The Warriors and World Domination

It took a little over two years, two championships, a handful of injuries and lots of questionable facial hair, but the Golden State Warriors are finally raining hellfire over the Association.

When they signed Kevin Durant on July 4, 2016, Lacob, Guber and Myers envisioned a team like this.

One that not only annihilates teams on a nightly basis but does so so embarrassingly that the bigger question is not whether or not the Warriors will win, but which star will break which record.

Its been eight games, and we’ve already seen a binful of breathtaking performances.

Steph dropped 51 in three quarters, broke the record for consecutive games with five-or-more threes and is pacing himself for a potential 500-three season. Kevin Durant has been dominant and in control, scoring 28.3 ppg on 55.6 percent shooting, including a 41-point game in MSG topped off by a 25-point fourth quarter. Klay, finally breaking out of his shooting slump with 52 and 14 threes in 27 minutes, is as combustible as ever, and Draymond Green, who has led the team with 8.1 assists and, in the shadows, helped orchestrate the whole show.

So, now that the 7-1 Warriors have become the Lucifer to the rest of the NBA that we all foresaw, two questions beg to be asked: how good can they really be, and why would Kevin Durant leave?

The first question is almost a rhetorical one: we are seeing it now.

The three kings are playing games within games, one-upping each other and themselves, while simultaneously supporting each other’s exploits.

No one stays in the spotlight for more than one game at a time, but every night we get to marvel at the infinite potential of the gauntlet they have assembled.

Even on off-nights – the ugly third quarter against the Knicks – are overshadowed by Kevin Durant’s graceful one-man transitions, and-ones, and unblockable jumpers.

Unlike the last two year, when they seemed wholly uninterested on so many nights, this incarnation of the Warriors seems motivated, in control; like they have something to prove.

I really wonder - what is their ceiling? 74 wins? A perfect postseason? Two 30 ppg scorers (which Steph thinks is in the realm of possibility)?

Their offensive prospects, especially in today’s dizzyingly fast NBA, are unbound by anything but their imagination and their health. And we have never, in the league’s history, seen a more potent offensive trio than these three.

But we have seen this story play out before. A team, on a mission, led by the light skin messiah, burning out after a season of conquests.

Maybe this season is different. There is no LeBron on the other side waiting to pounce on the vulnerable prey at their weakest moment, and it seems like the rest of the West will beat themselves up trying to fall into place, which at this point seems uncertain.

The Celtics are budding and defensively dominant, but offensively look torn between three central figures (Tatum, Irving and Hayward), although Brad Stevens is certainly up to the task.

The Raptors look to be taking full advantage of Kawhi’s Ka-rrival, but are haunted by postseason’s past.

And the West is full of talented teams; there's no way of knowing who will be in sync come playoff time.

But, really, none of that matters, because this team – the one who just scored 92 points in a half, albeit against a second-rate Bulls squad – is not falling to any of those contenders.

If the Warriors can stay healthy – and that’s always a big if – Golden State will go as far as its will to break records will take the two-time defending champions.

Which brings the second question into light; who, in their right mind, would leave a team this dominant?

In his 3rd year, all the while having to share the ball with, by his own estimation, the two greatest shooters of all time, Durant is at his most efficient he’s ever played and is on pace to log his highest-scoring season since his MVP campaign of 2013-14.

Two Finals MVPs in, he has already filled his fingers with rings and his bathtubs with champagne.

And while NBA Twitter and its endless “sources” will have you believe, he is noticeably, undeniably happy on the Warriors.

What’s standing their way? Money? His ego? The chip on his shoulder?

Maybe all of the above.

He even said last week that he’s looking forward to getting P.A.I.D.

“I am thinking about the money I’m going to get,” Durant said. “I never got the (massive) deal. I’ve just seen a bunch of dudes around the league making so much money — and I’m happy for them. But I know I deserve that, too. That’s the only thing I’m probably thinking about, to be honest.”

While the Warriors can offer him a supermax of a 5-year, $219 million contract next summer, they will have to go heavy into the luxury tax, something Lacob has said he has no problems with, especially in the face of the Chase Center.

Other teams with money will be coming after him too.

The Knicks – who many have dubbed as the top contender for Durant’s heart next summer – will have bounds of cap space, especially after offing Joakim Noah.

Magic Johnson said live during a Fox broadcast of the World Series that he wants KD to join LeBron (is that tampering?).

Both the Lakers and Knicks will have more than enough room to sign Durant, who would either be the star or set up to be the star on a mega-market team.

Imagine the endorsements… the instant gratification he would get for going to one of the NBA’s golden franchises.

And I can only imagine the frustration he would feel from being chastised for making a personal decision that’s been such an undeniable success.

I know that Warriors fans, who had suffered through years and years of being a bottom barrel franchise, would celebrate Durant’s time here no matter the decision he makes.

But, as much as NBA Twitter is salivating over the fantasy of the lanky 35 calling MSG his home, Durant himself said that the only thing he really cares about is the game.

“I mean, to be honest, I don’t know how I feel about that type of stuff,” Durant said of a billboard outside of MSG featuring an animated version of himself wearing a Knicks jersey. “It’s cool. No disrespect, but I’m not really impressed with that type of stuff. I just really like playing basketball.”

We can’t really know what’s going on in his head, but we do know there has never been a team better at playing basketball than these Warriors.