; the Golden State Warriors.

Wow.

I have followed basketball since I was about eight years old – the last years of the Michael Jordan era. I remember sitting in shock when the Celtics were able to bring in Kevin Garnett in one offseason to reignite the glory days of the past. Or the super team LeBron created in Miami to combat these Celtics who continually bested him in the playoffs.

But this Warriors team is something else.

Yesterday’s news that the Warriors had managed to sign arguably the best centre in the NBA in Demarcus Cousins (admittedly coming off a torn achilles) was shocking. A team that’s won the last two championships quite easily, sweeping the most recent finals series, just got a whole lot stronger.

So strong in fact, that the finals series for next season may have already been won. The Lakers are a number of pieces away from serious contention, the Rockets have lost a key piece in Trevor Ariza and the Thunder are still home to Carmelo Anthony.

Boston may be the only realistic challenger, and even then would any of Boston’s starting five make the starting five of the Warriors?

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Legacy is a big thing in the NBA and it is an intriguing question on how this Warriors team will be remembered and, perhaps more interestingly – how the players will be remembered.

Cousins, who has failed to play in a minute of playoff action in his caree,r will now almost be guaranteed a ring next, but will there forever be an asterisk attached to this ring?

The Warriors now have a very legitimate claim at calling themselves the greatest dynasty of all time.

Greater than the legendary Bill Russell-led Celtics, the showtime Lakers or even the Jordan-led Bulls. They have won three championships out of the last four and will most likely complete a three-peat next year, they also compiled a 73-9 season – besting the record besting the old record set by the Bulls.

But will this team be remembered as fondly as the Bulls, Celtics or Laker teams of the past?

People are quick to diminish to careers of Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing – to name just two – because they failed to win a ring. That ignores the fact that they had to go through arguably the greatest player of all time in Michael Jordan.

Barkley, in particular, was able to take Jordan to six games in the finals and won the regular season MVP over Jordan in the same year.

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Will Durant and presumably Cousins be celebrated as some of the great champions like Kobe Bryant, Russell, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Jordan or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the past? Or will people say “yeah they won, but look at the team”?

You can ignore Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green because they were drafted by the Warriors and won a ring before Durant arrived.

Will Cousins – who has never made the playoffs and caused numerous problems for the Sacramento Kings – be viewed as taking the easy way out if he is unable to ever return to these presumable heights on another team?

If Durant does decide to leave one day to win somewhere else, will people downplay these championships as him needing three or four other all-stars to win a championship?

Barkley, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton and Karl Malone never won a ring, but will they be more fondly remembered then Durant and Cousins 20 years from now?

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