That’s A Rap #184: Talking Warriors dynasty and Maple Jordan

Andrew Wiggins is in a class of his own.

Every #1 overall pick can be bucketed into 3 groups: Hall-of-Fame (Current: Chris Webber or Future: LeBron James), All-Star (Current: Kyrie Irving or Future: Cade Cunningham), or Bust (Current: Anthony Bennett or Future: Chet Holmgren j/k). For most of his first seven seasons, Wiggins was really good, but ultimately met more of the criteria of a Bust.

With an outstanding two-way performance in the 2022 NBA Finals — and championship to boot — Wiggins becomes the first player (at least by my minimal research) to move up from Bust to All-Star level.

There will likely be talks about contract extensions this summer since next season is the last on his current contract. With Golden State’s Big Three all hitting the decline portion of their primes, Wiggins could be the key that unlocks the Warriors’ next dynasty!

In This Episode:

6:35 — Air Canada the Second

Raise your hand if you were skeptical of Wiggins’ fit in Golden State. For those of you with hands un-raised, you’re either lying or laughing all the way to the bank. As with most first-overall picks, Wiggins had the heavy expectations of leading his franchise to the promised land. Things didn’t work out that way in Minnesota, but in The Bay, Wiggins found the perfect match for his skillset.

20:38 — Are the Warriors a dynasty?

Yes.

(How’s that for brevity?)

I can humour those who have different definitions of the word “dynasty”. Eight straight championships and 11 titles in 13 seasons? The 50’s-60’s Celtics were a dynasty. Four titles in seven seasons? The 80’s Lakers were a dynasty. Two three-peats in eight season? The 90’s Bulls were a dynasty.

If three titles in five seasons, or four in nine seasons, gives the 00’s Spurs the dynasty label, then you’d better believe these Warriors fit the description.

30:48 — Giving Boston their flowers

Let’s face it, there may never be another time in my life where we actively cheer for the Celtics. Correction: we were only “cheering” for our playoff predictions of Boston winning the title. Now that they’ve failed, we can return to hating everything about that franchise. For now, they’ve earned our respect. They had the best defense in the NBA and are bringing back every key contributor next season.