For the second time in three years, the Golden State Warriors are the kings of the NBA. For the last three seasons, no other team has had a more dominant run of success than the team out in the Bay. The only comparisons for this team would have to be the Boston Celtics of the 60’s and of course the Chicago Bulls of the 90’s, though it is doubtful that the Warriors will win six championships in this decade like the Bulls did.
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, as good a dynamic duo as you will ever see in the NBA, continue to thrill the fans with their circus three point shot attempts that somehow keep going in a large majority of the time. Draymond Green provides the attitude that defines them and with Kevin Durant, the complimentary scorer that can take over games when he is feeling it.
But how did a team that a decade ago was so bad that a first round playoff victory was cause for a celebration?
For those true fans that remember, the Warriors since 1994 up until 2012 made the postseason only once. That was in 2007 when they pulled off a stunning upset over the first seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round.
It all started with the drafting of Curry back in 2009. Not since Chris Webber had a draft pick for the Warriors created so much hype. That followed in 2011 with the drafting of Thompson, and then Green the next year. With those three players in the fold, along with forward David Lee and trading for center Andrew Bogut from Milwaukee in exchange for superstar guard Monta Ellis, which did not make fans happy at the time, the Warriors began their climb back to the top.
The Warriors were a team on the rise but went through the growing pains every team goes through to become truly great. Being bounced from the second round in 2013 by San Antonio and the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round the next year, it was time to move on from coach Mark Jackson.
Golden State hired five-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs, and former general manager of the Phoenix Suns, Steve Kerr, to lead the team forward as their head coach.
The Warriors surprised much of the NBA by going 67-15 in the 2014-15 season, which culminated in a matchup against Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Without Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving to give James support, the Warriors won the series in six games to win their first NBA title in 40 years.
But wait. It gets even better.
The next season, people were wondering what the Warriors were going to do as a curtain call to their title. They were not even prepared for what exactly would follow. Starting off with 24 straight wins and being 48-4 at the All-Star break, there were rumblings that this team could be even greater than the famed 1995-96 Chicago Bulls team that won the NBA title after going 72-10 that season.
The Warriors made history by ending the season with a grand total of 73-9, one win more than the Bulls. By all means, this team deserved to be the favorites to win the championship. After rallying back from a 3-1 deficit against Oklahoma City, the Warriors were a team of destiny.
Sadly destiny would take a turn as the Warriors were on the receiving end of a 3-1 rally by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who won Cleveland its first sports championship in over 50 years. What happened, many wondered? How could this team blow the greatest season in history? The Warriors would have to answer that question themselves.
That offseason, the Warriors made noise by signing Kevin Durant away from Oklahoma City. This generated a lot of negative coverage on both Durant and the team itself with accusations of buying a championship at Durant and the Warriors forming a superteam. The rest is history.
Will these Warriors be greater than the Bulls of the 90’s? Or the Celtics of the 60’s? All of that remains to be seen but let us enjoy this team for what they are: an amazing team that you have to drop what you are doing and watch play. It’s that simple.
