Asking DNHQ: How much do you value the Warriors winning 50 games?
They don't die, they multiply.
50 wins, baby. That’s special number for any NBA team that considers itself a contender. Just ask the Miami Heat, the #1 seed in the East:
The hot-shooting Heat (50-28) also reached the 50-win mark for the first time since the 2013-14 season. They might have two years ago, when they went 44-29 in the pandemic-shortened season and advanced to the NBA Finals.
“It just shows you, even when you feel like you have a culture and you’re doing things right, it’s hard to win consistently in this league,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “When you have to retool and rebuild new teams and rosters, it’s tough. The league is really competitive.”
Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd remarked that back in his day 50 wins was the “mark of a good team.” I remember when Stephen Curry’s Warriors first won 50 games under head coach Mark Jackson; it felt cathartic for a fanbase that had suffered so much trash basketball. Here’s an excerpt from NBA.com discussing that regular season milestone:
The 51-win campaign marked the first time in 20 years (1993-94) that the Warriors won at least 50 games in a single season, earning the franchise’s fifth 50-win campaign in its 68-year history. By reaching the 50-win milestone, the Warriors ended the second-longest 50-win drought in the league, behind only Washington, which last won 50 contests in 1978-79. The Warriors finished the year at a season-high 20 games above .500, their most games above the .500 mark since finishing the 1991-92 season with a 55-27 record.
And just for fun, let’s juxtapose this with the Washington Wizards who have NEVER won 50 games in their franchise history (I thought Bradley Beal was a difference maker according to Dub Nation trade machine experts smh).
Check out this series of quotes Dan Steinberg recorded from decades of Washington basketball surrounding their dogged but ultimately futile chase for 50 wins, starting with former Warrior C-Webb:
“I think we should be out front that we want to win 50 games this season,” Chris Webber said in 1997.
“At the beginning of the season I said, ‘This is a 50-win team,’ ” Harvey Grant said in 1998.
“To me, anything less than 50 wins would be a disappointment,” Antawn Jamison said in 2006.
“I really do believe we can win 50 games with this team,” Marcin Gortat said in 2013.
“Fifty wins is an audacious goal,” Ted Leonsis said in 2014.
“Our ultimate goal is to try to get 50,” John Wall said in 2015.
“I’d like us to win 50 games,” Ted Leonsis told NBC Sports Washington in September. (Yes, I’m self-plagiarizing here, but the quotes are too good.)
Lol did John Wall say their ULTIMATE GOAL WAS TO GET 50? Daaamn.
Anyways, the Warriors just won 50 games for the seventh time in nine seasons. And they did it with some of the worst injury luck in the NBA, per Spotrac’s “real-time look at the 2021 injured list cash totals for each NBA team and position, or by injury type.” That’s right folks, we can track how much cumulative salary the Warriors have paid out to players who were too injured to perform, and according to this bad boy the Dubs rank 2nd highest in the league:
Wow. Here’s your coach Steve Kerr and your future Hall-of-Famer Draymond Green discussing what 50 wins means to them and this franchise:
Now it’s your turn DNHQ; how do YOU feel about GSW winning 50 games despite having so many key weapons out for major chunks of the season?
If at the beginning of the season, you had told me the Ws would win 50, I would have been thrilled. Then at the halfway mark, it looked like they might win 60. So the last half of the season felt disappointing. It's totally understandable, given all of the injuries. But it was a bummer.
But objectively, what do I think of their winning 50? I think it's great. But I'll be thrilled if they can catch fire in the playoffs. Win or lose, I just want to see them show out.
Since the Utah game, I’ve been thinking about Rudy Gobert. How is a guy that is such a liability on defense a three time defensive player of the year? In the modern NBA, it feels like it should be a pre-requisite to enter the DPOY contest that you can actually contest a three point shot without getting smoked.