By Karz Miller
After winning the 2014 -2015 NBA championship 4-2 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Golden State Warriors proved that they were a pretty competitive and determined team. So competitive and determined that the following season they went 73 – 9, beating the previous record for the most games won in a single season (set by the 1995 -96 Chicago Bulls, who went 72 -10). Learn more about their push for 73 wins at http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/warriors/2016/04/14/warriors-get-73rd-win-set-nba-record/83018630/.
If you live in Tennessee and watch basketball, you might be a Golden State Warriors fan because of their backup point guard Ian Clark. Clark is form the state of Tennessee and played at Belmont University from 2009 – 2013. Ian Clark has been an excellent role player in the Warriors success last year, coming up big in certain moments of their playoff run. Although Clark has not proved that he can be a starter for the Warriors yet, he has proved that when called upon he will guarantee some kind of production, and help to put his team in the best position to win. Clark is very humble, realizes his job for the team, and does not complain at all about playing time or coaches’ decisions. The basketball fans of Tennessee can all see Clark being a success and an important piece to any team in the league.
It seemed as if they were destined to win the NBA championship for the second time in a row while being up 3 – 1 on the Cleveland Cavaliers at the end of the 2015 – 2016 season in a Finals rematch. Closing out the Cleveland Cavaliers in this series would have meant a lot to the Warriors, bringing them their fifth NBA title and being the first time in history that the franchise had won a title back to back. By Being up 3 – 1, that seemed like a very easy task, but it was easier said than done. The Cleveland Cavaliers stormed their way to a three game winning streak against the Warriors, closing the series four games to three, winning the NBA finals, and bringing Cleveland, Ohio, its first title in a sport since 1964 http://www.si.com/nba/2016/06/20/.
Losing what would’ve been their second title in a row left a really bad taste in the Warriors’ mouth as it would any other team’s, especially being up three games to one. In my opinion, no one felt sorry for the Warriors, and I’m pretty sure they knew that they couldn’t feel sorry for themselves. Everyone expects the Warriors to come back strong, even stronger than what they did this past season, but the moves they made during the off – season may just have made them the most hated and despised team out of any major sport.
Just recently, the Golden State Warriors signed the 6- foot- 11 - inch guard from Oklahoma, Kevin Durant, to a $54 million contract. Durant is an outstanding scorer, which makes Golden State a much more difficult team to defend. Durant won the 2013 - 2014 league’s Most Valuable Player Award, which means the team has the possession of two MVP Award winners on the same team, Durant and Stephen Curry. This addition to their team has other teams and fans thinking that they are doing literally whatever it takes to win.
Basketball fans all over the world were outraged with his decision, especially since Golden State was the team that prevented Durant from making it to the finals last season after they came back from 3 -1 to be Durant and the Thunder. Analyst Stephen A. Smith said this about Durant’s decision to join forces with the Warriors “Kevin Durant has absolutely ruined the regular season”, agreeing with most people on the opinion that his move was weak, disloyal and unfair, feeling as if the talent of the league isn’t being equally distributed throughout the teams. http://nesn.com/2016/07/stephen-a-smith-loses-his-mind-over-kevin-durant-joining-the-warriors/. If you watched any of the NBA preseason games, you got a sneak peek of the Warriors and what to expect during the regular season. After blowing out the Los Angeles Clippers, a top team in the Western Conference, the people of the basketball world question what they’ll do to others.
Although Durant is the Warriors obvious main pick up during the off season, they also took the time to sign and trade for a few other solid players. Keeping the main core of their team, the Warriors added big man Zaza Pachulia, forward David West, and center JaVale McGee. With the regular season only five days, away this 18 man roster the Warriors have built seems determined and ready to go.
My name is Karz Kamryan Miller and my major Is Mass Communications. I am currently enrolled at Motlow State Community College. By next year I plan on attending Middle Tennessee State University. After I graduate I plan on becoming a sports journalist for ESPN or Sports Center
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