Getty Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry during his team's game against the Charlotte Hornets on November 14, 2021.
More than two and a half years removed from their last playoff appearance, the Golden State Warriors still have no shortage of enemies around the league. Going to five NBA Finals and winning three titles will often have that effect.
Shooting guard and long-time NBA veteran Austin Rivers took to Instagram on Tuesday, December 21 to air his grievances with the resurgent Warriors.
“Golden State looks very solid right now,” Rivers said as part of an Instagram Live story. “I hate to see it. I don’t like it one bit. I’m tired of that f****** team.”
NBA Falling Back Into Bad Dream as Dubs Ascend to Dominance
GettyStephen Curry, of the Golden State Warriors, drives around Austin Rivers, of the Houston Rockets, during Game Six of the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center on May 10, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
In fairness to Rivers, and to the rest of a fatigued and despondent NBA during the Dubs’ historic five-year run between 2014-19, watching Golden State ascend to the very top of the NBA this season has to feel something like falling back into a bad basketball dream.
Rivers was a member of the 2018-19 Houston Rockets, who the Dubs dropped in the Western Conference Semifinals that year on the way to their fifth Finals appearance. Before that, he played four seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, who were fierce rivals with Golden State as the trio of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were ascending to their place atop the league.
Injuries ravaged the Warriors’ roster the two years following their defeat of the Rivers and the Rockets, offering the rest of the NBA a reprieve from a team that wouldn’t likely have slowed down much, even with the departure of former MVP Kevin Durant to the Brooklyn Nets. The success the Dubs have found this season — boasting a record of 26-5, good enough for second place in the entire NBA as of Wednesday, December 22 — is evidence enough of that.
That Golden State has reached such heights already, despite missing Thompson since he tore his ACL during Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors, has to plunge like a fear-soaked dagger into the already dreadful hearts of the Warriors’ likely competition for the NBA’s Western Conference crown, not to mention the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy — the Phoenix Suns (25-5), the Nets (21-9) and the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks (19-13) among that group.
Rivers Gives Dubs Credit Where Credit is Due
GettyDenver Nuggets guard Austin Rivers being defended by Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul.
The Denver Nuggets, Rivers’ current team, is also in the hunt at 15-14. As of Wednesday, they occupied the fifth seed in the Western Conference despite injuries that have kept dynamic young scorer Jamal Murray out for the season and Michael Porter Jr., a star in the making if he can stay healthy, sidelined for all but nine games so far this season.
If Denver can get healthy, they have a real shot to make a run at the Western Conference, as do the Clippers, the Suns, the Utah Jazz and a handful of other teams. However, a healthy Warriors squad makes that mountain much harder to climb. Rivers noted that by pointing out the development of young players like Jordan Poole and the emergence of veterans like Andrew Wiggins, who has been derided as an underachiever since being drafted No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2014.
“They got a good mix of young talent, good vets,” Rivers said. “A lot of you Warriors fans was off [Andrew] Wiggins when he first signed with the Warriors. Keep it 100. Last year you all was talking about trade him, this and that. Now, everybody is talking all highly. Come on now.”
Rivers may have a point about Warriors fans and their hesitation to immediately stand behind Wiggins before proving himself a crucial contributor to a winning roster, which he has certainly done this season. But Rivers most definitely has a point about how talented Golden State is, how complete the roster appears to be, and how sick of the Dubs the rest of the league looks like it’s going to be for several more years to come.