>The Golden State Warriors, are like cheese pizza.

They’re too easy to like, and they don’t have a lot of “flavor”. That is not to say they aren’t a good team, as they currently have the best record in NBA history, but being a fan of the Warriors is like being a fan of breathing: it’s too gee dang easy. Many people are fans of the Warriors because they think Steph Curry has “changed the game” with his pull-up jumpshot, or because they think they have the “best” overall team. For starters, liking a team because you perceive them to be the best and for no other reason is the definition of being a bandwagon or faithless fair-weather fan. If that is your reason for liking any team, then your following of the sport isn’t built on an appreciation for it, but a desire to follow whatever is popular, and you have no depth.

However, these fans are not representative of the whole of their following. I have talked to many GSW fans who are from San Francisco or have been following the team for years. These fans are like those of any other team and will not abandon GSW when they start to cool down.

My biggest issue with Golden State has not to do with their fans, but their starting lineup. The Warriors have a fantastic starting five, with three players (Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant) averaging more than 20 points per game, with Curry and Durant averaging 27.6 and 25.9 points a game. This all-star lineup is the groundwork for the Warriors, as these three players generally score over 60% of the points in any given game. Three players out of 16 score the majority of the points. That is not a good team, that is team with three outstanding players, and not a single reserve player that scores more than 8 points a game.

These reserve players do not make it up in other areas either, as only two reserve players average more than four rebounds, and only one reserve player averages at least two assists. This is compared to the starting five, of which three players average more than 4.5 rebounds a game, and all five average at least 2.5 assists a game. It is common knowledge that any team’s starters are the best on the team, but on very few does such a small minority account for such a massive amount of baskets, assists and rebounds. In fact, once the starters have been subbed out, it’s like watching an entirely different team.

An all-star starting lineup does not make a good team; it makes a good starting lineup. So my point stands that the Warriors are a very mediocre team with three phenomenal scorers. But my opinion should not influence who you watch. If you like the Warriors then go ahead and like them, just know who, and what, you really find appealing about them.