DNHQ Rooting Guide: WCF Minnesota vs. Dallas; plus open thread

May 22, 2024

Rudy Gobert
- did bait Draymond Green into his idiotic chokehold resulting in a 5 game suspension.
- has beat out Draymond Green as Defensive Player of the Year three times despite sometimes being played off the court in the playoffs.
- And he did almost infect all those reporters with COVID with the reckless mic touching.
- And The French Rejection did face off against the Warriors in the 2017 Playoffs, but even though the series was closer than the score, the Jazz never truly threatened. Also Steph did this to him:

Rudy also took a shot at Draymond after Dray’s preseason punch, which Dray was happy to send back after Gobzilla’s own self-control issue.

Kyle Anderson was on the annoying 2022 Grizzlies, but frankly compared to everyone else on that team, he seemed well-adjusted. And his recent fight with Rudy Gobert seems to have raised his reputation a bit in some circles.
Mike Conley was a key player in the Grit and Grind Memphis Grizzlies that faced GSW in the 2015 title run. But Mike seems like an upright, hard working, talented player. It’s not his fault that trolls use his face injury to de-legitimize Steph Curry and the entire 2015 championship.

QUITE THE OPPOSITE. MIN has done more for the Golden State Warriors than any other franchise, more than GSW themselves. Drafting two point guards at #5 and #6 in 2009 ahead of Stephen Curry is enough to make then-GM David Kahn an Honorary Warrior for Life. But the recent trade of D’Angelo Russell for Andrew Wiggins and the #7 pick (Jonathan Kuminga) should make MIN the second team of every observant citizen of Dub Nation.

For completeness, I will list Coach Jason Kidd’s local connection to Cal basketball and growing up in Oakland.

Luka Doncic was hailed as the successor and supplanter of Steph and everyone else for MVP consideration. Despite eye-popping box scores, somehow his teams have never gotten over the hump to the Finals. Luka’s flopping game seems to be getting more prominent as he gets to play more important games.
Kyrie Irving. Hit the Finals-winning shot in 2016, then
- forced his way out of Cleveland to get away from all the LeBron-stan reporters wanting him to appreciate LeBron’s being his father figure(?!?!),
- got more of a reputation as a team-killer by joining a strong Celtics team and dragging it down,
- perplexed everyone with his dedication/trolling about flat-earth crackpotism,
- conspired with KD to form a superteam with the Nets,
- endangered the public by publicly being anti-vaccination while torpedoing the Nets season by not getting shots,
- was so unprofessional and annoying that he triggered James Harden into blowing up the superteam,
- and dragged down the 2023 DAL team out of the playoffs.
So on balance, even though KI has been a public menace, basketball-wise, Kyrie has done huge amounts for the GSW cause by sabotaging outstanding rival teams. There is an argument about whether Kyrie, Harden of Kawhi deserves the Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend prize.
Mark Cuban has had some back and forth with Draymond and others, but it doesn’t seem specifically about the Warriors. He even said KD joining the Warriors was good for the NBA.

If anyone should have a grudge, it’s DAL. After all, GSW most recently beat DAL in the 2022 WCF.
And before that of course, GSW We-Believed them out of the 2007 playoffs and ruined Dirk Nowitzki’s MVP season.