July 4, 2016: The world was a very different place back then. Barack Obama was President, the Cleveland Cavaliers were NBA champions, and the Golden State Warriors were on the ropes. Fresh off blowing that infamous 3-1 lead to the Cavs, the Warriors needed a direction. With the Oklahoma City Thunder right on their heels for the best team in the Western Conference, the Warriors delivered a thunderous hurricane to the state of Oklahoma and the rest of the basketball world: they signed the Thunder’s best player, Kevin Durant. Durant wasn’t any normal free agent. He wasn’t even a special free agent. He was one of the two players who could single-handedly change the future of the NBA. And by deciding to take his talents to the Bay Area, Durant changed the NBA. Fast forward one year, Donald Trump is President, the Golden State Warriors are NBA champions, and the NBA is about to become the best it’s ever been.
Durant came under fire for his decision to join the Warriors and form a super team with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Players and team officials around the NBA complained how the Warriors were too good to be beaten and there was no point to try and win now, rather tank now and reap the benefits when the Warriors break up. Granted, the 2017 NBA Playoffs were slightly boring, with the Warriors going 16-1 en route to their second championship in three years. However, the 2017 NBA Offseason has proved that teams are not willing to go down without a fight.
The same Oklahoma City Thunder team that lost Kevin Durant just acquired Paul George for a bag of potato chips. The Houston Rockets have quietly assembled an offensive powerhouse potent enough to outscore the juggernaut of the Warriors. The Minnesota Timberwolves have gone from perennial lottery team to potential playoff success with the addition of Jimmy Butler and Jeff Teague to a core of young stars in Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. And of course, The King will always be a perennial NBA Finals participant regardless of who is on his team. In short, as Daryl Morey put it, “it’s a weapons race in the NBA, you’re either in the weapons race or on the sidelines…” NBA teams have entered this weapons race, acquiring star players to contend with the monster out in the Bay Area.
While there are only a handful of good teams in the NBA, of which only a few can put up a solid fight against Golden State, there is some sort of competition of the Warriors. They’re not going to be able to sweep through a Western Conference featuring Paul George and Russell Westbrook on the Thunder, Jimmy Butler, KAT, and Wiggins on the Wolves, and James Harden and CP3 on the Rockets, with LeBron James and the Cavs waiting in the NBA Finals. The Core Four of the Warriors might still win the next three to four championships, but it is not going to be easy.
Kevin Durant’s move to Golden State didn’t make it easier to win a championship, it made it even harder. A year has passed since he joined the Warriors, and teams have adjusted to the Empire of the Bay Area. And while the Empire Struck Back last year with a championship, competition has returned to the NBA, with the 2017-2018 season serving as the first attempt for the rebellion to overthrow the champions in Oakland.
