The Hamptons Five
The 2016–2017 NBA season has come and gone. The hardware has been handed out and the victor declared. The Golden State Warriors have reclaimed their title and old Larry sits atop the trophy case in the Bay Area once again. Make no mistake about it though, the 2017 NBA Finals were never the highlight of the season so much as was the construction of the Warriors roster, The Hamptons Five.
During the summer of 2016 when the reigning MVP Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Andre Igoudala holed themselves in a Long Island room alongside arguably one of the most versatile players of our generation in Kevin Durant, it was the same day that the rest of the league became shook. It was the day that the 29 other teams realized that the Dubs weren’t only playing chess and winning, but they were also calling checkmate 10 moves out. The league was a heist and the boys in royal blue gym shorts stole the crown jewel in KD. General Manager Bob Myers and his cronies, Steve Kerr and Ron Adams, mapped out a robbery set to occur in broad daylight and much like Ben Affleck and Jeremy Renner, the boys from The Town executed “Operation Dynasty” flawlessly. Burying the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games to conclude the playoffs was simply a formality. It was an expected outcome, easily, two moves out, check.
To throw extra salt in the wound, the Dubs Mafia proceeded to add a few understudies and veterans in Pat McCaw, Javale McGee, David West and Zaza Pachulia to complete The Usual Suspects and make a run at the chip. For their part in this well planned scheme, they too will handsomely cash-in during the offseason, perhaps donning new uniforms (sans McCaw). Journeymen are now lauded as victors, check.
The tentacles of this organization stem far beyond the outright thievery of Kevin Durant and the foundation of what is set to be at least a three-year victory parade around Lake Merritt in Oakland, well into the Chase Center and through the streets of downtown San Francisco to the Mission. There are dons upon dons that built DubNation long before what it has become today — Don “Nellie” Nelson, the “We Believe” OG’s, and Mark Jackson, to name a few. Then there was the guy behind the smoke screen reminiscent of The Golden Child’s dragon lady in Jerry West. Like Avon and Stringer Bell, there is always a Marlo to carry on tradition. Not even Walter White himself could batch together such a potent product as the Golden State Warriors a la 2017. Simply put, there’s a deep moat that runs under this organization. Even backups have backups, check.
Now that the Dubs Mafia has finally revealed its flush hand with that of The Hamptons Five, the balance of the league is in disarray. GM’s are courting free agents and draft prospects with cutthroat mentality in order to build “Super Teams.” These teams now have to choose how they want to lose — do we go down at the hands of the Baby Faced Assassin, Slim, or A-Klay-47? Oh, can’t forget about Dray! As Iggy courts free agent suitors, it’s likely that he’ll return in one fashion or another. The foundation is well in place, but this is a chess game, so do you really think that the Dubs would just rest upon their laurels when the rooks and king are perfectly aligned for the next castling?
Light a cigar and think again, the game’s just begun — enter Jordan Bell.
