The Grizzlies ultimately defeated the Golden State Warriors. The showdown between the two teams with the best regular-season records this season had finally reached its conclusion.
Naturally, Oakland fans did not like that outcome. Watching Link hoist the Western Conference championship trophy on their home court left them utterly dejected.
Last season, Durant had suddenly announced that he was opting out of his contract to join the Warriors. The Warriors went an unbelievable 74-8 in the regular season, finally eliminated the Grizzlies in the playoffs, and successfully won the championship.
For Warriors fans, last season had been far too dreamlike—so dreamlike that it felt unreal, so smooth that it seemed unbelievable.
And now, that dream had finally ended.
Durant's arrival had not allowed the Warriors to completely dominate the league. Nor had the use of small-ball tactics brought the Warriors to the summit.
Durant had lost to Link, while the Warriors' small lineup had lost to the Grizzlies' traditional twin-towers lineup.
After waking from the dream, all that awaited them was cruel reality.
No matter who won the championship this year, it no longer had anything to do with the Golden State Warriors.
They had become the biggest losers of the season, with nowhere to hide.
The Grizzlies had won this Western Conference Finals, hailed as the most high-stakes in history, claiming all the glory for themselves.
Meanwhile, the Warriors, armed with the strongest roster on paper in the entire league, had lost to the one opponent they should never have lost to.
Just as Warriors fans were still worried that Link would humiliate them, Link had already shifted his attention to the East.
To him, the Golden State Warriors were already in the past. He had won the final battle, and there was no need to keep arguing with