In the restless hours leading up to the 2021-22 NBA regular season, the storylines were clear, the characters defined and the anticipation palpable among Warriors fans. This would be the year they would get, at long last, the one gift they’ve never had.
A legitimate Warriors-Lakers rivalry.
Dub Nation wanted it. The networks anticipated it, which is why the Warriors-Lakers game Saturday at Chase Center will be nationally televised by ABC – as will their next meeting on March 5 in Los Angeles.
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This was brought to us by the hoop gods. California teams 375 miles apart, for the first time ever at similar levels in the competitive order of the NBA. The Lakers, favored to win the Western Conference. The Warriors, expected to compete for no less than a top-four seed.
Steph vs. Bron and Draymond vs. AD. Nouveau Riche Warriors vs. Old Money Lakers.
The Bay vs. LA.
We’re two-thirds of the way through this season now, and the movie is failing its script. While the Warriors are doing their part, with a 41-15 record that has them in second place in the conference, the Lakers have come nowhere near the preseason projections.
Golden State Warriors
Klay Thompson, who spent his teenage years growing up in Southern California, wasn’t surprised that so many thought so highly of the Lakers.
“When you have LeBron James and Anthony Davis, you can say those things,” he said Thursday night, after a 116-114 loss to the New York Knicks. “I guess I understand why the pundits didn’t really consider us in that group.
"But I think we have more than enough to win the West this year.”
The Phoenix Suns, who last season reached the NBA Finals, have a 4.5-game lead on the Warriors -- and a 19.5-game lead on the Lakers, who sit in ninth place, with a 26-30 record.
Insofar as substantial improvement in LA is unlikely, the best we can hope for is a Warriors-Lakers first-round dance. And even at that, a two-vs.-seven series would require the Lakers escaping the play-in tournament.
Which, relative to the pages of history, would be a reversal of roles. The Warriors and Lakers have met seven times in the postseason and LA is 7-0. Only one series, in 1977, went the full seven games. The Warriors are 8-27 against the Lakers in the playoffs.
The teams last met in the postseason 31 years ago, in 1991, when Curry, Thompson and Green were babies and coach Steve Kerr was a third-year pro warming the bench for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Throughout the California history of the franchises, which dates back to 1962, one has been appreciably inferior to the other. Almost always, that was the Warriors. While the Lakers were hanging their championship banners, the Warriors were hanging their chins.
The Lakers owned the Warriors to such a degree that their fans routinely took over the Oakland Arena. Whether it was the West-Chamberlain era, the Kareem-Magic “Showtime” Era or the Kobe-Shaq era, which Thompson witnessed inside the building known as Staples Center.
“Some of my best memories in life are going with my dad, when I was in high school, sitting with him in the booth, watching him call the games and watching Kobe play,” he said. “It’s always awesome playing the hometown team.”
Thompson, perhaps more than his teammates, is eager to take the court Saturday. For one, he missed a shot at the buzzer, which would have sent the game into overtime Thursday night. For two, his father, Mychal, provides analysis on LA radio broadcasts. For three, well, it’s the Lakers.
“Just growing up, what that team meant to me,” he said. “Watching Kobe. Watching Shaq. Watching all the Showtime clips. I always get excited playing the Lakers.”
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The Warriors are squeezing all they can from the Steph-Draymond-Klay era. They’re all in their 30s, all playing well, all chasing a fourth championship.
That road, it was thought, would have to go through LA. Still might.
Except, given the struggles of the Lakers, meeting the Warriors in the conference finals is the longest of shots. The Warriors, however, probably wouldn’t mind the opportunity to oust them from the playoffs for the first time ever.
Should that happen, embrace the moment. It wouldn’t be the rivalry it could have been, but the playoffs have a way of introducing unanticipated drama.