The Golden State Warriors have been unstoppable in this year’s NBA playoffs and are just one victory away from completing a perfect postseason and clinching their second Larry O’Brien Trophy in three years.
After the Warriors came back late in Game 3 to steal a victory on the road, pretty much everyone has jumped on the Warriors’ bandwagon and expect them to wrap up the series in Game 4 on Friday night.
Since every team’s ultimate goal each year is to win the championship, you’d think that a sweep over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals would be a great thing for the Warriors.
However, if the team pulls off the sweep on Friday night they’ll actually lose out on a lot of money, despite winning their second championship in three years.
According to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, the Warriors will lose out on more than $22 million if they don’t return to Oakland for a Game 5 and Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
“In fact, a Game 5 in Oakland alone comes close to paying Steph Curry's salary for the entire 2016-17 season: $12.1 million. All told, sweeping the series in Cleveland and not returning twice to the Bay Area, as the Warriors did last year for Games 5 and 7, would cost the Warriors' ownership group more than $22 million.”
That’s a lot of money to lose out on, but they probably won’t care if they take home their second championship in three years because that’s going to help them a lot more in the near future than blowing a big lead for the second straight year would.
(H/T ESPN)
