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Let's all hope that Kevin Durant will be healthy next week and that he will pursue what had been an unbelievable playoff race, a race that would have received more praise if both contemporaries, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard, did not also participate in the historic playoffs of theirs. Durant is one of the most electric athletes of all American sports and the NBA is at its best when the best players play, regardless of the circumstances.
That said, if the incredible return of the Warriors in Game 6 to eliminate the Rockets on Friday was a preview of what a Warriors team might look like without Kevin Durant in the years to come, this scenario.
We know what a team led by Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green is capable of doing. We watched it from 2014 to 2016, until Golden State gave up a 3-1 lead to lose the NBA finals after a season of 73 wins. (Did you forget?) Durant joined the team that summer, so we only had two real magic seasons with the dynastic Warriors before creating the Hegemonic Warriors. But only fans of Golden State – and maybe not even them – could claim that the last three seasons with Durant have been more entertaining than the previous two seasons without him.
Friday night reminded us why. Stephen Curry scored no goals in the first half, but the Warriors kept pace with the Rockets, thanks to Klay Thompson's chocolate milk swag and important contributions from Kevon Looney and Shaun Livingston. It was an important ingredient in the history of early dynastic warriors: huge contributions from non-stars, what about David Lee who helped win a series in the playoffs or Andre Iguodala, who won the MVP title of the final. Since Durant (and more recently, the DeMarcus Cousins) have arrived and the alignment has been expensive, the Warriors' bench has been reduced to nothing, so these heroic secondary contributions have diminished. (Livingston had scored at least 10 points four times this season before the sixth match, while he had scored 11).
The strength of the number mentality is only a part of it. This classic second-period Curry blast – including several daggers to plunge Houston into a long, dark summer – was a breath of fresh air for anyone who saw Steph struggling in the playoffs, capturing criticism and doubt from all sides.
Curry is one of the best teammates in the league, it seems, and has shown remarkable kindness with regard to the ongoing drama about Durant's future. It's easy to imagine his performance in the second half, in the middle of a frustrating series and after an extremely frustrating first half, like a little personal catharsis. The nature of Steph is to speak with actions, not words. (This sometimes involves talking with discarded tips and provoking provocation, but holiness is overestimated.)
If Durant arrives in July in New York or Los Angeles or Washington, DC (ha ha ha ha sorry can not resist) or elsewhere, the hegemony of the warriors will end. But the dynasty could continue, if Curry is as up to the task as he seemed to be in the second half, and if Thompson reinstates his contract, and if Draymond Green reiterates his commitment, and if the general manager Bob Myers can find ways to rebuild the rotation around them, either by keeping DeMarcus's cousins or reserving some of the oldest reserves at a young age.
And even if the dynasty ends and the Warriors no longer win titles after Durant's departure, Friday's match 6 showed he should still slip away.
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