National Basketball Association

An open letter to Warriors fans

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Here’s an open letter to Golden State Warriors fans about the upcoming season.

Dear fellow Golden State Warriors fans,

Please allow me to take the somewhat professional, relatively unbiased hat off and let me put on my fan gear. I just have a few things I want to share with my fellow Warriors fans. It’s the right time to do this.

The season will tip off in a few hours. Maybe by the time you opened this the season already started. Either way, my points will still stand.

Last year sucked. Not entirely, but when we look back at the 2015-16 season, we’ll say it sucked. From October to early June, it was a damn fun season. It was easily the most fun any of us have ever had as fans of the game and of the team.

LeBron James and, ultimately, Kyrie Irving took away our bid for immortality. Normally, I avoid using “we” or “our” or “us” but who cares? This is a different kind of piece. I want us to all come together here.

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So LeBron and Kyrie were spectacular and, instead of being the undisputed greatest team of all-time, they became a joke. The dream season ended in a nightmare. The Warriors were the butt of every joke. Even thing that didn’t relate to basketball were somehow brought back to the fact that the Warriors were leading the NBA Finals 3-1.

It was 3-1 this and 3-1 that. It was like the Internet’s trolls came together to become some kind of Twitter Oprah. Instead of handing out cars, it was corny jokes that still pointed to a sad truth. The Warriors really did blow a 3-1 lead after going 73-9 with the first unanimous MVP. It happened.

I don’t know about you guys, but it definitely got stuck in my head. Even now, it still hurts. The pain might not ever go away.

But the Warriors retooled. They went out and signed Kevin Durant thus giving us further proof that they really are #LightYears ahead. And yes, Kevin Durant also blew a 3-1 lead in the playoffs.

So here’s what I want to tell you guys: enjoy this. The days that folks can use 3-1 jokes are numbered. They only have months to live.

After every Warriors win during the regular season, bitter basketball fans will all say the same thing. They’ll type as hard as they can “it’s just regular season, look at last year.” And in a way, that person will be right.

The logic, mostly, checks out. If the greatest regular season team of all-time couldn’t win a title, what’s the point? Why get excited over those wins that won’t matter in June?

But don’t let that salt bring you down. Celebrate those ridiculous runs that Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Durant will go on. Flex along with Draymond Green after every and-one. Tweet that arrogance.

Steph Curry to Kevin Durant to Klay Thompson for 3! The trio combined for 78 points on 51.9% shooting vs the Lakers. https://t.co/L3W1ZgCeLC

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) October 21, 2016

The Warriors are the best team in basketball. Barring any major health issues, they’re going to win the championship. They’ll prove that last year was a fluke because, if we’re going to be honest, they were the best team in the league then too.

Let’s not focus on whatever that Finals series was. Let’s not be those guys. Let’s not be those guys that exert all their energy in discrediting another team’s happiness.

Save your data by not trying to be a rational human being and pointing out that MCL sprains don’t heal overnight. That playing against elite players after coming back early from an injury does, in fact, have an impact. Save your battery life by putting down your phone instead of arguing with strangers about the silliness surrounding a certain suspension. Don’t be logical when discussing momentum and how that suspension killed it.

Let’s focus on now. Let’s focus on the fact that the Warriors have two MVPs in their prime. Let’s focus on the fact that every night is going to be a party. The fun is just beginning. Whatever fun we had last year is going to be nothing compared to the madness that the 2016-17 is shaping up to be.

Let them throw their desperation 3-1 joke punches. They know that they’re running out of time. And with every game that Durant plays in a Warriors uniform, he’ll get more and more comfortable and making everyone else less and less comfortable.

Don’t let last year dissuade you from having the time of your life. Just enjoy it. Enjoy a healthy Steph Curry proving that he was the guy who played the first 82 games of the season, not the last three.

Understand that the outrage and the bitterness arises out of jealousy. Enjoy that. Enjoy the fact that our team is so good the only way folks can react is by spreading hate. It’s hilarious.

One more things: make sure you start requesting days off in June. You’re not going to want to be stuck in the office and miss the inevitable party.

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