With the arrival of former Oklahoma City Thunder superstar, the Golden State Warriors become the overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Championship this coming NBA season. But the Warriors still has a lot to prove.
When Steve Kerr became the head coach of the Golden State Warriors two seasons ago, the team went from good to a great team. Great chemistry, good coaching and great ball movement.
How good they were?
On their first year together, they won an NBA Championship. Last season, they broke the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls' regular season wins as they became the winningest team in NBA regular season history with a record of 73-9. They manage to reach the NBA Finals only to lose in the hands of Lebron James' Cleveland Cavaliers.
After they lost to NBA Finals, they were still an elite team. But when the Warriors acquired the most sought-after free agent in Kevin Durant this summer, they became the overwhelming favorite to win the NBA crown this coming season. With Durant added to the mix of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, they were deadly. They are now known as the superteam in the NBA.
They were so dominant that many believe that winning an NBA Championship will just be just like a walk in the park.
But according to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com, the Warriors will have a lot to prove this coming NBA season.
The Warriors will start their training camp on Tuesday with a different scenario than a year ago.
When they opened up their training camp last season, they just came off to a successful championship run. And they have almost have the same line-up. So the chemistry has never been a problem. But this year, there are a lot of newcomers. They still need to learn how to play Warriors basketball.
Kevin Durant received a lot of criticism for leaving the Thunder to join an already strong team that beat them in NBA Western Conference Finals last season, the Golden State Warriors. He has to fit in into the Warriors' already deadly offense. When Durant made an appearance in Bill Simmons's show Any Given Wednesday, he opened up about about the criticisms that he received. He said, "How am I weak if I'm at the top, elite level of my profession and I just chose to play for a different team? " So Durant himself has a lot to prove this season.
Stephen Curry, on the other hand, told the USA TODAY, "I still haven't gotten over Game 7." He also says that, "I'm at that point now where I can try to fuel any kind of terrible nightmares or thoughts about Game 7 into motivation for how I'm going to prepare myself for this year." Clearly, the 2-time MVP still has a lot of motivation this coming season.
With the departure of some of the reliable players of the Warriors like Andrew Bogut, Harrison Barnes, Marreese Speights and Leandro Barbosa, the newcomers like David West, Zasha Pachulia Pachulia and probably JaVale McGee (if he can make it to the final roster) will have to prove their worth.
Chemistry may also become a major problem. Not all great players can stand along playing with each other. Not all superteams are bound for an NBA Championship.
Steve Kerr and his coaching staff needs to figure out how to fit in the overwhelming talent that they have on the team. This is a good problem right?
With the 2016-2017 NBA season just over a month away, this question arise. Can the Golden State Warriors regain the NBA crown in the hands of current King, the NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers?
