The New Yorker

Golden State Warriors: Crybabies

Scott Ostler nails it in this morning's Chronicle:

Crybabies. You would think that the defending league champions, hitting midseason with the league’s second-best record (a half-game behind Houston), would not be the poster team for bitching at refs. You would be so, so wrong.

The Warriors are struggling, relatively speaking, leaking a little oil, including even a ghastly recent two-game losing streak. Still, why all the whining? The Warriors lead the league in technical fouls with 41. Green is the league’s most-T’d player, 14. Durant is tied for second with 11, and leads in ejections with four.

Green, in some ways the ultimate team player, can’t manage to put his team ahead of his need to whine about the same horrible calls experienced by every player in the league.

Curry got tossed for flinging his pacifier (actually his mouth-guard) in the direction of a ref. The poet-like Shaun Livingston literally bumped heads with a ref.

The perpetual disconnect between NBA refs and players has risen to a crisis level this season, in no small part because the best team can’t shut its yap and play ball.

Rob's comment:

As a Warriors fan, I find it embarrassing. Draymond Green is the worst offender. He seems to have some mental health/anger issues that he and the team should address.

Speaking of embarrassment and the Warriors: Those mystifying Town jerseys are supposedly a tribute to Oakland, a "town" they are planning to dump as soon as their new traffic-snarling stadium is finished here in SF. What crap! And an insult to Oakland, as the billionaire owners of the Warriors evidently think that the brand requires a classier address than Oakland/Nowheresville:

Warriors guard Stephen Curry, who has been with the franchise since 2009, said he quickly learned about “The Town” and the history behind it. The former Oakland resident is excited to wear “The Town” jerseys at Oracle Arena. “It’s amazing for the organization to recognize ‘The Town’ and the city that supported them through the dog days and some tough times and bright spots, obviously,” Curry said. “Knowing we are soon moving to San Francisco, it’s a silent effort to show the loyalty to the city and the history as well. There have been a lot of great days here. Hopefully, the fans from the East Bay and Oakland can rally around that.”

Some "loyalty"! And some "amazing" bullshit from a great basketball player who should just shut up and play ball.

See also The Warriors' Empty Gesture.

We are grieving with Parkland. But we are not powerless. Caring for our kids is our first job. And until we can honestly say that we're doing enough to keep them safe from harm, including long overdue, common-sense gun safety laws that most Americans want, then we have to change.

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 15, 2018