Ah yes, my dear sweet summer time. You kindly swelter us for three months, and then your radiance fades away all too swiftly. In your glimmering wake, the autumn rituals begin. The leaves begin to change their colors, the children return to their schooling, and the world champion Golden State Warriors return to lay a smack down on the NBA. A quick reference to history of the basketball shows that eras of reigning champions easily faze out just like the summer’s glow is being pushed out by a cutting September. For the Dubs, soon to resume training, it’s not new.
The Warriors currently backed by odds on football are on the driving seat of the basketball. The basketball teams have been backed by the media to clinch lots of accolades before their dynasty fades away. The side could join the list of teams to have clinched the trophy three times in a row. If they are successful in winning their fourth title in five years. Reports have it that only Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls have achieved such feat. Incidentally all three have achieved such feat twice in the respective club history.
The Warriors are climbing into rare status on the Greatness Mountain, dragging behind them a garbage bag full of assorted mementos of their dominance: Chris Paul’s hamstring, Cleveland’s heart, and cupcakes baked in Oklahoma City. The Golden Empire could become the third all-time highest on the list of winners if the win it all in the current year. The team is currently tied with Chicago bulls in the all-time list with 6 accolades.
Coincidentally, the teams chasing Warriors are the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. Boston Celtics are currently in second position and are expected to lift the trophy in the event that the Warriors fails to keep their consistency. Los Angeles Lakers are also expected to give the two teams a run. With the ups and down associated with the league, the Warrior will need to defeat both teams if it hopes to win it all in the current season. It is certainly a privilege to compete against the two super weights for the trophy but the big question centers on the emergence of the two teams in the Golden era.
Kobe Bryant’s retirement in 2016 really spelled doom for Los Angeles lakers as the side failed to move on from his retirement. Kobe’s last action for the LA lakers ended with an injury and incidentally against the Warriors who were gearing up for the first play-off. Since Kobe’s retirement, the team have failed to find its fit with both on and off the court problems plaguing the side. Players turned to snitches why the business owners barely survived insurrection. The Los Angeles Lakers despite having a bad post-Kobe Bryan seems to have found redemption in recent time as LeBron James and Lonzo Ball have teamed up forces to rescue the team from collapse as well as a search for potential title number 17.
Boston have also been transformed into a super team with the arrival of GM Danny Ainge. The Celtics squad have featured a baby Rajon Rondo playing point guard for the Hall-of-Fame trio of the “BENGAY THREE”, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett. They won the title in their first shot, and would make another (failed) Finals trip before running out of gas after six competitive seasons. (Curiously enough, both Finals appearances came in vicious wars against Kobe’s Lakers.) Ainge began to grow increasingly uneasy, eyeing his gutsy gamble finally showing an inevitable decline.
The Boston Celtics have discovered her voice since the arrival of the tactician Stevens. He has revived the Celtics into a (regular season) thorn in the Warriors side since Steve Kerr arrival in 2014. The Warriors have recorded a 5-3 win against them in that time span, with all the games becoming physical, tense, chess-matches that weren’t decided until late in the game. The Boston’s always limit their rivals from scoring.