One of the problems with the Golden State Warriors is that the only reason to hate them is that they’re winning. Draymond Green might be a borderline negative personality at times for the media to riff on, but overall, unless you’re looking really hard, it’s hard to find a logical reason to dislike them.
Obviously, sports fans don’t work this way. For every new set of fans Stephen Curry adds to the bandwagon for his three-point demonstrations, there are those who can’t stand his shimmies and chewing of the mouthguard at every opportunity. Teams that win pick up hate. Champions pick up hate. Undefeated teams pick up hate. And it’s more interesting for the league, and better for the media, if there was some sort of negativity bubbling under the surface with the Warriors.
Their game with the Oklahoma City Thunder was the most viewed regular season, non-Christmas game of the last three years because the Warriors are so popular right now, but also because people want to see them lose, and playing in Oklahoma City presented a great opportunity for that, which almost came through. And now, the media have another juicy bone to chew on: Draymond Green reportedly yelling at his coaching staff during half time.
According to a reporter stationed next to the locker room, Green, who has missed his last 12 three-point attempts, was angry at the coaching staff for messing his mind regarding his shot selection, hurting his confidence. Green later talked to reporters, not leaking anything from what happened in the locker room, as it should be, saying that he passes up open shots all the time, and he’s not focused on scoring, but on helping the team win.
Even on a team on its way to break a 20 year old record (and with so few road games left, it’s really hard seeing the Warriors losing six games from now until the end of the season) something has to be a bit off, and tempers will fly during tough games. For a team looking to be perfect, or the best ever, the pressure to win every game and be good all the time has to be limiting at times. It probably gets to players as well, but as you can see, the Warriors keep shaking these things off. They win.
Win big. Win small. Sometimes it’s on buzzer beaters, and maybe more often than not it happens with Stephen Curry showing off being the best player in the NBA, instead of the Warriors being the best team in the NBA. But when you have that kind of talent, why not use it? The Warriors don’t lean on him too much, and even if they do, it seems that he’s playing at such a level this season that it never hurts the team. It always comes with the best thing for Golden State, and not Curry, in mind. He’s so efficient this season and especially this month, that Curry taking 25-30 shots a game is the best thing the Warriors can do each and every game.
Green shouting at his coaches is probably not the first time this season there have been some personal clashes in the locker room. These things happen, only they don’t always get reported on because on a regular basis, it hardly means anything. But when trying to find something, anything, wrong on a team that is as close to perfection the NBA has seen, maybe ever, the volume going up a little bit in a locker room sounds like a perfect opportunity for the media to manufacture a crisis.