Dub Nation Rooting Guide WCSF: Phoenix Suns (2) vs. Denver Nuggets (3)

Cliff Paul versus the wounded Nuggets

Dub Nation Speaks

• mDuo13 on Jun 1

  Not a difficult decision. I wish Devon Booker and crew the most satisfying possible elimination against their second round opponents while L.A. sits at home and ponders what it's like to have a championship run derailed by late-breaking injuries.

• g8tgod on Jun 1

  I guess we could say CP3 kept getting in the way of the Ws -- like a speed bump. I don't like his on- or off-court persona, but he's really just a foil in Warrior history. Nothing to see here -- move along.

  And as a basketball player, Kuzma is pocket lint. We're talking about a guy averaging 5 points and 4 rebounds in this year's playoffs. What he says or thinks should be of no consequence to anyone.

  As for Suns vs. Lakers, it's a shame one of them has to advance. I don't care that much which, but I guess I'd be happy for LeBron to go out in the first round. How's that for petty?

• Eric Apricot on Jun 1
  To give CP3 credit, he wasn't just roadkill... he drove the 2014 team that beat GSW in 7, he led the only team to scare the 2017/2018 Super Villains and almost knocked off the maimed 2019 team, forcing Steph to come up with all-time great playoff performances to win in 2018 G7 and 2019 G6.
  The best foils bring out the greatest moments in heroes, and CP3 was great at that.

• Sleepy Freud on Jun 4

  Denver.

  Portland/Dame is the logical choice, since they’re so similar culturally to the Bay/Steph ... but that’s precisely why I want to deprive them of any happiness. :-)

  “No one is completely unhappy with the failure of his best friend.” — Groucho Marx

  Also: I’ve always liked the Nuggets, for whatever reason, dating way back to the Alex English / Dan Issel days when I was a wee tyke; on through that great Mutombo team that shocked Seattle as a #8 seed; to the cool Andre/Gallo team whose souls Baby Steph crushed in 2013; to the current team led by the Joker, possibly my favorite non-Warrior in terms of both demeanor and game.

• Dilly on Jun 4

  I'll go with Denver. The only Warriors game I've seen live was in Denver - tickets were my Christmas present from my child. So good memories even though the Dubs were coming off a brutal road trip [had just beaten ______, Houston & OKC] and were having a very off night. It was on Valentine's Day, which happened to be the same day they traded Nurkic to Portland for Plummer, so they weren't even playing with their usual full team. But they shot the lights out on 3s that night and Steph & KD both had bad games. I think Steph made one 3 and KD had one monster breakaway jam and the rest of the night was a bust. Klay had the night off and wasn't even on the bench. Our seats were about 8 rows up behind the Dubs bench. I think Jokic might be the only one on that '17 team still playing for Denver. Anyway... I was suitably impressed with what I saw that night. I think they set the NBA record for 3s that night and the Hernangomez they had [in Minnesota now] rarely got off the bench - but I think he made 6 that night. I've been paying more attention to them since that game.

• Captain Jack on Jun 3

  The Suns weren't cowards by avoiding teams in the 1st round and they were rewarded by the basketball gods.

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Phoenix Suns

Ex-Warriors

• None.

Friends

• PHX mis-developed Marquess Chriss and let him go to GSW, so that was very helpful. (GSW also tried to re-habilitate mis-developed PHX draft picks Dragan Bender and Andrew Harrison, but with less success.)

Warriors Villains

• Chris Paul. We covered the feud between Chris Paul and the Warriors, Dub Nation and most people in extremely vivid detail previously. In short, King Obnoxious with the Lob City Clippers, then Knight Obnoxious in the court of James Harden’s Rockets, he’s just continually getting in the way of the Warriors. He also brought out the best of the Warriors and Steph in particular. From the feud story:

What does Steph in Maximum Tryhard Mode look like? Between the Game 7 loss in May 2014 and January 6 2018, the Warriors went 13-1 against LAC, dropping only the traditional Warriors dud in Los Angeles on Christmas Day 2014.

Many of Stephen Curry’s most famous highlights came in that stretch against Chris Paul’s team.

• He was elected Warriors Villain For Life, but unfortunately he was not able to dethrone James Harden as the most despised player in Dub Nation. Most recently, CP3’s 2021 MVP campaign irritated a lot of commenters here.

Petty Rivalries

• Cameron Payne was a role player for the KD OKC team that almost took out GSW in 2016. 

Team Grudges

• Well, PHX has been horrible since the 2010 last gasp of the Seven Seconds Or Less Suns. When you’re horrible, you get a zillion high draft picks and now they’ve drafted themselves into being a promising team. It also means there’s no way to develop a team rivalry since PHX has been irrelevant for so long.

• Also, PHX finished off the ancient remains of LeBron’s Laker Super Team in the 1st Round, so at least they made LeBron and his fandom start to grapple with aging and mortality like normal people.

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Denver Nuggets

Ex-Warriors

• Bol Bol. Child of Warriors legend Manute Bol.

• JaVale McGee. We had some good times on the Warriors, didn’t we? JaVale got to rehabilitate his image, the Warriors got the funnest alley-oop target in the league. 

Warriors Villains 

• No one is a real villain.

Petty Rivalries

• Austin Rivers. Part of the rivals Lob City Clippers and also the 2019 Rockets team, this guy has been part of some pretty hateable teams. But, he also got into a feud with Chris Paul that got so red-hot that CP3 ended up assembling a militia to storm Austin Rivers and friends in their locker through a secret tunnel. Then they had to play together on the 2019 Rockets. Haha, isn’t the enemy of my enemy a friend? If that wasn’t enough, after many seasons of on-court physical annoying defense, Austin and Stephen Curry ended up as co-brothers-in-law, details at (subs only) Explain One Play: Stephen Curry Family Feud with Austin Rivers.
  

• Facundo Campazzo. The rare defender that got Stephen Curry talking trash. His tough, physical, rule-defying wrestling earned the hostility and grudging respect from Steph.

• Nikola Jokic. The dazzling playmaker who plays like a guy at the YMCA made a deal with the devil, he will probably beat out Steph Curry for MVP. 

Team Grudges and Storylines

• DEN has played GSW surprisingly tough in the Dynasty years, but this year the tables were turned, as GSW dealt out devastating wins. I mean devastating in that DEN lost Jamal Murray in a GSW game. DEN fans were crying in desperation to avoid GSW in the playoffs, both for the bad matchup and for the injury bad luck.

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… so, who are you rooting for?

I won’t cry if either team makes the Finals, but I’ll be pulling for the Denver Nuggets just to extend Cliff Paul’s drought.