When Kawhi Leonard decided to join the Los Angeles Clippers late Friday night, he capped off what ESPN’s Zach Lowe dubbed “the wildest week ever in the NBA.” In so doing, he spurned the formation of the next Super Team with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers to instead team up with MVP candidate Paul George for their in-city rivals.
He also fundamentally altered the course of the league for the foreseeable future.
Gone are the days of a single team slated to dominate the season from start to finish (at least for this year). In its place, we find a state of parity that hasn’t been seen for quite some time. As a result, basketball fans around the country are rejoicing at what’s shaping up to be a very entertaining season.
Or, at least that’s what you might expect.
The reality is that while many fans are genuinely excited about the chance to see a greater level of competition across the months to come, that excitement is tempered for most by the outlook for their favorite team.
And whether you care about basketball or not, there’s an important cultural truth to be learned from that fact.
The perils of high expectations
As most fans assess their team’s status for the coming year, they are likely to fall into one of three groups: contenders, pretenders, and attenders.
The first group, the contenders, consists of those select few who saw their team sign the necessary players to vault into championship contention.
If you are a fan of one of the Los Angeles teams, you fit in this group. It’s not just the teams that signed a superstar who find themselves in a better spot, however. Fans of the Jazz, Pacers, and a few others that made relatively low-key signings by comparison still have to feel good about their team’s chances this season.
On occasion, that perspective will end up being correct.
When Kevin Durant signed with the Warriors in 2016, for example, their expectations of…
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