For an athlete, reliving the pain of defeat can be pretty traumatic. The Warriors were up 3-1 in the NBA Finals, but eventually lost a heartbreaking game 7.

I’ve always debated what type of loss in a crucial game is worse: the down-to-the-wire loss or the nearly-instantaneous-blowout loss?

I go back and forth with it to be honest, and I can see a strong case being made for either type being worse than the other.

There’s nothing embarrassing about losing a game where a couple breaks in the final minutes ended up deciding an evenly played match that could have gone either way.

With a blowout loss, though, questions get evoked as to whether the losing team even deserved to have gotten as far as they did. The doubts may not be entirely fair, but they get considered nonetheless.

That World Cup final between Germany and Brazil back in 2014 where Germany ended up winning 7-1 is the perfect case study.

Was it a more humane way to lose by being walloped from the opening minutes compared to going to penalty kicks and eventually losing?

From afar, I say no. Losing 7-1 is awful. At least there’s pride to be had in playing a close game.

However, there’s something to be said for giving ample time for resignation to sink in. If a fan knows their team is going to lose not long after the opening whistle, there’s plenty of time to mentally prepare for the loss.

Maybe it’s different for athletes and fans, whereas somebody participating in the game would give a different answer than somebody only emotionally connected through fandom.

A loss resulting from a close game (or worse, a blown lead that ends in a loss) is arguably more painful because visions of victory were imagined and romanticized before the final result occurred.

I can tell you from personal experience that resignation time is relative. 3 quarters in a basketball game is plenty of time to come to terms with a loss. Granted it’s not completely alleviated, but progress has at least been made.

A buzzer-beater loss can take months to recover from. I’m sure it’s different for all fans, but for me personally, close losses are way more devastating than blowouts.

There’s no “what ifs?” with blowouts. “What if that play had gone differently?” or “What if a different decision had been made?” Blowouts leave a comforting sense of closure that the better team won.

I suppose it’s the sense of underachievement that hurts the most: knowing that a worse team just happened to win that given day.

It’s why the NFL playoffs are by far the most nerve-wracking of all the major North American professional sports’ postseasons.

I’m a firm believer in the better team asserting themselves over the course of a 7 game series, but in 1 game, all bets are off.

It’s why I was admittedly nervous about the Warriors’ game 7 in the NBA Finals, even though it was at Oracle.

I was fairly confident that the Warriors would win that game, but I’m not sure how anybody can muster significant assurance within the anomalous possibilities that a game 7 can materialize.

It was painful for all Warriors fans to see that one slip away. The game was tied with less than 2 minutes left.

Stephen Curry actually said that he didn’t watch the game in its entirety until last week. He was disappointed, but claims to be using the loss as a source of motivation for this upcoming season.

That’s the healthiest perspective to have. Curry is not only a tenacious competitor, but a great teammate. I’m looking forward to see how this adversity fuels him.

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