Ho' boy. Somebody better call FEMA. Fire up the buses and make sure that the Oracle has plenty of cots and bottled water, because there could be a CAT5 disaster looming in the Warriors future.
Last night at the Oracle, the team was able to withstand the Sacramento Kings, 126-113, in a game that the hometown hoopsters controlled from the opening minutes, but there's storm clouds brewing. Ironically, last year's killer storm, Hurricane Artest, was in the house to remind the Warriors about decision making. It was ironic, because the Warriors again find themselves toying with the idea of voluntarily welcoming an NBA bad boy into the fold even as their team chemistry seems to be taking on a little water.
In the course of blowing yet another fourth quarter lead on Sunday, this time against the Sonics, 119-117, it appeared that the inevitable waves of discord between headstrong team front man Baron Davis and headstronger old-school hardass coach Don Nelson might be lapping at the weakened levees of this Warriors season.
In the final 17 seconds, as the Warriors watched another victory slip through their grasp, Nelson pulled Davis from the game, to which the Diddy responded peevishly. Later, Nelson justified the move by admitting he had conceded defeat at that point: "We were in a fouling situation. I wanted to inbound the ball and play with the guys that were in there. If there had been a chance to win the game, I would have put him back in." Yeah, but why not just keep him in there, just in case? The bottom line is Nelson purposely did not play the team's best player and court leader in the critical moment of the game in order to make the point that this is his team and by god, he's going to be sure that everybody knows it.
So Davis stewed on the sidelines with his arms folded across his chest and watched Anthony Roberson and Keith McCleod try, unsuccessfully, to rescue the win. After the game, Davis had no comment. On Monday, he was saying all the right things, but . . . .
Nelson thinks he is probably just sending a message to his team. The problem is Nelson has a long and troubled history of doing this, especially with this franchise. During his first run with the team, he pulled similar moves with Tim Hardaway and Chris Webber. And we all know how that Chris Webber thing turned out.
Shades of Chris Webber for Diddy and Nellie? Just bring in KG and all will be well in Warriorsland. Photo from official Golden State Warriors website.