NBA commissioner Adam Silver has come to the Warriors' defense.
Last week, in an interview with Cigar Aficionado magazine, all-time great and Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan took a shot at the current "super teams" in the NBA.
"I think it's going to hurt the overall aspect of the league from a competitive standpoint. You're going to have one or two teams that are going to be great, and another 28 teams that are going to be garbage. Or they're going to have a tough time surviving in the business environment," Jordan told the publication.
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On Monday morning, Silver responded to those comments in an interview with Mike and Mike on ESPN.
"I chuckled a little because this notion that maybe the most competitive athlete in the history all of sports is frustrated because his team isn't predicted to win the championship this year. So I take it with a bit of a grain of salt. And also, here's a guy who in his last six full seasons with as a Chicago Bull won the championship. So at the time everybody defined that Bulls team as a "super team." I think there's a recognition that in this sport, with combinations of certain players, they are going to be superior. To me, as I said towards the end of last season, we should celebrate excellence.
"Before we talk about breaking up a truly great team, especially one that was largely built through the draft -- I get it [Kevin] Durant came as a free agent -- but when you have Steph [Curry] as the seventh pick, Klay [Thompson] as the 11th, Draymond [Green] at the 35th pick, Steve Kerr doing an incredible job, Bob Myers as the GM, to me, it raises the bar for all teams in the league and it's something that rather then teams sitting around and saying 'We can't possible compete against the Golden State Warriors,' you'd like to think the collection of the very best players in the world on the 29 other teams would have the Warriors in their sights," Silver said.
The Warriors on Tuesday open the defense of their NBA title against the Rockets. In June, the Warriors rampaged through the postseason, winning the title with a 16-1 record, their only loss coming in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
Golden State Warriors
In an effort to try to knock off the Warriors and Cavs, who have met in three straight NBA Finals, teams such as the Rockets, Thunder, Celtics and Timberwolves all revamped their rosters with blockbuster trades this offseason.