Greatness Perpetuates Greatness
Watching the NBA playoff series throughout the recent weeks has been an incredible display of both wild fluctuation and unrivaled certainty. If you aren’t the Warriors or (for the most part) the Cavs, you have been 20 points ahead or 20 points behind in any given game without much in between. Especially throughout some of the earlier series, it was wildly up in the air who would win each game. And I must say, that made it wildly entertaining. There is an internal conflict between the sports fan and the Warriors fan in me that I find myself realizing every time Golden State executes a blowout. It is always fun to see a close game, whether or not my blood pressure agrees with that. Conversely, I find great joy in seeing one of my favorite teams in sports dominate. Coming to grips with the reality that my conundrum within may continue, I have turned towards analyzing the way in which these blowout games have defined the Warriors.
If you are a team in the middle of the pack, you probably have some very good players and some very average players (as far as the NBA goes). Throughout the entirety of the season, those very good players see some very good minutes while the very average players see very few minutes. What does that translate to? A lopsided team. The ballers on the verge of greatness are seeing lots of playtime to reach that next level, simultaneously having faith put in them by the coaches who are trying to stay above .500. There’s nothing wrong with that. Yet, it paints an entirely different picture for the bench players. They see their feet on hardwood and the ball in their hands for a fraction of the game, and while they make the most of it, it’s simply not enough. Why? Because of exceptional teams. Teams throughout history that have defined basketball eras. Teams like the 90s Bulls, early 00s Lakers, and current Warriors.
Now, obviously teams with star players are going to be stronger than teams without a “Jordan”. That makes a noticeable difference on the surface, but where the real discrepancy comes in is the bench. When a team like the Warriors is consistently up by 20 points going into the third quarter, the effects ripple throughout the entire squad. First, the star players get more rest. They can sit for almost all of the fourth quarter, ice the knees, and catch their breath. The rest isn’t much if it’s only one game, but through the course of 82 games the minutes pile up. More importantly, the bench players get playing minutes. They start playing fourth quarters against other A-squads. And through the course of 82 games, this is some serious experience. The star players flex their stuff then sit while the bench players improve their game, in-game. A perfect harmony.
The eminence of this team dynamic shows itself most prominently in the playoffs, as we’ve seen this year. Never in the history of the NBA has a team gone 12-0 to reach the Finals. And while in the beginning of the season it looked like the Warriors sacrificed depth for individual talent, the prowess the star players possessed allowed the bench players to grow throughout the season. Now, we’ve found ourselves where every Warriors fan hoped the season’s compass was pointing towards — a chance at redemption. Who knows what the Finals will hold…but I know my internal dilemma isn’t something I’ll have to worry about confronting. If the Warriors crush the Cavs by the 30 points each game, I’ll only be hoping one thing — that it was by 40.
P.s. Yes yes, our favorite time. Both of the NBA season and the blog. The playoffs and shoe talk. Let's talk about both. The playoffs generally bring with them special iterations of athletes' signature shoes. Last year marked the most noticeable of this tradition, when LeBron debuted the 10th edition of his secondary signature shoe, the LeBron "Soldier". It coincided with their comeback against the Warriors, and thus became a legendary shoe. This year, Nike revealed the Soldier 11 ahead of the Finals (a slightly different timeline). Let's hope that change in their release date superstitiously downgrades the King's performance. (Although, objectively it is a pretty fly shoe).
The New Soldier XI
Credit: Sneakerbar Detroit