Golden State Warriors: Did they really break the NBA?

Why the Golden State Warriors didn’t ruin the NBA’s competitiveness

The Golden State Warriors loaded up on more talent, somehow, during the offseason. But, did they mess up the competitive balance in the NBA that never existed?

The 2018 NBA Free Agency peaked with a bombshell: The Golden State Warriors grabbed one of the best big men in the league, DeMarcus Cousins.

While he’s coming off of a very serious injury, it hasn’t stopped many from saying the Warriors “broke” or “destroyed” the league. There’s claim that the Warriors destroyed the competitive balance of the NBA.

But, is this new to the NBA?

The Golden State Warriors did things legitimately. I talked about this a year ago. There’s nothing really stopping players from taking less than value to join other stars. The Warriors now have a potential all-star lineup with all-star and MVP Andre Iguodala coming off of the bench. It’s not fair.

We saw the Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers battle in the NBA Finals for four years straight. Plenty of people said it made the league boring. It broke the competitive balance. While it may seem that way, there’s a tweet I ran into that put things into perspective:

“GSW ruined the NBA”
*yawns* pic.twitter.com/m0o1i2kGHu
— Ryan (@RyanDunbar_) July 4, 2018

Yes, you need to make sure you view that image. It’s what this post is about.

Let’s talk about how the league has really been in this position before. We’ve seen this before. Let’s be real. The league has been dominated by a few select teams for each era. This is a fact. You can’t make this stuff up.

One can argue that the path to dominance may be easier today, or that the elite teams like the Warriors are greater than the elite teams of the past eras. Whatever. I happen to think the game…well, the league, has gotten better. Each era improves the game. Besides, we’re never going to see the 50-60’s Celtics type of dominance again. If anything, the competitive balance got better with time.

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So, with that said, does this mean there’s an issue? We’re asking the question of if competitive imbalance is hurting the game. It’s been like this from the start, but the league continues to grow its presence throughout the world. Besides football (soccer), basketball is the most globally recognized and played sport. And it continues to climb.

So, is the NBA broken? I’m going to say “no”. It’s not broken. If we really had a problem with this kind of dominance, the Celtics of the 50s would’ve shut the league and possibly the sport down.

Look at the last stat from the image. Eight of the NBA teams won about 82 percent of the championships. This is the reality. My Sixers have three championships, and that’s more than 21 teams in the league today. Right, 21 teams don’t even have three championships. Ten of the 30 teams don’t even have a championship.

Can a team ruin competitive balance if the balance never existed?

My point is the topic of competitive balance has been a thing for years. It isn’t new. So, a question is, can it be stopped? Can the league transform itself to be more balanced? Will we never see back to back finals appearances? Will free agent stars stay away from each other?

Probably not. Let’s be real. Until the league loses serious money, the NBA won’t do anything to change anything. Most owners don’t care about the trophy. They want the money. If their team does well enough, it’s fine with them. Sure, those extra games in the playoffs and finals brings in more cash, but this league is designed to be you spend money to make money. But, having a big payroll doesn’t always translate to playing in June. Just ask the 2013-14 Brooklyn Nets.

If the Warriors broke the league, it must not be in a harmful way. This must be a good sign. It’s history repeating itself, and we’ve seen the league has prospered. So, whatever. I fail to see the difference between the dominating teams of today and the past score of years. The internet makes it a bigger deal as we’re aware of what’s going on.

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The Golden State Warriors didn’t ruin the league and the next super team to take over the league won’t have made things bad. That’s my story. What do you think? Are the Warriors a new kind of animal that finally, actually, “broke” the league?