Views from OKC: Tips for the Golden State Warriors

Views from OKC is a daily diary about the current state of the OKC Thunder. Today I direct my attention to a basketball team hailing from Oakland, California.

By now we’ve all heard/read about the Golden State Warriors recent thoughts on the OKC Thunder and their handling of Kevin Durant’s return to Oklahoma City. A quick perusal of NBA Twitter will show you what the public thinks of the situation. I tend to agree with their sentiments.

And that’s exactly why we gather here today. Enough has been said about the Warriors recent cry for sympathy. Let’s look to the past (much like Golden State did) and give the Warriors some advice on how to run their franchise. Because if they can publicly critique other organizations, why can’t I?

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1. Figure out an identity. It’s impossible to win in the playoffs without an identity and you guys don’t have that right now. Do you want to be Super Villains? Because Villains don’t cry when they get ridiculed – they embrace it. When you signed the second best player in the world after going 73-9 you lost any ounce of empathy from non-Warrior basketball fans. Don’t ask for sympathy from us, you brought this upon yourself.
2. Learn how to treat your players right. Telling the OKC Thunder how to treat their players is the last thing you should be doing. How does it look to players when they see what you did to Harrison Barnes? By actively recruiting KD during the season you made Barnes look like a fool; a video during a timeout doesn’t mend the backstabbing that occurred. Players remember things like that, not a third press release.
3. Remember your history. Apparently a little bit of success makes you the all-knowing organization of basketball. Let’s not forget that before your recent success you had only been to the playoffs 6 times in the last 35 years. I need to see continued success (and that looks difficult with Draymond, Klay and Steph’s contract situation) before you start handing out advice. If the Celtics and Lakers don’t do it I don’t want to hear it from you.

Ultimately this is what I need to know. Where does this superiority complex come from? Why do you think you should be able to get the best players and still be universally praised by the media/NBA fans? That’s not how it works in sports.

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Realize you are blessed with more talent than any professional basketball team in history. In the grand scheme of things that’s what matters; what’s on the court. Not what the media is saying in their columns, not what fans are saying on Twitter. It’s comedy that you are getting this worked up over what us irrelevant people say.

By adding Durant to an already-loaded team you put the bullseye on your back. Take the criticism, don’t act like the victim here. Because when you do that you take on Durant’s identity. Us Thunder fans can tell you all that will do is lead to a playoff loss.

Actually, take everything I just said back – keep doing what you are doing and let KD lead the way.