Dallas Mavericks: Have the Golden State Warriors Ruined Fanbases?

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OAKLAND, CA – JULY 2: Harrison Barnes #40, Festus Ezeli #31 and Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors poses for a photo at the Warriors draft pick press conference on July 2, 2012 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory copyright notice: Copyright NBAE 2012 (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /

1. The Golden State Warriors built an unbelievable team through the draft.

This first point is the important one, in my opinion. Through a lot of intellectual scouting and a good amount of luck, the Golden State Warriors put the entire core of their first championship team together through the draft. Steph Curry was drafted in 2009, Harrison Barnes in 2012, Draymond Green in 2012, and Klay Thompson in 2011.

Amazingly, none of these four players were picked higher than 7th in the draft, and yet they all have been very successful in the league.

To give another example of a team being built primarily through the draft, we can look at the Philadelphia 76ers. Much of their core was drafted by the team, including Joel Embiid in 2014 and Ben Simmons in 2016. Again, this took good scouting to get these players, but it also took a lot of luck.

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The reason these teams are changing/ruining fanbases is because they need to be considered the outliers, not the norm. The Dallas Mavericks have a loyal fanbase that has been through thick and thin. Although our numbers have dwindled some, there are still many of us around.

Despite having very loyal fans, the term “Team Tank” is one that is tossed around on a daily basis among Mavs fans. Celebrating losses and praising low standings are becoming more ordinary practices and that is just not a normal thing for fans. These few teams that have built their way to success from the ground up are impressive, but unlikely.

For that reason, the Golden State Warriors have given the NBA fans a false sense of hope that maybe their team could do the same thing. Sadly, history does not seem to back up that hypothesis.

Over the past 20 or so years, the only teams that have been really successful that were built through the draft are the Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs. Not exactly a big group there.

In other words, it is great to be hopeful with draft picks, but it may not be something we need to bet on. If Dallas gets a lottery pick then that is great, but if the Mavs hit a winning streak, Mavs fans need to be cheering their butts off and hoping for more. There are no guarantees in this league.