Al Horford knew what was coming. “I’m sure a lot of their fans will be there as well,” he said, speaking of the game his Hawks would play Monday night at Philips Arena. The visiting team? The popular-beyond-belief Golden State Warriors, who have become to this decade what the Chicago Bulls were to the 1990s.
It took the Bulls three NBA titles and the arrival of the green-haired lightning rod Dennis Rodman to become truly mega-famous. The Warriors, whose championship last year marked their first since 1975, are chasing the 1995-96 Bulls’ record of 72 regular-season wins, but they’re embraced in a way even Michael Jordan’s crew wasn’t: They’ve owned social media, which didn’t exist back then. They’re Kardashians with talent.
Speaking in December 1995, then-Bulls coach Phil Jackson — the Zen Master has since sailed through many changes in latitude — likened his team to a band he’d studied in a just-aired-on-ABC anthology. “I don’t think there’s the kind of hysteria (that accompanied the Beatles) with us,” he said, “though sometimes it gets like that on the road. Some nights there’ll be 50 to 100 people waiting on the runway. This is for a charter flight in the back part of the airport, but somehow they’ve found out where we’ll be. And all they get to do is see us get off the bus.”
Then this: “But I think we’re more like the (Grateful) Dead. There were really only about six people around the Beatles. Counting trainers and coaches, there are about 20 of us traveling around. And we’ve got our Jerry Garcia, our Bobby Weir.”
Jordan = Garcia. Scottie Pippen = Weir. But who was Rodman? Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, maybe? And who was Toni Kukoc? Phil Lesh with darker hair? And the Bulls’ smallish 3-point shooter: Who was he?
His name was/is Steve Kerr. Today he coaches the Warriors. Small world, eh?
Asked after Monday’s shootaround if his Warriors had achieved the band-on-the-run status of those Bulls, Kerr said: “It’s getting close. Michael was a phenomenon unto himself. Steph (Curry) is sort of getting into that territory. I think people enjoy the way we play, too, so maybe that has something to do with it.”
Then this: “We have a very likable group of guys — other than Draymond (Green). Everybody who doesn’t play with Draymond hates him. We love him, but I don’t think the fans like him that much other than in Oakland. The rest of our guys are smiling and easy-going. I think we have a pretty likable team.”
This is no small thing. In the bazaar of social media, a “like” is currency. Pretty much everybody likes the Warriors. They share the ball and guard hard and rain 3-pointers and smile all the while. Curry is essentially the size Kerr was his prime — 6-foot-3 and under 200 pounds — but three times as good. (And this intends no disrespect toward Kerr.) Curry also has the world’s cutest daughter, whose famous appearances at playoff press briefings hoisted the Warriors to an exalted plain, “like”-wise.
Five years ago, there were no Golden State fans outside the Bay Area. Today they’re everywhere. (“Viral” does mean “viral.”) There was a time when the mention of “Riley” would, in NBA circles, evoke only the slick guy with the hair. Today there’s a more famous Riley, and her last name is Curry. And the best part of the Warriors’ popularity is that — like the Fab Four of yore — they can really play. They’re better than their hype.
When Golden State played here a year ago, it was 39-8. It lost that night to the Hawks, who ascended to 42-9. How long ago that seems. These Warriors entered Monday’s game 49-5; the Hawks were 31-26. “It’s very impressive for them to have the discipline to do this,” Horford said. “They’ve taken the next step.”
From very good to great. From a winsome club to a crossover sensation. We can ask why that didn’t happen with the Hawks — they weren’t nearly as good, duh, and they have no Steph — but that’s not much of a topic. (As for the game: The Hawks overrode a 23-point deficit to seize a four-point lead early in the fourth quarter. They lost 102-92. Golden State is 50-5.)
The Hawks’ flirtation with transcendence is yesterday’s news. By way of contrast, the Warriors weren’t just the team of a moment. They’ve become the only team that matters.
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