Second Overtime: (The (broken) hand that lays the golden 3s
By Homer D. Sayson
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 31 Oct 2019
CHICAGO -- After moving across the Bay from Oakland to San Francisco, the Golden State Warriors now play at a state-of-the-art downtown facility.
Built for $2 billion, the Chase Center is shiny and new.
On Wednesday night, however, that arena was darkened by sadness.
Steph Curry fell hard on the floor at the 8:31 mark of the third quarter, his team trailing the visiting Phoenix Suns by 29. Shortly thereafter, x-rays confirmed that the 2-time MVP and 3-time NBA champ has a broken bone in his left hand. He will be out at least a month, according to ESPN.
The Warriors are done.
Irreparably broken.
They're like PhilBoxing without Dong Secuya.
Oh how the mighty has fallen.
After making five straight NBA Finals appearances from 2014 to 2019, winning three titles along the way, the chances of Golden State making the playoffs in 2020 is as slim as Catriona Gray.
The basketball gods, whose divine hands once touched these Warriors the grace of good vibes through the years have now crushed DubNation.
It's cruel but random, like the slings and arrows of undestined fortune.
Since June, the Warriors have lost Kevin Durant (went to the Nets), Klay Thompson (torn ACL) and Andre Iguodala (traded to Memphis). And now Curry.
And just like that, what was once a Death Lineup also known as the Hamptons Five has become a harmless island of one Draymond Green.
Dynasties, no matter how dominant, are ephemeral.
The Lakers and the Celtics of the 80s and the Bulls of the 90s have come and gone. It's the Warriors turn now.
This one is especially sad because it didn't run its course or die of a natural, quiet death. This one succumbed to the blunt force of a series of unfortunate events.
Personally, it's sad for me.
Steph is one of my all-time favorites, a good kid, who despite his existence up there in the rarefied air of super stardom, willingly comes down to earth to mingle with his fans and peers. I'll never forget that day in 2014 when he granted me a 1-on-1 interview at the now-defunct Bradley Center in downtown Milwaukee.
The author interviews Stephen Curry.
I've covered each of those five consecutive Finals the Warriors played in. They will be missed this year.
But this is why the NBA is so great; it can survive the demise, temporary or otherwise, of a once mighty team.
When the playoffs arrive in April, we will probably, in a bit of nostalgia, long for the Warriors.
But once the action starts, those longings will fade away as we watch how the Los Angeles civil war between the Lakers and the Clippers will unfold.
It's sad what's happened to those Warriors. But it's life.
In the words of poet Sai Saketh Ram, "Nothing is forever."
Editor's note. The author is a veteran writer who has covered the NBA since starting with a newspaper stint 1993. The former U.S. editor NBA.com Philippines, he is currently a regular columnist of SPIN.ph and the U.S. editor of Sports On Air. Sayson also has a regular NBA segment at "Power and Play with Kom Noli" hosted by former PBA commisisoner Noli Eala every Saturday at Radyo Singko.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Homer D. Sayson.
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