Marion: No team will lie down and hand Warriors NBA championship
The 2016-17 NBA regular season is worth playing, contrary to popular belief. Sure, a Finals rematch between the Cleveland Cavaliers and stacked Golden State Warriors feels inevitable, but no one is going to hand either of those powerhouse teams anything on a silver platter.
That rings especially true for the 73-win Warriors, who added four-time scoring champion Kevin Durant to its roster this summer on a two-year, $54.3-million contract. Las Vegas greatly favors the Western Conference champs to win it all next year after blowing a 3-1 series lead against LeBron James and company last season.
"The Matrix" Shawn Marion, who spent the last year of his career with Cleveland before retiring in 2015, expects the league's 29 other teams to put up one heck of fight against head coach Steve Kerr's bunch.
"It's not like everybody is going to go out there and lie down and give them the championship," Marion told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Dwain Price Thursday.
Overcoming adversity on the hardwood is something Marion knows a lot about, as it was in 2010-11 when his underdog Dallas Mavericks derailed The Heatles' tour to a championship by defeating the Miami Heat - who had James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh on its roster - in six games to capture the franchise's first title.
"I'm like this: 'You put your pants on one leg at a time just like I do,'" Marion said of knocking off Miami on its home court. "There’s ways to go out there and beat guys. When we got to the Finals everybody was kind of caught up into being on the stage and playing names. Everybody gets caught up in playing names and not the guys. But I’m going to play a person. I’m not playing his name."
As far as Durant ditching the Oklahoma City Thunder to join an already devastating lineup in the Bay Area, Marion doesn't take any issue with the choice he made as an unrestricted free agent.
"Who cares? At the end of the day it's his decision and you guys live with it," he said. "People are going to have something to say regardless of if he (left OKC) or not."
Marion was a four-time NBA All-Star during his 16-year run, playing for the Cavaliers, Mavericks, Heat, Toronto Raptors, and Phoenix Suns.