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Comment by e40 | Hacker News Reader

There's a lot of fluff in that article. I'd say it's a combination of two things: what the owners are doing, outlined in the article and something you can't get through management: a group of players that are humble and truly want to work together as a team. I stopped watching the NBA in the 90's after the Warrior's "run TMC" was broken up and Jordan and Magic retired. The egos and attitudes of the players really turned me off.

Curry and his teammates have turned me on again to the game, in a big way. The games are a joy to watch. The pure excitement generated by the team is just amazing. Even in the 90's I would rarely watch every minute of a game. I watch EVERY minute of each Warrior's game and love every bit of it. They are that good.

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Hahahahaha. Ok. Sure. You loved watching Jordan, but you dislike "egos and attitudes"? C'mon, man. Gettin' a little dog-whistle-y there. And the idea that Steph (or Dray) doesn't/don't have an ego or an attitude - the man rains conscience-less bombs from 40 feet out, turns and runs after shots because he knows they'll hit, and talks shit to other teams' bench while his shot falls. And that's before we start talking about Iggy or Dray.

> Gettin' a little dog-whistle-y there.

What are you talking about?

There's always at least a bit of racist motivation for complaints about NBA players' "egos and attitudes". In this case that's probably not even most of what OP was saying. But when white American racists read complaints like that, they accurately assume that racism is part of it. Those who don't think that way, don't make that assumption. It's like a dog whistle in that certain audiences hear the message, and others don't.

Or it's the usual inference-sans-implication that makes for fun eggshell-walking discourse.

> There's always at least a bit of racist motivation for complaints about NBA players' "egos and attitudes".

First of all, you just called someone on here racist. That's very insulting if you're wrong about the person in question.

Second, you just said that I can never complain about NBA player egos and attitudes, otherwise I'm a racist no matter what. I'm sure your premise must equally apply to all sports then: complain about hockey player egos, you're a racist; complain about baseball player egos, you're a racist; complain about football player egos, you're a racist. No?

You're building a wall against any criticism by elaborately abusing the concept of racism. Is it racist to artificially shield one group of players from criticism based on race, while not shielding players of every of race from identical criticism across every other sport?

Read my reply above, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11397602 ... hopefully that clarifies.

> There's always at least a bit of racist motivation for complaints about NBA players' "egos and attitudes".

Oh, is there? That's quite a harsh accusation -- it can get people instantly fired nowadays -- so I'm sure you can back it up.

> It's like a dog whistle in that certain audiences hear the message, and others don't.

You seem to be very good indeed at hearing this alleged dog whistle. Perhaps the problem is a little closer to home than you realize.

It's one thing to have an ego, but it's another to back it up. Jordan backed it up. My point was a lot of players have the ego without the skills. Also, Jordan's ego was focused on winning. He never made stupid statements in public (that I heard of). I can't tell you how many times LeBron said or did really dumb things off the court. Of course, all driven by his massive ego.

LeBron's a two-time champion in what's probably the best NBA, talent-wise, in the league history. He has won multiple MVPs and you could legitimately argue for him as MVP virtually every year he has ever played. There is no legitimate argument that he has not "backed it up".

And the reason you can't tell me how many times he has said or done dumb things off the court is because he really doesn't. He's a dedicated family man and a savvy businessman. He doesn't get in trouble. He got flack for The Decision, but most of that flack was stupid. I hate him as a player; I'm a Bulls fan, and he's owned us forever. But your criticism of him doesn't make any sense.

Could have been watching the Spurs for decades if that's what you like, minus the excitement until recently :)

I've watched them a few times over the season and their players just don't do the same thing for me. Technically they are very good, I agree. There's an intangible in the way the Warriors play together that really increases enjoyment.

It's not just about winning. It's how they win.

Of course, the other thing is watching Steph Curry change the game. It's a wonder to behold.

> There's an intangible in the way the Warriors play together that really increases enjoyment. > It's not just about winning. It's how they win.

You realize you just described the case for the Spurs for the past decade, right?

Spurs are fun to watch, but don't have Steph launching ridiculous bombs from anywhere. It's barely basketball anymore, and it's amazing.

On an interesting note, Kawhi Leonard's advanced stats were marginally better than Curry's as of two weeks ago. They're both equally exciting players in my eyes. Also, have you seen the size of Leonard's hands?!

LOVE watching Kawhi Leonard - the guy is so entertaining from a strictly "that guy knows how to play basketball" kind of way

Does the last minute of basketball still take 15 minutes? If so then I'm not coming back.

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