Jerry West felt bad for Warriors fans in uncompetitive sweep of Spurs
Are the Golden State Warriors so good that they're boring to watch? Someone within their own organization thinks so.
The Dubs plowed through the first three rounds of the NBA playoffs, becoming the first team in history to start the postseason 12-0. And they're not just beating teams, they're shellacking them at a rate never before seen - by an average of 16.3 points.
Given his current advisory role with the club, it's fair to assume NBA legend Jerry West is thrilled with Golden State's unprecedented run of success. That's not the case, though. At least not for himself as a spectator.
In fact, West found himself looking to make an early exit during his team's 136-100 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals. It was no fun for him, the opponent, or the fans.
"At the end of the third quarter (when the Warriors led 106-75), I almost felt bad for San Antonio, but I also felt bad for our fans," he told SI's Lee Jenkins. "Because if you're a real fan at a playoff game, you want to see a hard-fought battle, back and forth, and at the end somebody wins by a point and you go home worn out. You're charged. You're edgy.
"But we're up by 30-something, and I'm thinking, 'Hmm, I'd like to leave here if I could.' It's the weirdest thing. I've never felt that way before."
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The 79-year-old Hall of Famer's lack of enthusiasm developed long before the playoffs. After winning 73 regular-season games last year and adding former MVP Kevin Durant during the summer, the Warriors rolled through the 2016-17 campaign and finished with the No. 1 seed. That has West yearning for some more competitive basketball.
"We were underdogs in one game this year. We were favored in Game 2 of the conference finals by 15 points. That is insane. It's not what anybody wants to see," the 14-time All-Star said, later pointing to all the inferior rosters in today's NBA.
"When I look at this league, I see a lot of teams that are very average and a lot of teams that are really struggling. It goes to the age of the teams. Some of them are so young, they may play their fannies off, but they're still going to get beat. And it also goes to the talent dispersal."
The Cleveland Cavaliers are the league's most stacked squad outside of Golden State, so hopefully they can appease West and viewers in general by giving the Dubs a run for their money in their "Finals Three-match," which begins Thursday night in Oakland.