The Warriors are glowing

People often define themselves by what they are not as opposed to what they are. You see it all the time. "Would this Warriors team beat the 90's Bulls?" is a prime example of this way of thinking.

There is no way to ever know, and the premise is flawed. The Warriors are at peace with their identity, which terrifies the rest of the league. The Warriors have realized that if they become the best version of themselves, if they strive for personal perfection as opposed to comparable perfection—looking over their shoulder at other teams and at other players—if they find this personal level of perfection, or at least actively strive towards that ideal at all moments, then everything else falls into place.

We've seen it, game in and game out this year. Sure, there have been moments of drudgery and boredom once the challenge fades, but inevitably Draymond Green will sub back in the game, grab a rebound, and sprint down the floor. Seeking the open shooter, seeking perfection, seeking a release for his undeniable energy—his glowing potential.

This team is aglow with potential. Aglow with the knowledge that they have the ability to unleash stretches of transcendent action from within.

And when they are clicking on that level, it really doesn't matter who they are playing. They are action incarnate. They are perfection unfolding in real time. They are the pilgrim striving for the mountaintop. Finding the path, joyfully climbing upwards.

A month ago, my step dad Mike and I decided to see the Warriors play the Lakers while I was home for Thanksgiving. Little did I know we would witness history.

How could we have possibly looked at the calendar and thought, "Ah, right, well they might be undefeated, and that would be the game that would break the record."

Nope. This was just the only game I could attend while I'm out here.

We arrived about an hour before tip-off. The arena was already charged, electricity running up and down the aisles. "Remember that game we came to when you were a kid?" Mike asked. "The one right after they had drafted Joe Smith?"

"Right," I said, "I remember you were pissed they hadn't taken Stackhouse."

"Yeah, but, that's not the point. The point is—man, things have changed."

We looked around. The arena was filling up fast, fans wearing championship swag. Laughing and clapping each other on the back. Celebrating already, regardless of the night's outcome.

"Yeah," I said. "This is a little different than that Joe Smith game."

As tip-off approached, the noise floor rose. Murmurings turned to shouts.

The ball was flung into the air. Bogut won the tip and the crowd exploded. Moments later, Draymond Green hit a three and the rout was on.

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Some people glow, some people fade. In a game where the Warriors ascended to levels previously unseen, a legend faded away into the shadows. Kobe, who when he was first introduced, received the loudest boos of the entire night, ended the game with four points, on 1-14 shooting. Some speculated, jokingly, that he would announce his retirement at halftime.

The first law of thermodynamics is adapted from the law of conservation of energy, which states that the total energy of an isolated system is constant; energy can be transformed from one form to another, but cannot be created or destroyed. Oracle Arena, last night, was an isolated system, and the Warriors stole all of Kobe's energy.

Some dark wizardry indeed.

--- = ---

Have you ever looked at someone and thought, "My God, that person is positively glowing!" Perhaps they are pregnant, smiling at the life growing within them. An expectant mother with the mystery of human creation and her whole future spread before her, causing her to positively glow. Or perhaps it's the young college graduate, fresh faced, flinging the tasseled cap into the air where it hangs twirling, suspended for that brief moment—twirling and spinning in the air with the thousand other tasseled caps. The graduate's face aglow. His parents positively glowing as well, imagining their child's bright future.

We've all seen it. It is the glow of potential energy. It is the glow of anticipation—anticipation of all things to come.

The Warriors, right now, are positively glowing.

I'll be telling my grand kids about this stretch of games, no matter what happens the rest of this season.

16-0? Yup. pic.twitter.com/IN2pzvmytE

— Golden State of Mind (@unstoppablebaby) November 25, 2015