The Spurs apparently have OKC's number. This is where, if you're a team like the Thunder, the NBA rigging in your favor becomes important. And relatedly, this is also why it's imperative to have at least one hands-down superstar on your team. You know, not just someone who's really good but a player who fans across the board want to win.
Every perennial champion or contender is going to have at least one team they simply can't beat, whether that team is also contenders or not. That's been true going back at least to the 1990s.
The 1998 Bulls for instance couldn't hang with the 1998 Lakers, even before Kobe truly found his footing. I remember Jordan and co. also had what looked like issues with the early-1990s' Nets, a relatively garbage team but one likewise replete with quality players who were younger (and faster) than the Bulls core.
The Lakers have also had problems with faster teams, even going back to the Kobe + Shaq championship days. J.J. Redick finally admitted, indirectly, that LAL's core is too old and too white - something that we at NBA Inception understood since the time they traded for Doncic. But this organization being unable to defend youth isn't anything new. Derek Fisher used to always get burned by opposing star PGs. The present-day Lakers have one of the most hardheaded braintrusts in the NBA, so again, you shouldn't realistically be expecting them to win a championship anytime soon unless, you know what I'm saying? Is Luka really rig-worthy?
ARE THE SPURS CONTENDERS?
There's a difference between being able to beat a champion and actualy being a contender. The conference playoffs have three rounds, meaning that even if San Antonio does luck out and face OKC, somewhere along the line there's two other teams they also have to beat before getting to the Finals. And that's also presuming that the Thunder doesn't figure them out between now and then.
So I'm not in a rush to call these gusy contenders even though I'm glad there's at least one team out there has proven they can beat OKC. The more interesting observation, in the grand scheme of it all, is that besides the Knicks and Nuggets, all of the other older teams in the NBA looked more or less washed. But of course if you've been reading this blog over the past few years, then you knew this day was coming.
SHOUTOUT TO JALEN WILLIAMS
Something all star players should fear(?) is their team proving bettrer without than with them. I know that isn't fully the case with Jalen, but you get what I mean. You're looking from the sideline, watching your team go like 23 and 1 or some shit, and on one hand you're like 'wow, this is amazing'. You're jumping out of your seat and cheering, as if you too are on the court. But in the back your mind it's like 'what if they start losing when I come back?'
The NBA is a strange beast these days. Predictability has, in large part, been thrown out the window. Or rather let me say that dudes are now injured so often that, you know what I'm saying, you have to live with or without them. And some teams learn to play better without a star player or two. Wemby almost ended up there himself until, oh shit, the Spurs starting beating the Thunder. Then it became obvious that even if they did having a higher winning percentage when he was injured, they aren't actually better without him.
CONCLUSION
Honestly, I don't want to see a non-superteam(?), you know, only lose like five game throughout the entire season. When something like that happens, you know what I'm saying? SGA isn't Jordan, like people don't want to see him winning all the time like that. If he were Jordan, then Team Canada wouldn't be so garbage. And when the Warriors only lost nine games, it's like with the roster they had, they should have won all 82. So thank you Wemby and co. for at least making the NBA competitive again. And as for the Thunder's braintrust, if you're looking forward to the benefit of rigging - which often separates champions from other contenders in the world of professional sports - then I suggest you like market your brand better or something.
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