1. Teamwork works
The NBA today has become a selfish league. It revolves around superstars who care about their stat line and personal accolades more than their team's success. However, teams like the Warriors and last year's champion, the San Antonio Spurs, are showing that the key to victory is good, old fashioned, unselfish team play. The average skill level in the NBA has become too high for individual players to be able to dominate by themselves as LeBron James and the Cavaliers showed us in this year's Finals. This video shows us just a few of the many times that the Warriors' stellar passing left opponents in a daze.
2. Confidence is key
The Warriors shot the ball a lot. And when I say a lot I mean A LOT. Hesitating to take an open shot was a rare occurrence for anyone on the team and I can't remember one time the entire season that a player peeked over to the bench after taking a bad shot in fear of being yanked from the game. Even when their shots weren't falling, the Warriors continued to shoot and in effect never hit a slump of more than a couple quarters. In the first round, we saw Curry display this confidence with a three pointer from way back against the Pelicans.
3. Sacrifices are necessary
It was easy to forget at times, but this team was STACKED. Extremely high levels of talent were present across the board. The only bench player who didn't have the ability to start on any other team in the NBA was Michael McAdoo, a recently brought up rookie from the NBA's Developmental League. Because of this, former All-Stars Andre Iguodola and David Lee who would've been the number one or two option offensively on most teams, were designated to roles on the bench. They weren't happy about this, but they accepted their new roles for the good of the team. Andrew Bogut started the entire season and played big minutes, but didn't play a single minute the last two games of the Finals because of Kerr's decision to transition to a small ball style of play. Neither he, Iguodola or Lee complained once.
4. Sometimes it pays to be lucky
Let's face it. Injury problems for opposing teams certainly didn't hurt the Warriors. In fact, every starting point guard that the Warriors faced either experienced or had to battle through an injury in their respective series (Jrue Holiday, Mike Conley, Patrick Beverley, Kyrie Irving). On the other hand, the Warriors were almost completely healthy besides a few minor injury scares like Stephen Curry almost breaking his neck trying to jump over someone for a rebound, and Klay Thompson taking a knee to the side of the head. However, it should be noted that one of the reasons the Warriors had been so awful for so many years was endless injury problems. (Remember when Stephen Curry sprained his ankle like every week?)
5. You have to want it bad, real bad
The majority of the team remained soft spoken and laid back throughout this playoff run, but it was clear through their play and actions on the court that they would stop at nothing to get the Larry O'Brien trophy. Draymond Green led the way in this respect, keeping the team emotionally charged with his passionate effort on both ends of the court. The undersized Green was relentless on the glass, grabbing over 10 rebounds per game in the playoffs. He held his teammates accountable for doing the small, not so flashy things like setting good screens and boxing out on rebounds that are critical to success. In the end, this desire to do whatever it took to win translated into a championship. Here's a video of Draymond straight up stuffing LeBron. Something you definitely don't see everyday.
Now that they have the formula down, don't expect anything to change. "The cool thing about it is that we're going to suit up in three months and try to do it again," said Curry at the victory parade.
