A Mad Men guide to the 2018-19 NBA Season

“I’ve never heard of him.” — Golden State Warriors

When someone from the Wall Street Journal called Don to ask for a comment about Ted Chaough, the man who everyone knew was his biggest rival in the business at the time, the response was perfect. Whether a man is your rival or not, you certainly don’t let on that it’s the case.

The irony, of course, is that at the time it was uttered, Sterling Cooper Draper Price was in quite a vulnerable position.

This may seem like an odd quote, then, to attribute to the team that is currently a 1-to-2 favorite to hold the Larry O’Brien trophy in June for the third consecutive year.

The signs are there that it isn’t. The Warriors won 58 games last year, something many would have thought impossible before the season started. Even the 97-98 Bulls, on the last leg of their second trifecta, won 62, and they were without Scottie Pippen for 38 games (Curry and Durant missed a combined 45 last season). When KD was healthy, there was an aura of unease surrounding his place within the team and the organization, something since downplayed but quite real, as the championship parade made awkwardly clear (Not great Bob!)

We have no earthly clue what would have happened had Chris Paul’s hip not flared up at the worst possible time last May, but we can safely assume Game 7 would not have been the cakewalk it turned out to be. History says the hardest test is yet to come.

There’s a reason there have only been three 3-peats in the last five decades of NBA basketball. None have been without a do-or-die moment at some point. It’s only a matter of time before Golden State faces theirs.