One week into the 2016 NBA season

I WISH YOU WOULD — Russel Westbrook stares down opponents as he calls the play. Westbrook is a fan favorite to win this years MVP award. (Wikimedia)

Warriors fall to the Spurs in Season Opener
The NBA is back! It’s only a week in, and we already have multiple game highs and a few game lows so far this season.
The Warriors are still suffering their loss in the NBA finals, having been the first ever team in history to lose when up by 3 to 1 in the NBA finals series.

This season it would be an understatement to say that they plan on coming back for the title. This offseason they acquired Kevin Durant. Durant, one of the top five players in the small forward position, left the Oklahoma City Thunder after a nine year period without a title. He and Russel Westbrook did make a finals appearance, but lost. This last season, they lost again in the conference finals to the same warriors Durant decided to sign with.

A major concern to many people with this new Golden State warriors team is the fact that with acquiring Durant, they lost a lot of depth in their bench. They lost their rim protector, Andrew Bogut, the starting small forward, Harrison Barnes and they also lost Marreese “Mo’ Buckets’ Speights.

Widely regarded as the new villains of the league, this super team of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green lost their first game this season. Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs took the Warriors down by a 29 point victory, and this left Steve Kerr and the rest of the coaching staff scratching their heads. The Spurs are one of the best teams in the league, so nobody expected such a loss.

It isn’t that big a deal, as they came back with a win in the next game against Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans regardless of Davis’ 45 point game. The rest of the season is shaping up to be an interesting one, as fans eagerly wait to see how this new version of the Warriors performs against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Russel Westbrook’s OKC stands strong
Russel Westbrook is a man on a mission this season, as he has been voted to be the Western conference player of the week in the first week of the NBA 2016/2017 season. Westbrook came off this summer with a chip on his shoulder after losing to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals in the 2016 NBA playoffs.

To add to the pain, his then- teammate and long-time friend Durant left for the team that beat them, and failed to tell Westbrook, as he found out via social media. The summer wasn’t all bad though, because the Thunder acquired Victor Oladipo in a trade with the Orlando Magic in exchange for Serge Ibaka. Although, Ibaka is a huge asset defensively, many have faith that the young shooting guard will step up and be up to the task.

It’s safe to say Westbrook is out to make the Oklahoma City Thunder go far this season, as he has led the team to two wins in their last two games. He also broke a record and had the first fifty- point triple double since 1975. The last person to do so was the great basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Westbrook recorded 51 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in the win over the Phoenix Suns.

Westbrook has the chance to take this team forward, as the undisputed number one player on the team. In good show of his commitment, after extending his contract with the team, Westbrook had a Jordan commercial featuring him dancing to “Do what I want” by Lil Uzi Vert. One would assume that the ad could have been referring to the team and Westbrook taking huge steps this season.

The Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Golden State Warriors this Thurs. Nov 3 at Chesapeake arena, in the first time Westbrook faces Durant. Fans look forward to seeing the first time they face eachother, expecting it to be a very intense one especially with the Thunder home advantage.