A popular thought on this year's NBA Finals is that a Golden State Warriors win will give us more clarity on their dynasty. A pair of titles sandwiching the Kevin Durant era would validate the overall greatness of the franchise's last decade, right? It'd suggest the team's decorated nucleus didn't need Durant before or after to prove how historically great they are. But, it's not that neat.
Let's keep the startling Game 1 loss on the side of this debate. There's plenty of time for the Warriors to respond in this series, even if the 15-point collapse seemed like a harbinger of bad things against the Celtics. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Steve Kerr already have three rings apiece, and this marks their sixth NBA Finals appearance together. Back in 2015, they stormed the NBA like bats out of hell in their first season under Kerr's watch, reaching their first Finals in four decades.
They beat LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games, and began their journey into the league record books. That Finals win, though, has to be qualified with the opponent. Both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were injured for that series, leaving Matthew Dellavedova as LeBron's go-to running mate. He scored 20 points in a thrilling Game 3 win, giving Cleveland a momentary 2-1 series lead. For context, he averaged only 4.8 points per game that season.
Ultimately, the Cavs faltered, losing the last three games. LeBron averaged an insane 36 points, 13 boards, and nine assists in the loss. Andre Iguodala won Finals MVP, but LeBron was actually the best player in the series. The Warriors were lucky he had no supporting cast, and they hung their first championship banner since 1975.
The following year, the Warriors took off like a ballistic missile, with the Splash Brothers at the height of their newfound powers. And by realizing their power, Golden State put together the most dominant regular season ever. They went 73-9, outdoing the immortal 1996 Chicago Bulls for the best record in history, and marched into the West playoffs with mythology on their mind. The 2016 postseason would be their true coronation -- an exclamation mark for their historic greatness. But, shockingly, Durant nearly crashed that apple cart.
In the West Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder took a 3-1 series lead before the Warriors roared back. Ultimately, Golden State survived in seven games, but then fell to the same fate. They blew a 3-1 Finals lead, infamously to the Cavs, collapsing under LeBron's greatness. James' most thrilling superhero act was cemented, and the Warriors were now historic losers. The greatest line on their resume evaporated when it mattered -- 73 wins meant nothing.
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It was during that offseason when Green and the Warriors feted Durant, and convinced him to join forces. In a move that disenchanted most basketball fans and media members, Durant's arrival meant a dominant team became unbeatable. It was a one-time deal, a perfect storm of events. The league's new TV deal meant an immediate massive bump in the salary cap. The NBA office had hoped for a gradual increase over a few years to prevent a single summer spending spree. The union disagreed, and ironically, that decision wiped out 29 other teams' chances of a title. The drama was gone.
Golden State didn't lose a single game in the Western Conference playoffs, they completed three sweeps en route to the Finals. After winning the West with such invincibility, ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy predicted the Warriors would go to "8 to 10 straight Finals." It didn't seem far-fetched at the time. Behind Durant's sharp-shooting and NBA Finals performances, Golden State barely broke a sweat winning the next two titles. They went 9-1 in two Finals against LeBron and the Cavs.
After the rings in 2017 and 2018, a third straight appeared locked up, had it not been for injury. Durant suffered a calf strain during the second-round, then an Achilles tear in the Finals. Thompson tore his ACL against the Toronto Raptors. A sudden and massive loss of firepower opened the door for Kawhi Leonard and Toronto to knock off Golden State, and suddenly, the dynasty convulsed.
Durant's drama-filled third season with the franchise was littered with signs he wanted a new destination. Being a visitor in the Warriors' home -- consistently demeaned for "taking the easy way" to championships -- and the conflict with Green wore him down. His rabbit ears and over-sensitivity to the criticism was a poor fit in the Bay Area. He was never part of the cool kids, the original team that hung the first title banner. And he couldn't stay off social media, or ignore former players who questioned his pursuit. Durant opted for a new destination with little national attention, no recent success to match, and a quiet fanbase.
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It's impossible to hold the last two seasons against the Warriors. Durant fled for the Brooklyn Nets. Thompson's knee injury kept him out of the 2019-20 season. And then an Achilles tear took him out of 2020-21. Even Curry also missed nearly all of the first season without Durant. Last season, while Curry and Green played 60-plus games apiece, the team began grooming younger players, like Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins, to take on larger roles. Those steps to restock the roster have paid off huge dividends, as their supporting cast has been necessary to return to the Finals.
This Warriors run doesn't put to bed a question about their historical prowess, though. Unquestionably, Curry will go down as the greatest shooter in league history. The Splash Brothers will be the finest shooting backcourt ever. Curry, Thompson, Green, and Kerr are bona fide Hall of Famers -- even without this championship. But the road through this Western Conference playoffs was stealing an Xbox controller from a 7-year-old.
As a three-seed, they beat the severely depleted Denver Nuggets in the first round. They survived a Memphis Grizzlies squad that lost star Ja Morant due to injury midway through the series. And then they took out a limited Dallas Mavericks squad, the worst foe in their six Western Conference Finals. The Phoenix Suns were the league's most dominant outfit this season, and the Warriors didn't even have to face them to reach the Finals.
This postseason (until Game 1 vs. Boston) has been impressive because it's highlighted the amazing Golden State front office maneuvers to replenish the roster. And a fourth ring would surely add to the mystique of the team of the last decade. But does it somehow erase the haunting questions of the past? Not really. The 2015 team got hugely fortunate with Cleveland's injuries. The 2016 team imploded. And the 2017-2019 teams played with an almost unfairly stacked deck. This year's squad avoided both top-seeds, and the defending champs. While everyone wants a clean adjudication for Golden State's era of greatness, unfortunately this series won't do it -- even if they do pull it out.