NBA Week 5 Rewind: Warriors, Kobe Bryant rewrite history
By Tom West
There’s one question fans, critics, and players alike are asking: who can end the Golden State’s undefeated start?
The Golden State Warriors’ 18-0 start has added more excitement and suspense to the start of the 2015-16 NBA season than anyone could have expected from the defending champions. Their room to improve this year was clearly due to having so many young players and only just reaching a new high last season as they took home their first championship in 40 years after a storybook campaign. However, to start their season with such momentum in such dominant fashion, not to mention zero losses to set an NBA record with a 16-0 start, is a perfect narrative to enthrall basketball fans everywhere.
Last week wasn’t joyous for everyone, though. On Sunday, Kobe Bryant announced that he’ll be retiring at the end of the season. Los Angeles Lakers fans and basketball lovers everywhere will be sad to see him walk away after 20 remarkable seasons, although they know it’s for the best as his decline hasn’t been easy to watch. He’s shooting just 30.5 percent from the floor and is releasing more air balls than ever, so it’s certainly best that he ends his career after this season, on his own terms, instead of attempting another painful year.
These two narratives aren’t all the NBA had to offer us last week, though. There’s plenty of action to breakdown, and here’s a list of the segments that will be featured:
- The key games and results of the week
- Who’s heating up?
- Who’s struggling?
- The best highlights of the week
- A weekly rookie watch
- Under-the-radar players to watch next week
As usual, let’s get started with some of the key results of the week, featuring historic accomplishments and close contests between some of the Eastern Conference’s top teams.
Next: The Key Games and Results of Week 5