Not everyone was intrigued by the NBA season that so many predicted. Even if the Golden State Warriors made things interesting along the way, they went into the 2017-18 season as the clear-cut favorite to repeat as champions, which is exactly what they did late Friday night in Cleveland after sweeping LeBron James and the Cavaliers. The balance of power in the league has no doubt shifted to Oakland, where the Warriors and their four All-Stars in their primes approach shows no signs of slowing down.
And that’s why Jenny Dial-Creech is convinced that a true challenger to the Warriors has never been more important. With the NBA offseason — whatever that actually means in this age of social media and the seemingly never-ending storylines — finally upon us the focus shifts to finding a worthy challenger. Hence the belief, of Dial-Creech and many others, that this offseason will turn out to be far more intriguing than anything the recently completed season presented:
The Warriors deserved to win the championship. And dynasties aren’t a bad thing. But right now, in the NBA, you need a super team to compete.
So now, the offseason will become about keeping up with the Kerrs, the Currys and the Durants.
The summer will be a lot more entertaining than the NBA Finals.
Yes, it would be better if actual basketball was the most exciting part of the year. But until someone takes down Golden State, the offseason is going to be the most competitive part of the year.
All eyes will be on James.
Will the King stay in Cleveland and try to build the Cavaliers back up?
Or maybe he will find a home on another team in the Eastern Conference — the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat have been the subjects of rumors surrounding James.
Perhaps he heads west — maybe to the Lone Star State to join forces with fellow superstars Paul and James Harden.
That’s a group that could dethrone the Warriors. Paul is a free agent, but the way Mike D’Antoni and Daryl Morey spoke about the point guard after the Western Conference finals made it sound like he plans to stay put.
Every team will try to build its own version of the Golden State Warriors.
Hopefully, someone will.
The NBA needs it.
