Are The Warriors Ruining Basketball?


FiveThirtyEight
 

Welcome to the latest episode of Hot Takedown, FiveThirtyEight’s sports podcast. On this week’s show (Jun. 6, 2017), we discuss the Nashville Predators’ win against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. That series is now tied 2-2. Next, the Golden State Warriors are running roughshod over the Cleveland Cavaliers, which has some complaining that the NBA’s competitive balance is out of whack. We dig into league commissioner Adam Silver’s latest remarks on the matter and discuss whether the rise of the Warriors is a good thing or a bad thing for the NBA. Plus, a significant digit on an untethered ascent of El Capitan.

Check out the following links to the topics we discussed.

  • Pekka Rinne had a great Game 4 to help the Predators even things up.
  • FiveThirtyEight’s NBA predictions say that the likelihood of the Warriors winning the series is 97 percent.
  • In an interview with ESPN’s Mike and Mike, NBA commissioner Adam Silver fought back against claims that the Warriors have disrupted the league’s competitive balance.
  • FiveThirtyEight’s Chris Herring and Kyle Wagner teamed up to break down Steph Curry’s return to form in this year’s NBA finals.
  • Deadspin’s Albert Burneko writes that despite last year’s Cavaliers’ comeback, a Warriors victory feels inevitable this year.
  • Is the superteam era ruining the NBA? Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins investigates.
  • Significant Digit: 3,300, the number of feet that Alex Honnold climbed on his route up El Capitan, the famous climbing wall inside Yosemite National Park. He did it all without a rope. Honnold has become the first free solo climber to scale the route.

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