It made some sense at the time. Ellis is natural with the ball in his hands, with speed that led many to describe him as Allen Iverson in a bigger body. Realistically, the Ellis, Maggette and Jackson combo is actually faster and more athletic, if not as accomplished, without Davis.

Then came the news of Ellis' injury. OK, maybe young Marcus Williams, acquired from New Jersey, can evolve into the kind of point guard many believed he could be coming out of Connecticut. And maybe everything will work out with Ellis — he'll recover from his surgery quicker than anticipated and the Warriors will be a factor in the West.

But it just doesn't seem likely. Mullin has already proven to be just as clever a general manager as he was a player. Yet he is also unorthodox and instinctive. He miscalculated by hiring Mike Montgomery, who was ill-prepared for the NBA after gaining fame with Stanford-quality basketball players in the Pac-10. He gambled on Nelson and won. These moves since being named executive vice president have raised the Warriors' average win total to 39.5 per season over the four years compared to slightly more than 25 in the six years for the previous regime.

More to the point, there is big-picture history to consider. Since their NBA title in 1975 — making the playoffs six of seven years under the guidance of coach Al Attles, whose toughness as a point guard in the league was only exceeded by his coaching — the Warriors have been in the playoffs just six times in 32 years. Five of those came with Nelson as coach, the other with George Karl (while Nelson was the general manager).

Maybe it just fits the Bay Area to be unconventional in approach, just as the A's and Raiders in particular have always marched to their own beat. The 49ers and Giants have also been different in their own ways. But none of the Bay Area franchises have failed as consistently as the Warriors.

It's only a matter of time before Nelson implodes for one last time. League sources say Cohan is so litigious his fortune could blow up in his face at any time. And even though Mullin does appear to have a handle on how to be successful in this league, this so-called investigation into Ellis' injury seems pretty ridiculous. He probably was playing ball when it happened, and it was a woeful miscalculation on his part — something that is hardly unusual for any 22-year-old athlete.

Essentially what we're seeing is the Warriors come back to earth where they belong. They're exciting. They're quirky. And success is fleeting at best. Just accept them for who they are and realize championship caliber they are not.