Warriors fans have been crawling out of the woodwork in recent weeks in part of Golden State’s unprecedented playoff run. After enduring 14 years of mediocrity, a constant coaching carousel, draft disappointments and the constant jettisoning rising stars, the fans finally have reason to celebrate even if they’ve never before been a self-proclaimed fan (at least now the Warriors can claim Jessica Alba is one of them).
They’ve given people like me reason to start paying attention again, because really, following the Warriors in years past was an exercise in watching impending disaster. You knew the season was going to implode at some point and I had to watch the next-nearest team to see anything resembling some form of team-oriented basketball.
But I’m not hopping on the bandwagon because the Warriors are some great Cinderella story. I’m rooting for them because they’re the most entertaining team to watch and proving that the regular season isn’t worth tuning in to. They’re the team that exemplifies the notion that most teams don’t actually start playing until the postseason, which is why at this point they’re leading the regular season’s best team, the Dallas Mavericks, 3-2 in the first round.
Some people claim that Golden State didn’t play any defense during the season until Game 1 against Dallas. Sure, the Warriors had to win most of their games down the stretch to gain entrance into the playoffs, but that can be more attributed to the team finally being healthy than the players playing at full tilt. They saved themselves the energy during the regular season so they could put on a performance like this in the playoffs.
But I don’t consider the Warriors to be the only team not playing to its ability during the regular season.
What’s the point of watching if most of the league’s top teams are going to mail in performances all season long? This isn’t football where each game drastically affects a team’s chance at entering the postseason. NBA teams with the most talent are practically assured a spot as long as they’re playing just well enough to beat their opponent. Which, in many cases throughout the league, isn’t the hardest task especially when teams may purposely lose to have a better chance at the No. 1 pick the upcoming draft (I’m looking at you, Boston and Memphis). It is, by far, the easiest path to the playoffs in any professional sport.
And this year, the league’s supposed favorite to win MVP, the nice-guy-everyone-loves-to-hate Dirk Nowitzki, is made to look like a scrub stripped of his confidence for most the series, well, what does that say about the regular season? Think about it, the best player for 81 games can’t figure out how to handle the ball when two defenders rush at him. I know plenty of MVPs fail to live up to the hype come playoff time (see Rodriguez, Alex) but basketball’s different. If the best player has an off-night, he’s supposed to tear it up in the following game. He’s supposed to be too good to look like a bench player against the No. 8 team. Albeit, Nowitzki finally starting playing like the MVP Tuesday night, it’s likely too little too late.
In any case, teams like the Warriors are reason enough to only start watching when it’s playoff time. The stakes are higher, the intensity is up, and players start performing and acting like they give a darn. Those are reasons enough to skip any game prior to the playoffs.
Maybe I’m just not a fan of the NBA, but I can certainly tell the difference in the performance once the games matter.
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