If your favorite team not based out of the Bay Area was title-competitive for the latter half of the 2010s, chances are their championship dreams were smashed by the proficiency of the Golden State Warriors.

After setting an NBA regular-season record of 73 wins and losing a controversial 2016 NBA Finals, the Dubs sacrificed depth for star power and added arguably the greatest scoring threat of all-time in Kevin Durant. They went on to win two championships before injuries plagued them in 2019 against the Raptors, with Durant’s departure coming the next year. It was dominance unlike anything the league had seen since Michael Jordan’s two three-peats, a feat that none have come close to achieving since.

But the Warriors weren’t the last sign of a league-wide monopoly on buckets. Both the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets spent this past off-season re-arming and getting ready for a title run. The Lakers have arguably the deepest bench in the league, filled with vets who have the experience to get things done – on a 15-man roster, they have 11 players who have experienced an NBA Finals. On top of having perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate Anthony Davis, walking triple-double Russell Westbrook, and some guy named LeBron James, their championship pedigree is unmatched.

The Nets, while their experience isn’t quite the same, have similar veteran presences lining the bench to support a backcourt of offensive firepower that is unheard of in James Harden and Kyrie Irving, as well as arguably the best player in the league in Kevin Durant. To put it simply, these two teams are stacked: Far more stacked than the Warriors were at the peak of their powers.

So why do people still hate the Warriors although teams are trying to mimic their success, and arguably have a great collection of weapons? The media doesn’t cover the level of “fairness” that so many pundits whined over from 2017 to 2019, and a take about either of these teams being the clear title favorites can be written off on Twitter as a hot one.

The answer many will give is that Durant’s joining of a team that went 73-9 was absurd, but what people who give that answer don’t realize is how much of the 2016 team wasn’t even rostered when Durant came next year. The team traded in Bogut (their starting center and defensive anchor), Barnes (a solid 3&D guy who, to be fair, is far off from KD), Barbosa (an important bench presence who won the team a couple games with his play), and Speights (another important bench presence and big man). This was all to get Durant. And it proved that their moves were enough to keep them at a championship level. They sacrificed size and depth, losing rebounding and more spread-out shooting to go top-heavy and sign the league’s most proficient bucket-getter. The Lakers and Nets sold the farm a few years ago and are just now getting to where the Warriors started off.

So why doesn’t the media cover the Lakers and Nets why they covered the Warriors? Why are fans so quick to push their spite back onto the greatest team of all time, even though modern superteams are artificial and Roaracle’s Finest was put together through the draft?

The answer could be anything: A jealousy that their favorite franchise didn’t even come close to the blueprint of success that Bob Meyers and Joe Lacob created, a want for a winning culture that was home-grown, or maybe they just can’t stand the reality that a 6’3 point guard out of a mid-major was so damn good that everything he touched turned to gold, and the game was changed to suit his team best because nobody could stop him. Whatever the cause of this distorted and delusional hate, the Warriors are setting themselves into position to shock the league once again. As long as they have the heart, soul and defensive mind of Draymond Green, perennial firecracker Klay Thompson, and the greatest point guard to walk the earth in Steph Curry, they’ll have a shot and a half of bringing the Larry O’Brien trophy home once more.