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The Grip - Thurs, 7.14.17

The Grip - Thurs, 7.14.17

The Warriors and their impending dynasty

9.14.17

Is it hot in here, or is it all that self-induced pressure from trying to come up with something to write about in the middle of September when every last thing involving anything NBA-related has already happened?

The Predetermined Dynasty?

*Pic Credit elgurudelbasket.com

Here are a few ways the Warriors could lose the 2018 Finals

The Golden State Warriors -- we haven’t even started yet and you’re already bored! At least give us a chance.OK?The Golden State Warriors are probably going to win the NBA title in 2018. Vegas has them as 2-to-1 odds, which, in our opinion, is far too low. The Grip’s unofficial sports bet book (we’ll go legit if there’s enough interest) has them as a 75 percent chance to win the Finals.But we aren’t here to crown the Warriors. We are here to present some ways that everything could go wrong, like the glorious 2016 debacle, which all started because Draymond Green is kind of a douche:

1. The Luck Runs Out

How does this team stay so damn healthy? Constant-complainer Doc Rivers has marveled at the thought multiple times. In 2015, LeBron James noted, rather begrudgingly, that they were the healthiest team in NBA history. That first title year, only their backup big men, Maurice Speights and David Lee, had an injury in the playoffs. Sure, if one superstar gets injured, they will probably still win the Finals. If we want more drama, as bad as it sounds, we’ll need to see two stars injured. Give Thompson a foot/toe injury and give Curry a good ol’ ACL tear and we see the well-oiled machine put to the test. Even still, a starting rotation of Durant/Green/Livingston/Iguodala/McGee might grind out a title. That would be insult to injury for all the haters.

In terms of games missed, the Warriors were the fourth healthiest team in the NBA last year

2. The Blockbuster of the Goddamn Century

(Full disclosure, this is not an original idea, it was proposed by Andrew Sharp in Sports Illustrated's Open Floor Podcast.)It’s forty games into the season. The Thunder are 15-25. The Nets are extra bad. The Cavs are good but clearly not good enough to beat the Warriors. The Thunder want to blow it up. The Cavs want to leave the LeBron era with a goddamn bang. Here’s what happens.CLEVELAND GETS: Paul George, Russell Westbrook.

OKLAHOMA CITY GETS:

Kevin Love, Jae Crowder, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, the 2018 Nets pick, free tickets to see the Indians and a signed copy of Dan Gilbert’s pre-written memoir,

How to lose a superstar twice

, written in Comic Sans.

Also in this fantasy:

Isaiah is healthy by mid-season and the Cavs add Dwyane Wade on a minimum contract, leaving Cleveland with a top-six of LeBron James, Westbrook, George, Wade, Thomas and Tristan Thompson.

Crazy, but imagine?

3. The West Shows Up

The west is supposed to be the premiere conference. They are far superior to the east, no denying that, but they were collectively swept by the Warriors last year.

This year, though, a handful of teams reshuffled the deck; Houston added an all-timer at point guard to compliment their other all-timer at point guard; Oklahoma City added perhaps the most interesting preseason storyline; San Antonio added….Rudy Gay?

Oklahoma City wins if…...

We got nothing. Here are some Westbrook highlights.

San Antonio wins if…...Kawhi Leonard turns into some sort of transformer-alien hybrid and crushes the entire stadium and everyone inside it. Suppose no one wins if that happens.Houston wins if…...James Harden continues his ascension; Chris Paul does his usual thing while also becoming a killer spot up, off-the-ball shooter; old friend Carmelo Anthony joins midseason to form the best iteration ever of D’Antoni ball.

Aided by the addition of Paul, Golden State’s backcourt is somewhat contained while a rejuvenated Carmelo plays the best seven-game-series of his life, somewhat neutralizing Kevin Durant. (Extremely unlikely.)

Harden, with less of a regular season workload, crafts his piece-de-resistance, averaging a triple-double while reaching a new level of efficiency.

We tried.

4. The Celtics Breakthrough

Just kidding.

Kobe, we challenge you to stop spamming us #mambamentality

Remember a couple weeks ago on Twitter when Kobe was making headlines for challenging Isaiah Thomas to make the All-NBA first team this upcoming season? It seemed like an innocuous tweet to add to the hype of a blockbuster trade. Turns out it was part of a marketing campaign with Nike in promotion for Kobe’s new shoes. Don’t be alarmed Isaiah, Kobe doesn't actually care if you make the first team or not. Just make sure you buy his shoe. He dished out five tweets to four athletes and Kendrick Lamar (because why not?) and challenged them to do remarkable or charitable things. On paper, it was a great strategy. Clicking on his twitter or googling him after those challenges will naturally lead to more eyes on his new shoes. Plus you’re branding a shoe around the universally loved characteristics of Kobe that got him to his H.O.F. status.The B.S. part is that you are selling a goddamn Nike shoe by telling Kendrick to give back to the music program at his high school. Mixing social justice with selling Nike shoes seems a little twisted to us.And since he claims that he writes his own ads for the brand, this one's on you, Mr. Bryant. Suuuuuure you write your own ads, just like Lonzo Ball writes his own Players’ Tribune articles.

Quick Hits

Stephon Marbury, who last played in the NBA in 2009 for the Celtics, wants back. He was pretty bad in 2009, maybe eight years in China made him better?
S.I.’s Ben Golliver released his top 100. It’s weird but definitely interesting. CC: 36. DeMar Derozan; 35: Khris Middleton.
The Lakers announced they will retire Kobe Bryant’s No. 8 and No. 24. Bet that was Kobe’s idea.
LaVar Ball -- can’t believe we’re plugging him again -- thinks the Lakers will win 50 this year. Ha.

Concrete Reads

This isn’t wholly an NBA piece, but The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis masterfully profiled ESPN anchor Jemele Hill after her latest Trump comments. [

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NYT writer Seth Berkman follows WNBA Star Sylvia Fowles and her career aspirations as a funeral director post basketball career. [