After a two-year hiatus from playoff contention, the Golden State Warriors are back in the NBA Finals. The revamped team -- which still features the star trio veterans Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green -- achieved its gentleman's sweep of the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, with a 120-110 victory in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals at Chase Center. The Warriors are about to make their sixth NBA Finals appearance since 2015.
Although the series-clinching star was Thompson, who scored 32 points on a dozen-made buckets, Curry received the inaugural West Finals MVP award. In five games against Dallas, the 34-year-old sharpshooter averaged 23.8 points with 7.4 assists and 6.6 rebounds. And if Curry wins four more games, he'll be tied with LeBron James as a four-time NBA champion. But would another ring place Curry's legacy on James' level? Rick Barry doesn't believe so.
"I think you're bringing up a subject that I don't agree with at all, to be honest. Why is it that someone who wins championships gets better recognition than a guy who doesn't win championships? He didn't win by himself," the Warriors legend told the JR SportBrief show on Thursday. "And if you're lucky enough to have good teammates, a team that makes good personnel decisions, how does that make you better than someone who doesn't have championships?
"It's crazy, it doesn't make any sense at all. I don't understand it. There should be no extra credit for being on a championship team. Unless you're on a team that didn't have many good players and you carried them to championships -- that's one thing... I think they give way too much recognition and credit to the people who're lucky enough to be on championship teams."
The Warriors, which earned the West's third seed with a 53-29 overall record, will own home-court advantage in the NBA Finals, and face either the Boston Celtics or Miami Heat. Game 1 is scheduled for Thursday, June 2 (9 ET tipoff). According to FiveThirtyEight's projections, Golden State currently has an 18-percent chance to capture their fourth championship in eight seasons.
The entire NBA conversation between Barry and JR can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the JR SportBrief show on Twitter @JRSportBrief, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.
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