Hardwood Paroxysm Presents: The Warriors are the Best Team Since Sliced Bread

Tom Westerholm (Tom_NBA) thinks the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors are the best team since the 2011-12 Oklahoma City Thunder (in 2014-15).

It’s been a while since a young superstar in the NBA was successful the way Steph Curry has been successful. The San Antonio Spurs, of course, have played a huge part in that — they are zombies with one setting: Win everything, all the time, forever until the world is black and cold and dead.

But injuries and roster moves have played a big part as well. The Oklahoma City Thunder, seemingly year after year after year, can’t stay healthy enough to make a championship run. That’s a shame, because the Oklahoma City Thunder are, were, and could have been incredible.

In 2011-12, the Thunder employed Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Today, that group (when healthy) would be pretty inarguably three of the top 10 players in the NBA, and you’d be hard-pressed to make a case that their range should extend much past seven. You know what happened next — the Thunder, feeling pressed by the salary cap, traded James Harden and re-signed Serge Ibaka. They remained championship contenders, while Harden flourished in a much bigger role for the Houston Rockets. Perhaps everyone came out ahead.

Still, watching Harden melt down in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, it’s hard to even imagine how great that Oklahoma City team could have been. What if Harden had a bad game but had Durant dropping 35-plus to back him up? What if Durant couldn’t find the range, but he had an explosive force crashing toward the basket in Westbrook AND a shifty creator with a lethal combination of long-range shooting, strength and finishing ability? What if all three had a hyper-athletic defensive force rejecting shots around the rim behind them in Serge Ibaka? How many championships would that core have won?

The Golden State Warriors are a great basketball team, and they are well set up for a multi-year, multi-championship run. Curry is completely insane. Klay Thompson is the perfect second banana to Curry. Andrew Bogut, Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes are ideal complements to the stars. They could very easily be headed for a comfortable championship, especially against a diminished Cavs team hanging on by the skin of LeBron James’ teeth.

But could the Warriors have beaten the 2011-12 Thunder playing in 2014-15? I have no idea. We’ll never know, and that — to me — is a shame.