There's a resounding message when you ask Golden State Warriors players and officials about the newest NBA.com general managers survey: We don't care.
The defending champions are without their head coach and have their own issues to deal with. Knowledge that 53.8 percent of NBA GMs picked the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the title isn't really registering right now. Stephen Curry even had fun with the results, when informed that the Warriors are projected to finish with the best record but ultimately not make the Finals.
"We're going to cave under pressure when we get to the playoffs," he interpreted, with a smile. "We'll be the best team in the regular season; we'll cave when we get to the playoffs; Spurs will take it all. That'd be a not-so-cool story."
On whether he cares about Golden State being projected to fail in its aims, Curry replied, "Not at all. But we've never been, so we like it that way."
This is true. The Warriors weren't widely considered a title contender last season, and things worked out well, so why fret now? The results are easily dismissed, but they might reflect something interesting about league's conventional wisdom, something Draymond Green noted a week ago when lambasting teams for calling Golden State lucky. Amid a slew of fiery quotes about the Los Angeles Clippers and coach Doc Rivers, Green had a more subtle interpretation that got less traction: "People hate change. People don't accept change well."
Is that really what's behind all this talk of luck and the Warriors? Is that why NBA GMs are still reluctant to vote Warriors in 2016? Is it really that simple?
It's certainly a big part of the story. The Warriors were a laughingstock franchise for decades, a brand many older NBA people associate with failure. Their recent success is a kind of change to adjust to. Golden State's dream season also fell out of the sky because nobody expected a rookie coach suddenly to bring out 16 extra wins. That's another change to adjust to.
Then there's the fast-paced, 3-point-slinging style and the general eschewing of stoic post play, another change from the past -- Curry as league MVP, one season after his first All-Star Game? That was difficult to anticipate, especially considering that few had Curry pegged for superstardom as recently as three years ago. Finally, there's 6-foot-7 Green himself, playing center in the Finals. This is just a lot to process.
It's easy to grouse about "haters" and harder to assess why you might be doubted, fairly or unfairly. In the case of Golden State, doubt might derive from a prosaic place: They're new and everything about them is new.
The results weren't all bad for the Warriors, either. Curry was ranked only fifth in projected MVP candidates, but he was voted top point guard and voted top player you'd want taking a shot with a game on the line. Such results would seem crazy as recently as two seasons ago.
On the point guard rank, Curry responded, "Really? Making progress?"
Perhaps the NBA world is slow to accept the Warriors, even after a championship, but acceptance does come in drips and drabs. People hate change, but eventually, it becomes the norm.