To some extent, the Golden State Warriors have become the Evil Empire of the NBA. Not because they’re the richest in the league just like the New York Yankees of MLB, but because they’re so star-studded and have looked so invincible the past few years that the awe the public has had for them has slowly mutated into hate. Too much success breeds revulsion in the sports world.
Klay Thompson is aware of this. In fact, he openly admitted that the Warriors, in his estimation, is “the most hated team” in the NBA when he spoke in front of reporters during the team’s media day on Friday.
Klay Thompson: "Everyone wants to see the Warriors lose now … we're probably the most hated team in the league."
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) September 22, 2017
The Warriors have won two of the last three NBA titles, including the one last June, when Thompson and company took down Cleveland in five games in the Finals. They were some sort of an underdog success story when they won the championship in 2015 with homegrown talents in Thompson, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green leading the way.
But their image took a turn when the Warriors signed Kevin Durant last year in a much-debated and oft-criticized move that amplified Durant’s perceived aura as a can’t-win-on-his-own superstar and the Warriors’ cant-defeat-LeBron-without-getting-another-superstar approach to winning. Save for Bay Area sports fans, there are countless of basketball fans hoping that the Durant-reinforced Warriors would fail against the Cleveland Cavaliers back in June.
That didn’t happen of course. The Warriors came out on top and are now the reigning champs again. Hated or not, Golden State is the team to beat this coming season.
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