Chasing History
February 25, 2016
In the NBA, we are witnessing history. For the first time in 20 years, the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ historical 72-10 regular season record, which was set by the legendary trio of Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen, and one of the greatest players of all time, Michael Jordan, is threatened by the Golden State Warriors.
In terms of individual talent, the Warriors may not have players of the same caliber as those from the ‘96 Bulls; however, the team still has its own set of weapons that could challenge any team in the history of the NBA.
At shooting guard, the team boasts Klay Thompson, a two-time all-star holding the league record for most points in a quarter with 37 points and winner of the three-point shooting contest. Everyday triple-double threat Draymond Green runs the power forward with the passing abilities of a guard, the size of a post, and the ability to guard any position. And of course, the team has Stephen Curry, the man who has lit up every other team in the league.
Curry was last year’s MVP and the talk of the league. And yet, as impossible as it sounds, he has only gotten better, improving in a way that could have him win this year’s Most Improved Player award. With his insane shooting range and ball handling, Curry has catapulted the Warriors to the greatest start in NBA history, with 24 wins before losing and earning the best 50 game start, going 46-4. Curry is averaging 29.8 points, 6.5 assists, and 5.3 rebounds a game while making an unbelievable five threes a game and maintaining a historic 31.99 player efficiency rating.
As a Kevin Durant fan, it hurts for me to say that Curry is the best player in the NBA right now. Even when he doesn’t drop a ton of points in a night, Curry does everything else correctly. Curry draws in defenders to give his teammates opportunities, goes head to head with any other point guard in the league, and acts as a source of light that players and fans can look to. In matches against the best team of the league, Curry is always ready to show up.
On Feb. 6, in a 116-108 win against the Oklahoma City Thunder, with less than a minute left in the game, Curry dropped a jumper that gave the team a 114-108 lead. Then, Curry ended the game with a no-look pass to Andre Iguodala for a dunk while he was being double teamed. This is just one of the many instances that the star proved he can close out games for his team.
In fact, the Warriors are dominating their matchups this year against hopeful contenders. Against the strongest teams, both in the East and West, the team has knocked off the top three seeds in the conferences by an average of 13 points. Two of these wins included a 120-90 win over the 43-8 San Antonio Spurs and a 132-98 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team the Warriors faced in the NBA Finals last year.
With less than 30 games to go, the Warriors are more than likely going to put their names into the history books as the team with the greatest regular season record. If the team keeps up the way it’s playing, it’ll easily become the thirteenth team in NBA history to win back-to-back titles.
