Keith Strudler: Too Much Of A Good Thing

You know what they say about too much of a good thing, or trouble in paradise. At least one of those sayings may be true right now for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, the current most dominant professional sports team on the planet. 

The Warriors have won three of the last four NBA Titles and set the NBA regular season win record on the one year they didn’t. They perhaps single handedly broke up the Cavaliers, Rockets, Thunder, and most every other team that realized they simply were never going to be good enough to beat Golden State’s all-star lineup. That roster has progressively gotten stronger with time, including most recently adding Kevin Durant in 2016 to a team that was already better than everyone else. Up to this moment, it seemed the biggest issue was simply figuring out where to put all the trophies, or how to split up all the scoring, or who got to be MVP. That was the tale of a dynasty.

But Monday night, we perhaps saw a shift in that storyline, at least temporarily. Towards the end of a close game at Sacramento, all-star Draymond Green ended up in something of a shouting match with Durant, largely about how Green handled, or perhaps mishandled the ball in the closing moments of regulation. Golden State ended up losing in overtime, one of only three losses so far in 15 games. Apparently, the conversation continued into the locker room, which then led to the team suspending Green Tuesday for on game without pay. For the record, that cost Green over $120,000, and Golden State won last night without him. It’s unclear exactly what Green said that pushed the team to this decision. Mind you, very few organizations enjoy being down a star player. Usually suspensions result from far more sinister actions – skipping practices, drug use, and far worse. And the most egregious suspensions come from league offices, like they did for a bunch of players on the Rockets and Lakers for fighting on the court. So for Golden State to sit one their own guys for some bickering between teammates – well, it must have been pretty salty.

There are some theories about why this came down like it did, much of it around Durant’s upcoming free agency. Durant has the option to play for, well, pretty much anyone after the season is up. Golden State hopes it will be with them. But now that he has his own title ring – two of them, in fact – perhaps there’s no real reason to stick around the Bay Area. That’s the reality of today’s NBA. If you’re a star, you can pretty much pick your destination, just like LeBron James did this summer with LA. Not a lot of people stick around one city too long, which can make for nervous fans but prosperous real estate agents. So it’s possible that Golden State management is being a bit overprotective of Kevin Durant’s feelings, showing love as they say so he might choose to reciprocate with a contract extension.

That may be true, but I’d suggest this conflict is a more common artifact and less particular to this HR situation. I like to think of these mega sports teams – teams that bring a whole lot of superstars together – kind of like a rock band. Like say the Beatles, or Van Halen, or the Spice Girls. It’s hard to keep Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth on the same stage for too long. Maybe it’s the pressure, or sharing the spot light, or any the tensions that bring people at the top of the world to the brink of disaster. Historically, sports teams, like basketball teams for example, had a star or two, and a bunch of what we call role players. Which made it pretty each for everyone to stay in their lane. It’s kind of like a dog pack. One or two alphas. But now with teams like the Warriors, and certainly the Miami Heat before them, the skies have gotten considerably brighter, with three, maybe four all-stars on one roster. On paper, and even usually on the court, that can work pretty well. Like it has for Golden State. But it might not be the optimal long-term arrangement. Not with that much opinion and talent, and perhaps, dare I say, ego, you might end up with something like we had Monday night, where one player is up against an equally prominent teammate, something that wouldn’t happen on, say, the 1994 Houston Rockets, where pretty much Hakeem Olajuwon ran the show. Or Isiah Thomas with the Pistons.

Of course, there are many, many exceptions. The Showtime Lakers, for example. Or the Larry Bird Boston Celtics. But that was before the rock star age of current NBA stardom, where athletes are nearly brands. That’s a really good thing for the athletes. But for Golden State, it might just be too much of a good thing.

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