Links: The Warriors’ home court advantage, Kevin Durant’s Twitter faux pas

It’s no secret that the Golden State Warriors have one of the best home court advantages in professional sports. If you’ve been lucky enough to go to a game in the last few years (or, heck, in the last 15 years), then you’ve experienced the rocking phenomenon that is “Roaracle”.

Oracle is bursting at the seams with passionate, knowledgeable, and loud Warriors fans, and that’s not lost on the rest of the league. As the NBA gears up to start what figures to be a tremendous season, they recently paid homage to the Dubs’ home court advantage with a pretty cool video.

This is probably a good time to remind you about the upcoming GSOM Night!

Speaking of home . . .

The Portland Trail Blazers have one of the top Twitter accounts in the league, and they constantly use it to engage in playful banter with players, fans, and other teams. This weekend was certainly no exception.

After the unveiling of the Dubs’ outstanding new alternate jerseys, it was revealed that Oakland native Damian Lillard sports a tattoo with the same image of the city’s famous oak tree. This led to a funny tweet from the Blazers:

But they weren’t done just yet. They still needed to poke fun at the Dubs:

Shots fired. Ice up, Warriors fans!

Social media faux pas

Kevin Durant has been on a mission this summer, tirelessly firing back at his many haters. His ruthless Twitter exchanges with fans who question his character have been well documented, but a very odd wrinkle just appeared, and one that I truthfully feel a little odd commenting on.

A Twitter user claims to have screenshotted replies from Durant’s account that . . . well . . . weren’t supposed to be sent from his account:

The theory here – and it’s important to remember that it’s just a theory – is that Durant has anonymous Twitter accounts that he uses to defend himself. If that’s true, it certainly offers some insight as to how he felt about his coach and teammates while playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

While these screenshots went viral, it’s important to remember that they could have been fabricated: making up fake tweets to create a story is hardly something new. It’s a little odd to report on something potentially incriminating, without having evidence, but this is indeed news. So, take it with a grain of salt, and do with it what you will.

Eurobasket concludes

Basketball fans eager to get the season underway got a glimpse of some NBA players over the past month, as the Eurobasket tournament came and went. It was a terrific display of basketball, featuring lots of NBA talent, and potential 2018 top draft choice Luka Doncic. If you weren’t able to catch some of the games, I highly recommend watching some highlights.

Slovenia took home gold, led in part by Doncic and former Warriors’ lottery pick Anthony Randolph. Randolph had an excellent showing, averaging 11.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, as he seeks a return to the NBA.

Some current Dubs players were also representing their countries: starting center Zaza Pachulia, and newcomer Omri Casspi. Pachulia averaged 13.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game for Georgia, while overcoming an ankle injury.

Casspi averaged 14.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game for Israel, and gave Warriors fans a glimpse of what he’ll offer the Dubs. Unfortunately for these two men, neither Georgia nor Israel advanced beyond the group stages.

Fantasy fun

For fans of fantasy basketball, the time to draft rosters is quickly approaching. If you’re not quite sure how to draft, don’t worry: the league has you covered, as they just released their list of the 150 best fantasy players.

The Dubs are well-represented, with Kevin Durant ranked 4^th, Stephen Curry ranked 5^th, Draymond Green ranked 23^rd, and Klay Thompson ranked 31^st. Thankfully though, the Warriors performed even better in non-fantasy player rankings!

Less than a month until opening night, Dubs fans. We’re almost there!