*The following article is an excerpt from Tres's Three Pointers. To read the whole article, click here*
*Endgame spoilers to follow, obviously*
In Game 5, of the Western Conference Semi-Finals, the world took a collective gasp as Kevin Durant went down with what looked like a torn Achilles (I mainly blame Reggie Miller for immediately thinking that and scaring all of us). Once that happened, just about every analyst and basketball prognosticator predicted the Rockets would go on to win Game 6 and then maybe even Game 7. It felt like the Warriors were done and their title hopes died with KD’s calf injury.
However, we all forgot one important thing about the Warriors. They're still the Warriors! They won a title before Kevin Durant got there and they are just as capable of winning it again. Many still counted them out anyway because they forgot that Klay, Steph, and the rest of the team would revel in the moment as they returned to their old roles before the arrival of KD two summers ago.
In my mind, this is just like the Avengers in Endgame. They lost a major piece of themselves and seemingly the battle along with it. Half of the universe's population was snapped and basically only the original six Avengers remained, along with Ant-Man and a couple others. In this scenario, we counted out the Avengers too because they had lost. We had never seen them suffer such a devastating blow before and withstand it. They were stripped down to the team they had before Infinity War. They were the original six Avengers and needed to find a way to win despite all of their setbacks.
Additionally, the characters and players for both franchises line up well, including their roles within both of their respective universes (the Marvel one and the real one).
Steph Curry is Iron Man in this case. He doesn’t need to win this series because he still has the reputation of being the best shooter ever and he has a family who loves him. Tony Stark had a family in Endgame and didn’t need to go back in time to save everyone despite Natasha and Steve's plea for him to help them do so. Steph and Tony are also the most important members of their teams. While they aren't the strongest, they are the lifeblood of their organizations and their teams move as they do. If you want to beat the Avengers, you need to beat Iron Man. If you want to beat the Warriors, then you have to take out Stephen Curry.
Klay is the model of consistency and the selfless shooter who will play defense and dive for a loose ball if that's what it takes to win. So he's Steve Rodgers in this case. You forget how good he is until he takes a center role in the plot again after other major characters have been wiped out (or KD). He also motivates the team with his play like how Steve motivates the team with his big-time, pre-battle speeches. He also bails out his team by making a big time play when something goes wrong. Steve was able to get the Pym particles he and Tony needed to return to their time while also successfully going back in time and returning all of the Infinity Stones to their proper places in history. The only other person I'd trust to do this is Klay himself.
On to the second strongest Avenger. Thor is Draymond Green and vice versa. Draymond is a little out of shape, but he can still throw down when he needs to and he can play up to the level of some of the best players of all time on defense. Secondly, he is one of the smartest players I've ever seen play basketball (besides the Game 5 ejection in the 2016 Finals) and his mother is very supportive of him. Just like Thor's mother was in Endgame.
Next up is Igoudala and Sean Livingston. Iggy is Ant-Man. You didn’t realize how important he was until this movie and this most recent series. He can slide into any position from 2-4 and fill any role. He also can play big or small with lock down defense. He is also an incredibly smart player and understands his role within the team. Livingston is Black Widow. He can maneuver sneakily into his free throw line spot on the court and get hid range jumper off against anyone. He is also a veteran leader for the team and would be more than willing to sacrifice himself in order for his team to get the soul stone, just like Black Widow does.
To fill out the rest of the original: Andre Bogut is the Hulk because he's huge (and sets massive illegal screens); Alfonzo McKinnie is Hawkeye.
You know McKinnie is important to their rotations and plan, but you don’t really feel attached to him or feel like he's that important to the overall picture. If he sacrificed himself for the soul stone instead of Black Widow, you wouldn’t really feel to indifferent towards that decision.
Finally, you may be wondering who KD is. KD is all the Avengers that show up for the massive battle at the end of Endgame. His arrival essentially locks up their victory.
*images found via NBA.com and Marvel ScreenGeek
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