“I grew up right here in Los Angeles. And when I was ten years old, I watched UCLA beat Kentucky in the National Championship. It was their tenth National Title in twelve years. At ten years old, and as a UCLA fan, I thought this is just gonna happen forever. Wooden retired after the game and I think they have won one national title since.”
Steve Kerr lamented this childhood sports horror to Def Pen Hoops. A horror he knows is simply the lifecycle of greatness. A team comes around and they become unbeatable. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, they stop being the team they once were. Greatness is not an everlasting fire but a flickering light with the coals barely keeping it alive.
This is not how many people view greatness. The problem for many is, when greatness exists in sports, it feels so overpowering and unreachable that it becomes permanent in many people’s minds. The summit to the top is already unspeakably hard, greatness being in the way makes it feel like an impossibility. But it is not.
Basketball games are not played inside of a simulation. The teams that are stacked with the most talent don’t automatically win the championship and it only takes one seismic event to stop a dynasty from continuing to wreak havoc. This does not even mean injury or a player suddenly leaving, it could simply mean forgetting the work that is put into winning a championship. This is exactly what Kerr stressed, being the team on top is simply about actively trying to sustain perfection by working hard and the Warriors often push that idea.
When Steph Curry was asked about the Warriors being on the road to another championship, he gave a look that only sports fans who know not to say “no-hitter” are familiar with. He then echoed his longtime coach by saying there is “a lot of work to do.”
“We are not getting ahead of ourselves at all. We have been through this before and I don’t think we have won any championships by looking ahead”
What is lost in the gluttony of the greatest teams ever assembled is the work that must still be put into sustaining success. Work does not stop because the talent level is so high. Talent simply gives you an advantage, it does not reward you with success. True success must still be worked for and even then, the Warriors are still as prone to mistakes as any other team. Game Two put a spotlight on that.
Draymond Green talked about their occasional lack of focus following a game three win over the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2019 NBA playoffs,
“Reality of it is, human nature (means) it sometimes just happens”
Mistakes happen, lapses of focus happen. The Warriors are less likely to succumb to these common mistakes but they still are. They are not impenetrable, they are not unbeatable, and they are not forever. However, empathy is a courtesy not often supplied to the extremely fortunate. “Super Teams” like the Warriors form and you are unlikely to see a single fan not branding a bridge on their chest rooting for that team’s continued success. To fans, it all feels so… inevitable. And, it mostly is. “Super Teams” have consistently dominated the league since it’s inception and will continue to do so.
So, maybe the Warriors do not deserve your empathy. Maybe their unrivaled riches allow you to hope for the unpredictable instead of root for the inevitable. The Warriors are not slowing down now but that is the point. Greatness does not slow down, it persists until it no longer can and when it can’t, it comes to a screeching halt to the surprise of everyone.
The Warriors are pushing off their collapse of greatness for as long as they can. They may be able to do so for years but one day, they won’t be able to any longer. The fact that it might happen in ten years, five years, or tomorrow is why we still watch. It is why ratings shoot through the roof when there is one dominating presence in the NBA and, to Steve Kerr, it is what makes sports worth watching.
