Golden State Warriors: The Making of the Modern Dynasty
Imagine walking into an NBA stadium, abuzz with roaring fans, showcasing a plethora of championship banners, and home for a team that is absolutely dominant. This NBA stadium that I am alluding to is the Oracle Arena, located in Oakland, California, and the otherworldly team I am referring to, is the Golden State Warriors (GSW). Winning three of the last four NBA Finals, with the likes of two former MVPs, this franchise has turned into the powerhouse of the NBA, even to the point of becoming the villain of the NBA. It seems hard to believe that the team that many claim to be the greatest of all time, wasn’t always a juggernaut. At one point, they were terrible, in fact horrendous, winning a mere 30 games a season while posting atrocious overall numbers. These were the depths of Warriors Basketball that many current fans don’t know of. These were the times when the Warriors organization disappointed many, to the point that the state of California wanted to forget about the franchise. Now, you may be thinking, “How can such a bad team be thought of as one of the greatest franchises of all time?” Well, the only logical answer is that something changed － drastically. Looking at their modern achievements, it is clear that the Warriors did in fact get better; tremendously better actually. Still, even after looking at the stellar statistics that they have put up in recent years (2015 - 2019), it doesn’t seem clear what changed for the Warriors. How did a 23 win season (34.8% win rate) in 2012 transform into a 73 win (89% win rate) record breaking season in 2016? Many changes and moves had to be made in that time span to revitalize the Warriors. The luck and skill this NBA team had in order to get all these moves to work properly will likely never be repeated again, but one thing’s for sure: the Golden State Warriors will forever remain in the category of the greatest teams of all time.
A key approach that Warriors took to set themselves up for future success was building their franchise through the annual NBA Draft, but not in the typical way. Unlike most teams that get better through the draft, the Warriors didn’t get the #1 pick, the college sensation, or even the overseas baller. Rather, they got mid to low lottery picks, late first rounders, and second round underdogs. They didn’t draft the Lebron James’ of the world or the Michael Jordan’s of the world, instead some role players on decent D-1 teams that were anything but ready for the league. According to Basketball Reference, a few of the players that the Warriors drafted were Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, all of whom are current cornerstones of the Warriors. So, you may be wondering how the Warriors staff was able to predict all of these players becoming the eventual superstars they are now; this was purely due to the genius of the Warriors. All of the players I mentioned above have helped usher in the new style of b-ball, with fast paced offense and long ranged shots. Before the Warriors were able to succeed with Curry, Thompson, and Green, no other team thought that the 3-pointer was so important to the game. No other team thought that they needed a big man that could pass so well and defend people a couple inches taller. No other team thought that having a spot-up shooter that could take just a few dribbles the entire game was useful. No other team thought that playing fast-paced offense was worth it. And yet, nowadays, all of these very attributes are vital to a team's success, all thanks to the Warriors draft picks. By acquiring game-changing players who weren’t expected to be so good, the Warriors were able to start their journey to becoming a juggernaut.
Although the players are obviously the most important to any professional sports team in making an overall impact, the coaching staff and front office of the team also play a vital role. For the Warriors, these pieces included Head Coach Steve Kerr, General Manager Bob Meyers, and Owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. All these people played a major part in helping the Warriors improve their NBA stature, starting with the owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. On one fateful night in 2010, Joe Lacob bought the Warriors from Chris Cohan for a boatload of money. This was coming off of a 26-win season from the Warriors, in a time when the Warriors were a ‘free win’ for any good to decent team opposing them. Looking back at the decision now, it seems crazy, as at the time Joe could have invested in small portions of different, more stable teams. Rather, he went with the Warriors, whose young star Steph Curry was constantly prone to injuries. Through these dark times of Warrior Basketball, Joe was able to eventually fulfill an end goal of winning multiple Championships, with Peter Guber now owning a portion of the team as well. The next major coaching change that led to eventual Warriors dominance was the hiring of Steve Kerr, a former player himself for the championship-winning Bulls of the 90’s. Initially when Kerr was hired, the Warriors already had a solid coach in Mark Jackson who had helped the team get back into the playoffs, but with him they only dreamt of being a lower-seeded playoff team. This all changed though with the hiring of Steve Kerr. Being a key bench star, achieving great heights with the Bulls, even winning a championship off of a miraculous game winning 3-pointer, , Kerr easily blended in with the players and had a camaraderie with them that was very difficult to find in a coach. Due to this, he was able to lead the Warriors as not only a demanding head coach, but a supportive ‘teammate.’ The Warriors were able to build off of the hiring of Steve Kerr by hiring many positive and tactical Assistant Coaches to help lead the way. Lastly, a major piece in the constructing of the Warriors was Bob Meyers. Although not generally a well known figure among fans, General Manager Meyers is always working behind the scenes, not only to make the GSW more enticing to free agents, but also trying to retain the core pieces the Warriors have in order to contend for a championship. He isn’t a very well known front office member, but all of his contributions to the Warriors are innumerable and invaluable. For example, Meyers was instrumental in convincing returning players to not only stay with the Warriors, but also persuading elite free agents to join the team. All the people I mentioned are key factors in keeping an uncompromising winning standard at GS. However, there are still many other things that have greatly benefited the Warriors on their way to supremacy.
Another key attribute of the Warriors that has helped them succeed in the modern NBA is their unparalleled chemistry. This chemistry initially stemmed from the idea of their famous catchphrase, ‘Strength in Numbers.’ The Warriors were able to build a culture in which a better shot was always the right shot. The team was able to cement the idea that even if you were an MVP, if a bench player had a better shot, that was the pass to make. This mindset brought the GSW together as a team and a family. Although there have been rough moments amongst some Warriors teammates, they have always had each others’ backs. Being one of the most frequent teams known to get technical fouls, the Warriors are no stranger to fights on the court. However, in these fights, even players uninvolved in the play at the time will stand up for their teammates, getting ejected numerous times in the process. This shows the tight knit nature of their team spirit. To add on to their already stellar chemistry, the Warriors further built on it by taking salary cuts to keep the team together. An example of this is when Kevin Durant (KD) took almost $10 million less than what he could’ve easily demanded. Additionally, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green all sacrificed shots to get KD. Before KD, they were undisputedly the three best players on the Warriors, the scintillating trio getting most of the shots. They sacrificed this willingly in order to compete for more rings by acquiring a great player. Although this may sound like a usual occurrence for many, most players aren’t willing to lose money for their team. For example, looking at the Chicago Bulls in 1998, Michael Jordan, an astounding player, took $33.1 million in a time when the salary cap was just under $27 million (Business Insider). To set the stage, a salary cap is the amount of money an NBA team can pay for its players, without the owner having to pay from his pocket. However, if the owner of the team is willing to pay more money to acquire or retain a great player, they are able to break salary cap and go over the allocated amount. In 2018 though, even with the salary cap set at $101.9 million (Sports Illustrated), the Warriors’ players are still taking less to accommodate more high level players onto their team. For example, Kevin Durant’s willingness to take a pay cut to retain the core of the team was exemplified when he agreed to take only $25 million (Forbes), nearly 25% less than Jordan’s peak salary, especially in an era when the salary cap is much greater allowing players to make more money. The Warriors are different from other great teams because so many of their players have taken less for more, specifically more championships. By enabling a team mentality, the Warriors have undertaken a ‘fight as a team and fall as a team’ approach, letting their hearts out on the court.
In addition to the unparallelled chemistry that the Warriors have, another thing that sets them apart from most teams is that they don’t have an ‘alpha dog.’ The vast majority of teams have had an alpha dog throughout their existence. For example, the Philadelphia 76ers started with Julius Erving, then Wilt Chamberlain, followed by Charles Barkley, who led to Allen Iverson. Nowadays, the 76ers have many bright young players that are leading them. Each of the players that I previously mentioned were all the leaders of their teams in their respective eras. This is everything but similar to the current Warriors. These players that we’re witnessing today have modernized the game in a way nobody has done before. Previously, teams only needed one superstar. Now, teams need, yes, need multiple top tier players just to compete to make it to a conference finals game. The Warriors (a.k.a. Dubs) were the first to integrate this style into their approach and succeed because of their ‘no alpha dog’ mentality. Even with star players like Curry, Durant, Thompson, and Green, the Warriors were able to implement a strategy so that any player could be the MVP of a game on any given night. By allowing any player to catch fire, the Warriors have been able to continue their winning culture. For instance, in the 2015 NBA Finals, Steph was the one running the offense for the Warriors with stellar numbers throughout the games in the series, but it was Andre Iguodala, that year’s Finals MVP who played a significant role in ensuring a win for the Warriors against ‘The King’ a.k.a LeBron James, who many consider to be the greatest of all time. With his superb defense, Iguodala held LeBron to just under 40% shooting while making some key shots in the waning minutes of each game in that series (CBS Sports). Moreover, even with star players such as Kevin Durant catching fire in Game 3 of the 2018 Finals for a total of 43 points, driving a dagger through the hearts of the Cleveland Cavaliers, it was actually lesser known players such as Shaun Livingston and Javale Mcgee who were able to propel the Warriors to key wins in the series, successfully shooting a combined 100% from the court in a vital Game 2 (SFGate). From this, it is evident that the Warriors’ best players aren’t always the ones to lead the pack because of the way the Dubs approach scoring and the all around game of basketball.
Every free agency that passes by is a great opportunity for teams to shift the balance of the NBA by acquiring a star free agent, possibly shaping an entire organization for their future. The Warriors franchise capitalizes on these free agencies by leveraging an approach that has its players lead the way to coax in free agents to come to their franchise. I don’t imply that they’re the ones that start conversations with free agents, rather they become the key turning point during decision making process for an unconvinced free agent. For example, Rachel Nichols, host of ESPN’s “The Jump” interviewed Steph Curry about how they were able to get Kevin Durant, when Curry stated that a big part of it was him willingly inserting himself into the process of recruiting Durant. This shows that the players want to get involved when they have an opportunity to get top-notch talent. Most players would be selfish because, once again, they wouldn’t want to give up their position as leader of the team. Uniquely, Warriors players are fine with this because they’re not chasing money. Instead, they want to be Champions. Many players have the drive to get better and win, but very few sacrifice their own luxury for this coveted Championship Trophy. Overall, the Warriors are willing to sacrifice their own needs for the betterment of the team.
With the growth of the Warriors into an insurmountable team, they have become the NBA villains. Once known for being the golden team of the league with the baby-faced assassin in Steph Curry, nobody could resist loving the Warriors. This has changed though, as after their third championship in four years, they've turned into villains, with Curry being considered an egoistic mouthguard demon. Although a bit exaggerated, the point is that the GSW is not the most likeable team anymore. Due to this, you may believe that nobody would ever go to the Dubs. This, like numerous other things about the Warriors, is a false presumption, with the Warriors racking up interested free agents every offseason because of their championship pedigree. A recent example of this is Demarcus Cousins, a former New Orleans power-forward prone to frequently adding ‘double doubles’ to his stat line, who joined the Warriors this past summer after being beat by them in the past few summers. The bigger and more obvious example of this would be Kevin Durant (KD), a previously loved player, who was later viewed by fans as someone turned into a heartless monster of betrayal when he joined the Warriors after losing a 3-1 lead to them in the playoffs as an Oklahoma City Thunder. Although this move was very questionable, it unearths the innate desire that free agents have to join the Dubs. By showing willingness to go through the bitter animosity he experienced, KD joining the Warriors was a move that he undoubtedly wanted to make in his pursuit of the elusive ring, albeit at the expense of losing his previous image as a beloved Thunder player. The Warriors have been able to create a culture that allows them to keep acquiring talent and continuously enhancing their chances of winning the glorious championship.
All in all, the future is shining bright for the Golden State Warriors with an amazing core that has been concocted in a very unique way, which will likely never be repeated again. Unlike most teams, the Dubs weren’t a superteam one could see coming. They were able to build themselves through the draft process unlike any other team, which led to them revolutionizing the game of basketball forever. Due to their unparalleled chemistry, the Warrior have been able to maintain a star-studded team throughout the years along with a winning culture that is inclusive of every player’s skill set supported by a stable front office. Every move that GSW made throughout the past 10 years has been crucial to the organization’s underpinnings, ultimately leading to ‘The Rise of the Warriors.’