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Gold Blooded playoff musings; Warriors the only West team with 2-0 lead

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Gold Blooded playoff musings; Warriors the only West team with 2-0 lead

Not a bad start to the postseason, eh?

Daniel Hardee
Apr 20, 2022
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Recently it’s dawned on me how much playoff basketball has shaped the relationships of my life.

I vividly remember sitting next to my parents and sisters in our living room in East Oakland as Reggie Miller pushed off on Michael Jordan to hit a dagger three. When I nearly had a nervous breakdown because Jordan was my hero and I thought he was supposed to win every single close game, my dad transitioned into a beautiful sermon on the highs and lows of competition.

When I got my haircut before the 8th grade dance at Lucky’s barbershop off 9th street in downtown Oakland, I was enamored by how the OG’s barked at each other over who was the better of Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant after A.I.’s Sixers stole Game One of the NBA Finals. I’d quietly observe for any lulls in the conversation, my anxious heart bouncing in place as I hunted for the gaps in between their speech patterns like the snapping ropes of a double-dutch game.

And when I was in art school in Georgia, I commandeered my roommate’s TV and told all the dudes I hooped with after classes to come kick it in my dorm and watch the Warriors take on the Mavericks. When they snickered to themselves and asked where the hell “Golden State” was, I’d bark back “Oakland, California”. Those cats got an education on the true power of the Golden State Warriors after they witnessed Dub Nation take over Roaracle in its golden glory to break Dirk Nowitzki’s will with “We Believe”.

Now, the playoffs are here again. My phone is buzzing off the hook daily with constant notifications from family and friends sharing highlights, emojis, and paragraphs on the most recent playoff updates. People I haven’t spoken to in a solid year are back in my life, wondering if we should trade for Brandon Ingram.

Twitter avatar for @HilltopNBA
Hilltop Hoops @HilltopNBA
It takes an insane level of skill to hit this many tough shots in a playoff game. Brandon Ingram is different.
5:06 AM ∙ Apr 20, 2022
4,860Likes648Retweets

And at my day job I’m suddenly having conversations with people who formerly were on polite head-nods-in-passing status. The security guard spent 30 minutes chatting with me about Jayson Tatum cooking Kevin Durant. The coffee dude held up the line at the cafe to laugh with me about how Ja Morant and Karl-Anthony Towns’ fathers are must see TV.

Yesterday one of my clients who I’ve only known on fist bump status casually confessed that he was a Houston Rockets fan and followed me out to my car after work to warn me about how dangerous the Phoenix Suns are.

Lol.

It’s always fun chatting with folks who have no idea that by night I’m the Gold Blooded King, adopted son of GSOM who rose to be defender of Dub Nation HQ. So when he sang the praises of playoff Chris Paul, I had to be careful not to be triggered into guffawing directly in his face.

Twitter avatar for @AndyKHLiu
Shohei Ohtani Stan Account @AndyKHLiu
favorite annual pastime is watching Chris Paul fail. So damn delicious
4:01 AM ∙ Apr 20, 2022
934Likes80Retweets

There’s something about this Phoenix Suns team and the hype around them that is credible enough to start a conversation: reigning West champs, best record in the NBA this season, with a star-studded backcourt led by CP3 and Devin Booker. I’m absolutely saving the receipts from Warriors fans whose knees buckled with fear because the Suns had a nice regular season, please feel free to share some with me if you have them.

Twitter avatar for @JoeVirayNBA
Joe Viray @JoeVirayNBA
Suns are the team to beat. Really hard to bet against them going back to the Finals.
2:55 AM ∙ Mar 10, 2022
69Likes2Retweets

There’s also something about this Phoenix Suns team that makes me want to pump the brakes on any fear mongering: THEY HAVEN’T WON ANYTHING. Hell, they haven’t won anything in my entire lifetime. They couldn’t even get the job done up 2-0 on a one-legged Giannis Antetokounmpo!

And they struggled mightily with a very shorthanded Warriors squad during this season.

And this was BEFORE All-Star guard Booker went down with a hamstring injury last night after putting on a scoring masterclass in the first half of his team’s loss to the Pelicans in Game 2.

Twitter avatar for @NBA
NBA @NBA
DEVIN BOOKER FROM THE LOGO. HE'S GOT 31 AT HALFTIME 🤯 #NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel on TNT
3:12 AM ∙ Apr 20, 2022
2,707Likes432Retweets
Twitter avatar for @IAMDARIUSALFORD
DARIUS ALFORD @IAMDARIUSALFORD
@WorldWideWob This appears to be where Devin Booker injured his hamstring. Prayers up for Book
5:33 AM ∙ Apr 20, 2022
127Likes16Retweets
Twitter avatar for @DrNiravPandya
Dr. Nirav Pandya, M.D. @DrNiravPandya
We performed a study (soon to be published) looking at hamstring injuries in #NBA players from 2016-2021. The mean number of games missed was 6.3 with a decrease in minutes played & field goal percentage upon return. #DevinBooker #Suns #NBAPlayoffs https://t.co/XbC7Eb8APx
Twitter avatar for @ShamsCharania
Shams Charania @ShamsCharania
Suns' Devin Booker has right hamstring tightness and is out for remainder of Game 2 vs. Pelicans.
4:17 AM ∙ Apr 20, 2022
76Likes10Retweets

That’s awful. You gotta feel for Phoenix fans. National pundits weren’t giving the 8th seed Pellies a shot to be competitive this series, especially after getting waxed in Game 1.

Twitter avatar for @PelicansNBA
New Orleans Pelicans @PelicansNBA
😴😴😴
Image
4:40 AM ∙ Apr 20, 2022
20,257Likes1,804Retweets

But like so many CP3-led teams of the past, it’s amazing how quickly Phoenix’s fortunes have shifted. If Booker can’t be the stud they need him to be, it’s gonna be hard for them to be that mighty juggernaut we saw from the regular season. Just awful!

Twitter avatar for @CurrenSy_Spitta
Spitta @CurrenSy_Spitta
Image
4:36 AM ∙ Apr 20, 2022
2,904Likes723Retweets

As I said before on the recent DNHQ Vidcast, the Warriors may not be as good as the imaginary roster that Dub Nation erects in their mind replete with an extra big man on the bench (and trading all of their assets for Bradley Beal).

Twitter avatar for @Wittnessed
Brian Witt @Wittnessed
Warriors only team in the West to go up 2-0
4:29 AM ∙ Apr 20, 2022
1,349Likes76Retweets
Twitter avatar for @NBAonTNT
NBA on TNT @NBAonTNT
How do you guard @StephenCurry30? Chuck and @TheJetOnTNT get into it 🍿
3:56 PM ∙ Apr 19, 2022
2,785Likes265Retweets
Twitter avatar for @SCDG2330
UG(SCDG) @SCDG2330
Didn’t know he did that again lol sick Steph Sickoooooo
11:37 PM ∙ Apr 19, 2022
7,458Likes902Retweets

But Golden State’s job isn’t to be as good as that imaginary team, they just have to be better than the rest of the NBA who have plenty of their own issues as well. DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE UTAH JAZZ.

Twitter avatar for @bballbreakdown
BBALLBREAKDOWN @bballbreakdown
ButWhy.gif
1:18 AM ∙ Apr 19, 2022
206Likes19Retweets

And that’s the fun of postseason basketball baby, figuring out what’s gonna happen next as a long season of drama culminate with the best versus the best. I’m enthused amnd grateful to be watching it all unfold next my family, my friends, and with you Dub Nation.

Twitter avatar for @BenStinar
Ben Stinar @BenStinar
The Warriors are back to breaking team’s hearts
3:57 AM ∙ Apr 19, 2022
1,557Likes185Retweets

STAY LOCKED IN HERE AT THE HQ, BABY!

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Goofus
Apr 21, 2022

New thread https://dubnationhq.com/p/preview-a-new-death?s=r

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Sleepy Freud
Apr 21, 2022·edited Apr 21, 2022

MVPs ranked by playoff TS%

Curry .727

Embiid .629

Giannis .580

Harden .575

Jokic .516

Durant .481

LeBron .000

Bonus: Poole .861

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