When did you know the Golden State Warriors were special?

When did I first realize this Warriors team was really special? Well, I’d say February of 2015, which is to say pretty late. They won 67 games that year, and ultimately their first championship. Whatever. I’m not perfect. At this, anyway.

In fairness to me, the previous year they’d won only 51, finishing just sixth in the West and losing in the first round to the Los Angeles Clippers. In 2013-14, the five guys who played the most minutes were Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, David Lee, Andre Iguodala, and Harrison Barnes, with Bogut and Draymond right behind, and the major difference between that and 2014-15 was that Draymond played more, and David Lee played less. Nothing really suggested that a team that had already made the playoffs was about to get a sixteen game bump.

In February of 2015, I watched the Warriors play the Raptors in Toronto. I was there for an academic conference, I had an extra day, and the Raptors had a home game. I was excited about getting to see the only Canadian NBA team on their home court, as well as to eat poutine at an NBA game. I went. The Raptors themselves were perfectly good that year, that’s one reason I wanted to go. They won 49 games, not overly impressive, but good for fourth in the East at the time.

The Dubs just blitzed them. I’d never seen anything like it. I don’t know much about the mechanics of basketball, as long as I’ve written about it. I was too busy doing cool stuff, like skateboarding at the mall, to learn. But I knew I was watching something totally different, nonetheless. The only thing I can compare it to is football. Steph, Klay, and Draymond, on every offensive play, looked like wide receivers on deep crossing routes. The Toronto defense, not used to having to play cornerback, was dead by the time they hit midcourt.

Evidence shows a 24-point win (113-89), and a mere 22 points for Steph Curry, but I don’t really believe it. It was on. Evidence also shows that Klay was 9-of-15, 5-of-8 from 3, that Draymond was 6-of-9, 3-of-5 from 3, and Steph was 8-of-13, 3-of-4 from 3. That I believe. I wrote about it for The Classical, at the time. I said, “You had to see what Steph Curry did. He stopped time, redirected it, played his teammates and opponents like he had the controller in his hands.  From the minute he crossed half-court he was moving with intent, taking ominous, looping angles made allthe more ominous because he can shoot from anywhere. Only, if you break your defense to worry about it, he can dribble anywhere and pass anywhere.” That still feels very true.

Flash to 2018. Many have turned against the Warriors now, as fans will at a team that’s too dominant, for too long, and benefits from stuff like adding Kevin Durant after almost winning their second ring in a row. I still love how beautifully they play ball, the same way I loved the last Spurs team to win a championship — 3s are beautiful, finding open 3s against a tough defense is beautiful, Steph’s handles are beautiful. On it goes.

But the other truth is that the wheel of time always eventually throws up challengers, no matter how good you are. Nobody could beat the Warriors except maybe James Harden playing the style Mike D’Antonio developed for the fast-paced Suns and helmed by Chris Paul, one of the smartest players to ever play the game. It’s possible. It won’t seem likely until the minute it happens. Nobody else really has a chance, or ever really had a chance. If you’ve got a good team, it’s frustrating. The NBA’s never had parity, but it’s rarely, maybe never, had a team this good either.

Next: What's the next step for Donovan Mitchell, Ben Simmons and Jayson Tatum?

This series is what we’ve all been waiting for, since the beginning of the season.  For most of us the only two questions anybody had was “can LeBron drag THIS crew through, too?” and “do the Rockets finally have enough?” Both questions are finally in the process of being answered, and both – perhaps surprisingly – remain perfectly in dispute. At the time of this writing, both series are at 2-2, which is better than I expected.

But I’m still not going to bet against the Warriors, and I won’t believe they’ll lose until the minute it actually happens. Of course it’s not impossible. Still, they’re the best team in the league, and have been for years — it took a superhuman effort by LeBron, on a better Cavs team than the current one, and a crazy shot by Kyrie to beat them in OT of Game 7 before they added Kevin Durant. Since then, there has been no evidence that any team is close.

If the Rockets are going to give us that evidence, they have three games left to do it.