Durant is MVP. Sigh

I agree with it.

We live in a world where Zaza Pachulia will have 2 chanpionship rings.

the whole announcing you had a broken hand in the post series press conference bit.

Good Aggie Hunting, for a variety of reasons, I think it's comfortable to say that this was the last time these two teams will meet in the Finals.

Who? I didnt bother watching the press conference

DannyDuberstein said:

---

We live in a world where Zaza Pachulia will have 2 chanpionship rings.

---

Eh...already has been a world for 20 years where Luc Longley has 3 NBA championship rings.

Matsui said:

---

I agree with it.

---

I think you can make a valid argument either way that Durant or Curry deserved it. Curry DID have an absolutely horrible Game 3, but his Game 2 and Game 4 performances were really strong.

Personally I would have voted for Curry, but due to Durant's fantastic (arguably his best career game ever) Game 3, I can understand the logic going the other way.

Good Aggie Hunting said:

---

This was the most forgettable NBA season and NBA Finals in a long time. I hope this was the last Finals series between these two teams.

---

It was actually a close call that we even saw the 4th straight matchup this year, both Cavs and GSW were down 3-2 in their conference finals and had to win a Game 7 on the road to pull off a 4-peat matchup. We may very well not see the same two teams meet four straight years in the Finals for a loooooong time. Was a pretty extreme outlier that things played out that way the last 4 seasons.

Scientific said:

---

Had the Cavs won Game 1, I think they'd have a chance. But they weren't winning this series, and LeBron is just fending off a sweep now.

Well, this is what the NBA is. A fake dynasty.

---

The Warriors are not a 'fake' dynasty any more than the 80's Lakers and Celtics, the 90's Bulls, the 200-2003 Shaq and Kobe Lakers, etc. They were luckier & more competent than their competitors at building a great team and now are a bunch that legitimately deserves the label 'dynasty' now, and just a question of how long it lasts and the debate of where their run will rank compared to previous great team runs.

Rockets / Cavs would have at least been a decent series to watch. Instead we got 4 blowouts and excuses.

flashplayer said:

---

The fact that they acquired Durant with a once in a lifetime cap rise gimmick sort of taints them for me. If the NBA had phased in the cap spike, they never acquire Durant or any other superstar and they'd have stayed with the organic build they had going for them.

Durant ruined their legacy.

---

They still had to have built something beforehand that was really attractive and successfully recruited Durant, a player that a bunch of other teams were also trying to aggressively get, including the Spurs, Miami, Boston, Lakers, etc. And they beat out all those other teams for KD's signature.

Somebody like Curry could have felt threatened and said 'nah, I want to be Alpha Male'. But that isn't how things worked out at all. They made Durant feel very welcome there. You gotta give GSW a lot of credit for the player chemistry and culture that they have over there.

Meanwhile, Kyrie is running away from LeBron because there wasn't enough oxygen in the room.

As long as they don't start getting into that 'Disease of More' issue that Riley pointed out years ago, which ultimately has taken down many a dynasty, such as Shaq and Kobe starting to fight among themselves, GSW can keep a good thing going for quite awhile.

Seven Costanza said:

---

Cromagnum said:

---

Rockets / Cavs would have at least been a decent series to watch. Instead we got 4 blowouts and excuses.

---

Game 1 went to OT and Game 3 was a 1-point game with 1:57 left. Games 2 and 4 were blowouts.

---

Don't bring logic into this thread

Pumpkinhead said:

---

flashplayer said:

---

The fact that they acquired Durant with a once in a lifetime cap rise gimmick sort of taints them for me. If the NBA had phased in the cap spike, they never acquire Durant or any other superstar and they'd have stayed with the organic build they had going for them.

Durant ruined their legacy.

---

They still had to have built something beforehand that was really attractive and successfully recruited Durant, a player that a bunch of other teams were also trying to aggressively get, including the Spurs, Miami, Boston, Lakers, etc. And they beat out all those other teams for KD's signature.

Somebody like Curry could have felt threatened and said 'nah, I want to be Alpha Male'. But that isn't how things worked out at all. They made Durant feel very welcome there. You gotta give GSW a lot of credit for the player chemistry and culture that they have over there.

Meanwhile, Kyrie is running away from LeBron because there wasn't enough oxygen in the room.

As long as they don't start getting into that 'Disease of More' issue that Riley pointed out years ago, which ultimately has taken down many a dynasty, such as Shaq and Kobe starting to fight among themselves, GSW can keep a good thing going for quite awhile.

---

You give Golden State too much credit for wooing Durant. Everyone wanted him. He is a woman that hates competition and chose the most talented team because they were the most talented team. Not because they're a bunch of humble gentlemen. They're far from that, really. They just had the best situation in basketball combined with a ridiculous cap spike. It was a fluke.

flashplayer said:

---

Pumpkinhead said:

---

flashplayer said:

---

The fact that they acquired Durant with a once in a lifetime cap rise gimmick sort of taints them for me. If the NBA had phased in the cap spike, they never acquire Durant or any other superstar and they'd have stayed with the organic build they had going for them.

Durant ruined their legacy.

---

They still had to have built something beforehand that was really attractive and successfully recruited Durant, a player that a bunch of other teams were also trying to aggressively get, including the Spurs, Miami, Boston, Lakers, etc. And they beat out all those other teams for KD's signature.

Somebody like Curry could have felt threatened and said 'nah, I want to be Alpha Male'. But that isn't how things worked out at all. They made Durant feel very welcome there. You gotta give GSW a lot of credit for the player chemistry and culture that they have over there.

Meanwhile, Kyrie is running away from LeBron because there wasn't enough oxygen in the room.

As long as they don't start getting into that 'Disease of More' issue that Riley pointed out years ago, which ultimately has taken down many a dynasty, such as Shaq and Kobe starting to fight among themselves, GSW can keep a good thing going for quite awhile.

---

You give Golden State too much credit for wooing Durant. Everyone wanted him. He is a woman that hates competition and chose the most talented team because they were the most talented team. Not because they're a bunch of humble gentlemen. They're far from that, really. They just had the best situation in basketball combined with a ridiculous cap spike. It was a fluke.

---

Shaq left an Orlando team whom he had made the Finals with to go the Lakers and then won three straight NBA titles. Or, speaking of 'flukes', how about when the Spurs got lucky the ping pong ball fell their way to get Tim Duncan...

Quote:

---

On that day, the NBA lottery delivered Tim Duncan to the Alamo City although the Spurs had the third-worst record in the league and a 21.4 percent chance at the top pick. On that same day, the Celtics, who had the best odds for the overall pick (36 percent) as well as the league's second-worst record, ended up with the third and sixth picks.

---

You might as well start calling most sports dynasties 'flukes', because if you look at any of them, you'll almost always see where some lady lucky. fortunate plays, injuries or lack of, etc. had a role to play in the story.

This isn't particularly relevant, but I was just looking at the 1997 Western Conference playoffs and had forgotten how much talent there was. The Jazz had Stockton, Malone, and Hornacek. The Rockets had Olajuwon, Drexler, and a still spry Barkley (good numbers in his first season in Houston, which is not how I remembered it). The Sonics with Payton, Kemp, Schrempf, Hawkins, and Perkins. A young Lakers team with Shaq and Kobe. Minnesota had Marbury, Garnett, and Gugliotta.

flashplayer said:

---

Well, it was a fluke. Name one other time in CBA era history that every single NBA team could offer a near max contract to a free agent. Yeah, there's not one.

It's the only time in history that a player of Durant's ability could pick his team with basically all teams being a legitimate option.

---

There is that old saying that 'Luck is being prepared for opportunity'. Yes, the salary cap spike was a fluke event, but the Warriors had done a lot of things right to put themselves ahead of 28 other NBA teams to land Durant.

Not too long ago, the Warriors had not won an NBA title in 40+ years. Then they:

- Drafted Steph Curry with 7th pick.
- Hired advisor Jerry West after ownership change, who had a lot of influence in some later decisions.
- Drafted Klay Thompson with 11th pick.
- Traded popular player Monta Ellis (was controversial trade at the time)
- Drafted Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green (Green in the second round).
- Made the trade for Andre Iguodola.
- Fired Mark Jackson and hired Steve Kerr.
- Won the NBA title and then 73-win season, losing in the Finals.

And then...yes...they took advantage of the cap spike to go recruit and land Kevin Durant (essentially swapping out Barnes for the second best player in the NBA). But they would not have been such an attractive landing spot for Durant and able to recruit him like they did if they hadn't hit gold on all those previous decisions and already built a great team.

The Warriors have earned the label 'dynasty' just like any of the other previous teams labeled as such. They operated under the exact same set of rules as 29 other NBA teams were operating at the time, and they came out on top.

Now it is the job of the other 29 teams to try to tear them back down. Which eventually will happen. Maybe it will some new super team formed this offseason starring LeBron, or somebody like Boston or possibly Philly who appear to be building something potentially special in the East. And it will be fun (at least for me) to watch who might be able to knock them off their throne. But at the same time, I can also appreciate the Warriors for being a great team and their style of play (when they are really clicking).