The Warriors also face four teams each consisting of two players capable of winning a playoff series on their own.
There’s reigning MVP Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray on the Denver Nuggets, LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the Los Angeles Lakers, and Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on the Los Angeles Clippers. Moreover, Luka Dončić and [insert almost any other Dallas Maverick player here] also corresponds to this bill.
Finally, the new look of the Minnesota Timberwolves with Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards could be a total failure. But there’s also a chance that this strange new approach to the Twin Towers will somehow work out, and the Timberwolves also appear in the 2023 NBA Finals picture.
2. Warriors’ Eastern Conference 2023 NBA Finals opponent would be tougher than last year
If a Warriors NBA Finals trip is scheduled for 2023, the team likely won’t face a young, inexperienced squad like they did last season with the Boston Celtics.
The top of the Eastern Conference is fearsome and filled with superstars in 2022. Whichever team emerges will be battle-tested and likely as talented as Golden State, if it’s the Western representative in the NBA Finals. 2023.
If Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets, or Joel Embid, James Harden and the Philadelphia 76ers don’t implode this season and reach the 2023 NBA Finals, it almost certainly means these superstars are playing at the level of the superstars.
If Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat, or Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers get there, it probably means those stars are playing at a level close to MVP, and their supporting cast have also stepped up and are remained healthy.
And if the Boston Celtics are the Warriors’ NBA Finals opponents, that means they’ve overcome the adversity of the Ime Udoka scandal and are a much more mature team than last season’s finalists.
Whichever of those six options, the Warriors will have a war on their hands if they make it to the Finals.
1. Stephen Curry is old
Repeating as NBA champions is a young man’s game. Plenty of Warriors will have to play a part if another Warriors championship is on the line, but, ultimately, the team’s chances rest on the shoulders of 34-year-old Stephen Curry.
