MIAMI, FL, Sporting Alert – ESPN’s NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith is not one of the many people yearning to watch the Golden State Warriors beat teams down this new NBA season.
The already talented Warriors side, which set an NBA record for the most wins in the regular season last year, acquired the service of the sharp-shooting and free-scoring Kevin Durant during the offseason and Smith thinks such a move makes the former champions very difficult to beat.
He added that Golden State is boring to watch because its lineup is simply too good to make games interesting during the regular season.
On Tuesday night in a preseason game, the Warriors scored over 30 points in the first three-quarters before taking their foot off the gas in the final quarter en route to a 120-75 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Smith believes Durant’s decision to weaken a competitive club like the Oklahoma City Thunder to strengthened a Warriors outfit that was already good enough to take down any team in the league, wasn’t good for the NBA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUwkhXDMsEo
“Kevin Durant has ruined the regular season,” Smith said on ESPN First Take.
“I understand that the championship is not a foregone conclusion.
“I understand that the playoffs could be labelled somewhat interesting with San Antonio, the Oklahoma City Thunder, who is still not a bad team by the way, and with Cleveland in the East.
“But the regular season in itself….you go up against Kevin Durant and everything is just ruin.”
Smith also holds the view that the comfortable blowout victory over the Clippers Tuesday night is just a sign of what is to come from Steve Kerr’s team until they contend for the title in the postseason.
“This is Kevin Durant, one the top three players in the world, who goes to the team with the best regular-season record with the reigning two-time regular season MVP and the best shooting backcourt that we’ve ever seen in the NBA.
This is what we get. No answers whatsoever for the Golden State Warriors. They can put a 120 a night if they wanted to.
“I’m not that interested to see Golden State in the regular season.”
He added: “Kevin Durant has ruined the regular season. He is too great of a player to end up there (Warriors) of all the places.”
