What recent Warriors event feels like the worst April Fool’s joke ever?

Happy April Fools’ Day, an idiotic “holiday” in which people half-ass pranks and “jokes,” for no one’s benefit or amusement.

Sorry, my pessimism is showing. Blame it on the q-q-q-q-quarantine.

Anyway, here’s something you will never see from me: An April Fools’ Day article in which I attempt to trick you into thinking something stupid and horrible has happened.

But just because I have no desire to partake in the “festivities” doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about the day.

The Golden State Warriors have had a very good last half-decade (or full decade, if you want to go back that far) of basketball. They won’t get any sympathy from fans of the other 29 organizations for any bad luck that has fallen on them.

Still, there has been bad luck and misfortune. That’s part of sports. Some of that misfortune feels like a cruel joke, so it’s time to ask: Which recent Warriors event feels the most like a bad April Fool’s joke? Here are the nominees:

Klay Thompson’s ACL tear

Klay Thompson is as reliable as you can expect an NBA player to be. He’s always there when you need him. Almost always plays well. Never seems to get hurt.

That changed in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, when Thompson tore his ACL on a dunk attempt. It was clear he was in pain, but you couldn’t even entertain the thought that he was seriously injured. After all, this is Klay we’re talking about. And the Warriors felt primed to win Game 6 with him on the court, and force a Game 7.

Instead, the final buzzer of the year rang while Thompson was in an MRI machine, about to receive a double-dose of bad news.

Kevin Durant’s Achilles tear

Talk about something that felt like a bad joke. Durant — who, when healthy, was rather clearly the best player in the 2019 playoffs, on any team — returned from a lingering calf injury in those same 2019 NBA Finals.

No one knew when he would make it back to the court, and the uncertainty had clouded the Warriors and the league.

And then there he was, back on the court, seemingly shifting the momentum of the series, and lining the Warriors up for one of the most sought-after feats in sports: The threepeat.

And then, moments later, Durant dropped to the floor, and it was abundantly clear that his season - and likely the Warriors - was over.

Kevin Durant’s departure

Durant skipping town just three years after joining forces with the Warriors never felt that crazy, because it felt inevitable by the time it occurred. Rumors were swirling as soon as the 2018-19 season began, and we spent all year hearing them, with Durant doing nothing to quell them.

So when the time came for KD to officially leave the Dubs in favor of the Brooklyn Nets, nobody was surprised.

Still, if you take a step back, it feels a bit like a bad joke. Warriors fans should have nothing but gratitude for Durant, and no one should hold it against him that he was ready for a new chapter in his life. But leaving a dynasty, that was guaranteed to reside at or near the top of the NBA for many years to come? In a vacuum, that feels like a wild joke.

Steph Curry’s hand injury

The Warriors 2019-20 season was unlikely to be too good when it began, but it at least could have been entertaining. Instead, just months after the basketball gods and goddesses gave Durant and Thompson season-ending injuries, they went and broke Curry’s hand. In a span of seven Warriors games, Curry, Thompson, and Durant suffered severe injuries that would keep them out for basically the entire year.

Talk about a bad joke! Warriors fans were still recovering from an NBA Finals loss, the departure of Durant, and the torn ACL of Thompson — all they had to look forward to was some glorious play by arguably the most fun player in NBA history.

And then it was not to be.

The 2016 NBA Finals

Uhh, yeah. I’m not even going to go into detail on this one.

The 2015 NBA Finals MVP vote

This one is not nearly as serious as the others on the list, yet in a way it feels more like a joke.

The 2015 NBA Finals came and went, with the Warriors besting the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Andre Iguodala and LeBron James receiving all of the Finals MVP votes.

First things first: I love Iguodala, and am happy for him. That may be the feather in the cap he needs to fuel a deserved run to the Hall of Fame.

But he didn’t deserve the Finals MVP, and neither did a member of the losing team. The MVP of the regular season, who averaged 26.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 1.8 steals per game in the Finals, while shooting 38.5% on threes, and whose gravity allowed Iguodala to flourish offensively, deserved Finals MVP.

And now we have to hear weirdos diminish Curry’s legacy because he doesn’t have a Finals MVP trophy on his shelf.

What a joke.