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Acceptance is a tough thing when it comes to the elite aspects of the NBA. We're always slow to accept greatness because you don't want to see it tail off and prove to be inconsistent. Greatness is personified by its consistency, night in and night out. When you have a team like the Golden State Warriors over the past year-and-a-half, greatness is believed but all-time greatness is still slow to be approved across the board.

That's why we keep finding these tests for the Warriors throughout their historic season. Each test is a potential to fall below the historic pace to challenge the 72-10 Chicago Bulls. Each test is measuring their greatness against other relative greatness around the league. The Christmas Day win over the Cleveland Cavaliers was good, but the dismantling of them in the second meeting was a confirmation of those believing the Warriors to be a little more special than the naysayers are willing to cop to.

The same thing happened with the San Antonio Spurs. One of the highest anticipated regular season games in NBA history ended up being a laughter halfway through the game, and by the end of it the Warriors were being crowned as emperors. Because they're so good, any slip-up is amplified. The championship from last season has been justified, despite some questions about the ease of the path they faced. However, becoming a dynasty -- and an even more historic dynasty at that -- requires continued domination.

On the other side, the good-to-great teams around the league also measure themselves against the Warriors. The Cavs and Spurs both came up short. Now it's the Oklahoma City Thunder getting their first shot at the champs, and this one has a little bit more drama attached to it than just seeing how good you are or seeing how historic the Warriors remain to be. The 6-foot-11, 240-pound elephant (OK, maybe that's more like an ostrich or llama) in the room is the impending free agency of Kevin Durant this summer.

It's not just that Durant may weigh his options and decide that the Thunder and Russell Westbrook aren't for him anymore. The extra story line involves the Warriors possibly becoming even more unfair by jettisoning key role players like Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala while adding Durant to the core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. The idea of it is preposterous, but that's what makes it so enticing.

Adding Durant to the core of the Warriors after winning a second straight championship could be a PR nightmare for KD. The LeBron James stuff when he went to Miami was really bad, and while it may not be received in quite the same manner, the backlash would be plentiful. It might be even more acceptable in the public's eye if the Warriors end up failing to win back-to-back titles this year, because then you can spin it as Durant saving the likelihood of a dynasty in the Bay Area.

It was the meetings between Durant and the Warriors that reminded us of the dragon slayer Durant can be, and how fragile everything is on the court at the same time. In Durant's last game against the Warriors, his 36 points, nine rebounds, and four assists helped the Thunder take down the Dubs for one of Golden State's 15 losses that season. A month earlier, it was a 30-point explosion in 18 minutes of the first half that had the Warriors looking quite ordinary before Durant went down with one of his many foot issues last season and couldn't finish the game.

Much like Curry can do to any defense, Durant also has a way of making the greatest defenders and defensive systems in the world look quite ordinary. But this is also a different Warriors team -- maybe a different team in general -- than any version we've ever seen.

For Durant in a matchup like this, even just a regular season matchup, there is plenty of motivation. The Thunder want to be considered title contenders just like Golden State and San Antonio. The problem for OKC hasn't really been a lack of talent or production when it comes to winning a title. They made the Finals in 2012 almost too ahead of schedule, and lost a series to Miami that was much closer than the 4-1 tale of the tape may lead you to believe. After winning Game 1, the next three losses were by a total of 16 points and eight of those points came from playing the foul game to extend those contests.

In the years since, injuries to Durant or Westbrook or even Serge Ibaka have rendered those Thunder teams incomplete in postseason runs. The reality is Durant has a great spot where he is and could want to prove through all of this madness that his focus on making the Thunder a champion trumps any of the rumor or speculation. While we fawn over the dominance of the Warriors and wonder if the Spurs are the only team that can take them down, the Thunder are trying to build toward being a Cinderella in whatever way a 60-win team can possibly play Cinderella.

Pile on all of those rumors and speculation, Curry's possibly biting guarantee of a win when asked about this coming weekend for his team and the Carolina Panthers team he loves so much, and Westbrook may want to prove to everybody on the court -- Durant, the Warriors, anybody -- there are no guarantees in expecting the Thunder to be in the losing column. In a league full of constant measuring, there are plenty of contests, mini-contests, and moments of pride and acceptance to keep track of during Saturday night's Warriors-Thunder game.

And at the same time, it may just be another dud. The Warriors have turned anticipated matchups into indictments on their opponents for not being capable of keeping up with the elitism they're displaying on a nightly basis. The Warriors are still chasing history. Durant and the Thunder are still chasing acceptance. And we're all left chasing the next story line of whatever the Warriors can create in our headlines.

There's a lot to prove in just about any Warriors game this season. (USATSI)
There's a lot to prove in just about any Warriors game this season. (USATSI)