Jeff Van Gundy is a guy who gets paid a lot of money to build up the excitement around NBA games. So in theory, he should also be a guy who is open to all of the different possibilities of a new NBA season that is starting in a matter of just weeks. But during an appearance on Sirius XM earlier this week, the former NBA coach poured a gigantic bucket of cold water over the head of anyone who is actually looking forward to the start of the 2017-18 NBA season.
In Van Gundy’s mind, the new season—which again, hasn’t even actually started yet—is already "over." As long as the Warriors are still the Warriors with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Kevin Durant, Van Gundy believes the outcome of the season is a foregone conclusion, which means that he shouldn’t even spend time trying to get people excited about it.
"The Warriors are going to win forever if everything stays the same," Van Gundy said. "This season is over."
Van Gundy went on to say that there’s nothing anyone can do to stop the Warriors. Even if the Cavaliers were to somehow use the Nets’ 2018 first-round pick that they got from the Celtics in the Kyrie Irving-for-Isaiah Thomas trade in a deal for Paul George, Van Gundy still thinks the Warriors would steamroll right over them in the 2018 NBA Finals.
"We’re going to play it out, and the Warriors are going to win," he said. "And then next year is going to be the same thing…2018 is a wrap. Let’s start talking about 2019."
Damn, if you're an NBA fan, that is depressing. Of course, Van Gundy isn’t the first or only one to think this about the upcoming NBA season. Plenty of other people are predicting that the Warriors will once again win the NBA title with ease.
But hey, weird things happen in sports, and that’s what makes them so much fun to watch, right? Yeah, we’ll keep telling ourselves that as we try and suppress the pessimism Van Gundy just brought out in us all. Otherwise, why even bother watching the NBA when it tips off in October?
