Daniel Hardee

Oakland

Journalist and Content Creator at Vox Media

Co-Founder of https://t.co/FIBkjgdGlD. Content creator @unstoppablebaby. Featured on @NBCSWarriors @CBCNews. [email protected]

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Articles

Injuries, asterisks, and a ring? Warriors welcome Thunder to the club

3 days ago | goldenstateofmind.com | Daniel Hardee

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images The confetti had barely settled in Oklahoma City when the whispers began. Lucky breaks. Injury-riddled opponents. Asterisk-worthy title. Sound familiar? It should, because this exact conversation has echoed through NBA history with stunning consistency, creating a peculiar tradition where every championship carries the weight of skepticism. The Thunder’s 2025 title brings this phenomenon into sharp focus.
Thunder finally overcome the hole the Warriors put them in back in 2016

4 days ago | goldenstateofmind.com | Daniel Hardee

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Seven years ago, I wrote what might have been the most ruthless obituary in sports journalism history. The piece was titled “Path of Destruction: The Warriors are the Thunder’s dream realized,” and I didn’t just bury Oklahoma City ladies and gentlemen. I cremated them, scattered the ashes, and salted the earth for good measure.
Pacers-Thunder first NBA Finals Game 7 since Warriors-Cavs

5 days ago | goldenstateofmind.com | Daniel Hardee

Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/NBAE via Getty Images Here we are, Dub Nation HQ. Seven games to decide everything. Two franchises standing at the crossroads of immortality and heartbreak, with 48 minutes separating them from their deepest dreams or darkest nightmares. The Oklahoma City Thunder roll into Game 7 carrying the height of expectations that feel heavier than Chet Holmgren’s frame but twice as unforgiving.
Festus Ezeli teams with Michelob Ultra for Warriors dynasty bottles

2 weeks ago | goldenstateofmind.com | Daniel Hardee

Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images Hey Dub Nation! We’ve all seen those corny beer commercials where they try to make opening a bottle feel like winning the Finals. But when Michelob ULTRA decides to honor NBA dynasties with actual gold from actual NBA trophies embedded in actual bottles, even my cynical Warriors-writer heart has to pause and say: okay, that’s pretty sick. Here’s the deal that has me genuinely intrigued.
“Play NBA 2K” gives gamers the chance to compete for big time cash

2 weeks ago | goldenstateofmind.com | Daniel Hardee

Photo by Michelle Farsi/NBAE via Getty Images Look, I’ve been watching virtual hoopers chase dreams since the NBA 2K League tipped off. I’ve seen CB13 cook defenders at Warriors Gaming Squad practice with the same surgical precision Steph uses to dismantle souls at Chase Center. I’ve watched esports evolve from basement battles to legitimate careers, but there was always this gnawing question: what about everyone else? What about the kids grinding ProAm at 2 AM?
Wait, the Thunder are already getting compared to the Warriors dynasty?

3 weeks ago | goldenstateofmind.com | Daniel Hardee

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images Every June, the basketball world loses its collective mind. One team hoists the Larry O’Brien Trophy, and suddenly we’re drowning in dynasty declarations before the confetti has even been swept from the court. This year’s premature victim? The Oklahoma City Thunder, who haven’t even played their first Finals game since 2012, yet ESPN’s Zach Kram already has them mirror-imaging the 2015 Warriors dynasty.
What Klay Thompson’s dog Rocco meant to Warriors fans everywhere

3 weeks ago | goldenstateofmind.com | Daniel Hardee

Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images I know there’s been a ton of pieces on the passing on Klay Thompson’s dog Rocco. I feel like I need to personally pay respects as I’ve been graced by the love from Rocco myself. There’s something profoundly heartbreaking about watching a warrior say goodbye to his most faithful companion.
De’Anthony Melton’s ACL injury shifted Warriors season dramatically

4 weeks ago | goldenstateofmind.com | Daniel Hardee

Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images Looking back at Golden State’s early November nights, it’s wild how quickly everything shifted. One moment you’re watching De’Anthony Melton drill five threes against the Thunder, grabbing 10 rebounds like some kind of defensive savant, and thinking “damn, Kerr might have actually cracked the code.” The next? Season over, ACL torn, and suddenly Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody have the weight of the season on their shoulders. The cruel irony?
Jalen Brunson has come along way since Warriors ended his Dallas career

4 weeks ago | goldenstateofmind.com | Daniel Hardee

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images Times have really changed, eh? When the Golden State Warriors were last in the conference finals, they were dispatching Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks out of the playoffs. The Dubs went on to win the NBA championship, the fourth of the Splash Bros era. Meanwhile, a lot of GSW fans were amazed at how Golden State’s defensive effort had the Mavericks’ top stars in a headlock, despite them coming into the series heralded as scoring machines.
Haliburton dealing with next level pressure to eliminate New York Knicks

4 weeks ago | goldenstateofmind.com | Daniel Hardee

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images Watching Tyrese Haliburton navigate Game 5’s struggles, as someone who wants to live his entire life without New York winning a title because I grew up always seeing them as the bad guys like an 80s film villain, I can’t help but root for him to figure this out. But every possession now comes under a microscope that few players ever experience – and fewer still learn to master. And standing directly in his path?