Limited Upside NBA Preview: The Warriors have the ultimate set of 1st-world problems
How do Warriors fans kvetch about a team that has it all and is the overwhelming favorite to win?
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
How do you talk about a team that seems a near-certainty to win it all? We went all over the place on this Warriors preview with good friend Bram Kincheloe of Golden State of Mind.
Among the topics:
- Are Warriors fans more confident or even more confident after the flurry of activity this summer?
- Who actually poses the greatest danger to the Warriors, whatever level it is?
- How do Warriors fans process expectation-setting when they are such overwhelming favorites? Is there an odd sense of anxiety that something might go wrong?
- Is there any concern that the Warriors don’t have a motivating theme like they have the last couple of years, i.e. “they got lucky” or “they blew a 3-1 lead?”
- The terrifying part: Their roster is even better top to bottom this year, though Nick Young’s conditioning has not been encouraging.
- The Warriors’ place as the face of a league that has become more outspoken on social issues.
- The interesting dynamics of the Bay Area and the impending move to San Francisco.
- A more technical discussion: Does this team have any weaknesses? How do you possibly game-plan to stop them? Are the Warriors at all worried about other teams loading up on stars, or are those teams going about this challenge the wrong way? What (or who) would actually be the Warriors’ Kryptonite if it existed?
- A bunch of cruel hypotheticals, plus a robust banana boat discussion.
- Mike makes a really bold prediction at the end.
This podcast was part of the Limited Upside podcast’s 2017-18 offseason series previewing all 30 NBA teams with members of SB Nation’s team communities and other friends of the show. We’ve spent the last two-and-a-half months gauging the temperature of every fan base heading into what should be a terrific NBA season. There’s no better way to understand what makes NBA fans in each market tick.
We began these in August and counted down worst-to-first leading up to the season. Here’s how to listen to them all:
- Nets with Kristian Winfield and Nets Daily’s Anthony Puccio
- Lakers with Zito Madu and Silver Screen and Roll’s Anthony Irwin and Harrison Faigen
- Suns with Bright Side of the Sun’s Dave King and Evan Sidery
- 76ers with Tyler Tynes and Liberty Ballers’ Kyle Neubeck
- Knicks with Kristian Winfield and Posting and Toasting’s Seth Rosenthal
- Magic with Orlando Pinstriped Post’s Zach Oliver and Cory Hutson
- Kings with Kenny Carraway and Sactown Royalty’s Tony Xypteras
- Mavs with Tim Cato and Mavs Moneyball’s Kirk Henderson
- Wolves with Canis Hooups’ Eric Goldman and John Meyer
- Pelicans with The Bird Writes’ Oleh Kosel and Travis Tate
- Hornets with James Dator and At the Hive’s Nicklaus Denning
- Pistons with John Ketchum, Kofie Yeboah and Detroit Bad Boys’ Lazarus Jackson
- Nuggets with Denver Stiffs’ Adam Mares
- Heat with Kelly Cohen and Hot Hot Hoops’ Surya Fernandez
- Bulls with Ricky O’Donnell and Blog a Bull’s Jason Patt
- Pacers with Whitney Medworth and Indy Cornrows’ Caitlin Cooper
- Blazers with Blazers Edge’s Brian Freeman and Peter Sampson
- Bucks with Kevin McCauley and Brew Hoop’s Mitchell Maurer
- Hawks with Harry Lyles Jr. and Peachtree Hoops’ Brad Rowland
- Grizzlies with Grizzly Bear Blues’ Joe Mullinax
- Thunder with Eddie Maisonet and Welcome to Loud City’s Joshua Broom
- Thunder addendum! Carmelo Anthony trade emergency pod with Eddie Maisonet
- Wizards with Sports Illustrated’s Andrew Sharp and Bullets Forever’s Michael Sykes
- Jazz with SLC Dunk’s Mychal Lowman and James Hansen.
- Raptors with Raptors HQ’s Daniel Reynolds and freelance writer Seerat Sohi
- Cavaliers with Fear the Sword’s Chris Manning and MMA Fighting’s Eric Jackman
- Clippers with Clips Nation’s Lucas Hann and former L.A. video coordinator Mo Dakhil
- Celtics with Paul Flannery and Celtics Blog’s Nick Gelso
- Rockets with The Dream Shake’s Ethan Rothstein and Jeremy Brener
- Spurs with Pounding the Rock’s J.R. Wilco and Bruno Passos
- Warriors with Golden State of Mind’s Bram Kincheloe
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