As far as I can remember, I’ve only seen two dynasties really die in my lifetime. The first is the most obvious, and that’s the New England Patriots. The second is the San Antonio Spurs. There’s an argument to be made about the Lakers, but I’m not sure the time period in which I saw them (‘00-‘04 is really a dynasty). Even less of an argument for the Big 3 Heat. Nonetheless, the dynasties I saw fall I didn’t have a great connection to. Until now.
I’d like to make it clear I don’t think the Astros are finished. The Astros have this horrible habit of starting pretty badly and then just mid-season fighting it out. Look at 2005. Look at 2022. Even look at last year. This year is starting off the norm – in terms of wins and losses.
But that’s not to say the canary is not starting to make some noise. The Astros are now stuck with old-school GMs (thanks Jim), who aren’t making those big moves. Look across town at the Texans, a team on the up-and-up. There might be a dynasty forming on the other side of 59.
I wanted to use the blog today to talk about these dynasties ending. One for sure dead. The other, not dead, and still with hope, but trending.
The End of the Warriors’ Dynasty
2010s basketball was pretty much controlled by LeBron James and the Golden State Warriors. LeBron reasonably only gets on this list because of his time on the Heat. But, in reality, the 2010s was the decade of the Golden State Warriors. It started in 2012, with the return to the playoffs, and really only was considered over this year.
Commentators way smarter than me can talk about whether the reason it all worked was because of the introduction to Kerr, or whether it was the players. In reality, it was some combo of it all. It also definitely helped to have one of the best shooters of all time. But with the addition of Iggie in the 2013 off-season, the Warrior’s dominance began.
There’s this kind of finished blog I’ve had ruminating for a while about Draymond Green and whether people can change. I think I’m going to finally release it this weekend. But, one of the things I hit on is whether the fall of Draymond marks the fall off of the Warriors. And by fall of Draymond I mean the now very frontward criticism about his character. You don’t get suspended indefinitely and win whatever the NBA equivalent is of the Walter Payton Award. Unlike Rodman, he’s not weird enough to just get away with it.
But, it turns out, the end came with a whimper. Which, they still made the playoffs. The Warriors still got that 10 spot, making the Rockets live in their shadow yet again. They even had Chris Paul this time, even though he was definitely a double agent, right? If kids are going to make fun of his daughter, he’s going to make their favorite team his magnum opus in losing.
The issue wasn’t Steph; he has the LeBron battery where if he stops performing well he has to spend time with his wife. There’s some blame on Kerr, there’s some blame on Klay, and there’s some blame on the Warriors for not realizing the end is near. Whoever runs that front office needed to put on that part during The End is Near where Phoebe Bridgers just screams.
The thing with the Warriors, which is unlike a lot of dynasties, is that the Big 3 stayed until the end. KD is annoying somewhere else, Iggy and Boogie have gone on to the nickname generator in the sky (where Iggy is fighting aliens), and LeBron is coasting until the Lakers are dumb enough to draft Bronny.
I’m not really sure where the Warriors go from here. Of course, Klay’s contract is ending. Draymond has 3 more years, but I imagine this is the end. Adam Silver has seen how he reacts still, how he acts like a toddler whose mom says “Boys will be boys.” Steph is a first-ballot Hall of Famer with juice in the tank. Maybe he leaves and goes somewhere else. Maybe he stays and helps with the rebuild. Or, maybe, he calls it and ends with the Warriors. There’s always something in the back of my mind that says “They’ll be back.” But I don’t think they will. It seems the end is here.
If I had written this in 2019, there’d be a very different tune. I’d be celebrating the downfall of a group of men I despise. Lakers fans became Warriors fans (and Lakers fans again). But in 2022 I found myself rooting the Warriors. Similar to how I was in the 2021 Super Bowl, rooting for that last Tom Brady ride. If you had told me I’d be sad about the Warriors dynasty coming to an end in the 2010s, I’d have told you “And I’ll be excited for the beginning of the 2024 WNBA season too.”
There’s some gorgeous about watching a team just get it all right. The poetry of watching these men communicate on a psychic level that etched out every little movement on the court. And the Warriors came to the most natural end. It wasn’t because the team’s chemistry faltered. It wasn’t like the Bulls where the GM and management got involved, planning for the future. The Warriors met the most natural end – time. And, if anything, that speaks to the reign we just witnessed.
The Astros’ Chapter
I wrote a couple of months ago about dynasties. One of the points I had was that everyone hates a dynasty, but also everyone sports fan pines for one. It’s looking through a window at all the other kids playing during summer, while your mom is making you finish your reading program.
I know I said that the Astros dynasty isn’t over. The time hasn’t come when we say goodbye to Bregman and Tucker and Altuve. I don’t think I can put Yordan in this category yet; he’s still part of the new era of stars. He’s there with Peña, except he can hit and doesn’t have show muscles.
But this season has been a solid glimpse into the not-so-far future. We’re much closer to the end of the Astros dynasty than we are to the days of that 2019 lineup. The 2022 World Series win may have been the last time we see Altuve on that stage. The 2023 ALCS may be the last in the ALCS streak. I’d like to believe we will always make the Yankees cry; I blame Trevor Bauer for everything that happened that series (I’ll write about that at some point).
But unlike the Warriors’ dynasty where I watch the end with the “so long partner” Toy Story acquiescence, I watch the Astros end with the same zeal as that one scene in Scrubs where JD has to lay down in the grass.
I’ve had a lot of success in my sporting life since high school. Around 2014, I wasn’t prepared for the triumvirate of success that Liverpool, the Astros, and UH basketball would be. Two of those three are on the way out; UH has the beauty of continual recruiting. And I want to act with them like I do the Warriors. I want to have the ability to just let it all go; and realize that as time passes all things must end. Everyone reading this will be gone in 100 years. In 100 years everything I’ve written here will be a memory of who I was. And I’m okay with that. Why can’t I hold that same sentiment with sports teams, something so incredibly insignificant in terms of the universe?
I wish I had a better answer for you other than simple escapism. In the entropy of the universe, it’s hard to find any sort of stable joy. Maybe it’s because I’d have to be content with it all. Content with the memories I had of happiness that I’ll carry around for the rest of my life. John Green said when his first kid was born he showed them the 2005 Champions League final. I plan to show my kid(s) the 2019 Champions League Final. But those will be memories. I’ll have to relive it all through videos and secondhand feelings. And that’s scary; it doesn’t lend itself to content.
Marvel movies are the scourge of the Earth. Everyone who watches and participates in the making of this millennial-cringe slop should be forced to let their brains turn to mush for the greater good (like those old Hulu ads). But sometimes they get something right. I was introduced to the Loki “let time pass” song from TikToks about the Pac-12. It also sounds incredibly like Agape from If Beal Street Could Talk. So instead of promoting that Marvel song, I want you all to listen to Agape.
So, I’m going to sit here and let time pass. Like JD lying on the grass, I’m going to sit here and reflect on the memories of the dynasties. I might even watch the Warriors’ highlights. And in that, maybe I’ll find contentment with the idea of time passing and life moving on.
In something I never thought I’d say, goodbye Warriors.
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