Not even an hour after the Golden State Warriors sealed their trip to the NBA Finals with a win over the Spurs on Monday, team owner Joe Lacob said he wants a rematch after losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers this time last year.
Warriors owner says the better team lost last year’s NBA Finals
Joe Lacob still doesn’t know not to provoke LeBron James.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Golden State may have been the better team. After all, they won an NBA-record 73 games en route to the Finals. But the Warriors held a 3-1 series lead over the Cavaliers before notably dropping three straight to lose in seven. They then watched as Cleveland hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy in Oakland.
This time around, the Warriors are definitely the better team on paper. After winning more games than any other team, ever, Golden State went ahead and added Kevin Durant, a former league MVP and four-time scoring champion. They did so while keeping Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Andre Iguodala.
In an interview published Monday, Lacob thinks so, too.
“I think we’re better,” Lacob told Mercury News’ Anthony Slater. “It’s hard not to be better when you have a guy as good as Kevin Durant on your team. We were awful good last year. The one difference is Steph was hurt, as we all know. How much we can debate. But he was not what you see out there now. Then of course we had some other issues in the Finals. With Kevin, this is a very, very good team. The opposition is going to be good in the Finals. So not taking anything for granted.”
The result is a team that swept through each of round of the Western Conference playoff picture.
But if we’ve learned anything when it comes to the NBA, it’s that there are a handful of players you just don’t provoke. Chief among those players is LeBron James, and saying the Warriors were the better team last season is effectively poking a dormant hyena.
This is one of those lessons, though, you don’t learn until it’s too late. Hopefully, the Warriors’ All-Stars can cover for their owner.
But hey, Lacob feels like the Warriors have been slighted, too.
“Honestly, I don’t really care who we play,” Lacob said in the same interview. “Ok, maybe a slight preference for Cleveland. Only because I feel we have some unfinished business from last season.”
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