The Golden State Warriors were the absolute class of the NBA for the better part of five years in which they reached five straight NBA Finals while winning three and setting the record for the most wins in a regular season going 73-9 (and yes, they lost the championship that season).
There were two stages to their dominance from 2015-2019, before KD and with KD (Kevin Durant).
In the two years before KD, the Warriors were poetry in motion. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson had come into their own as players and most notably as deadly outside shooters morphing into the “Splash Bros”.
Curry was the face of the franchise, winning back-to-back MVP awards (2015-2016, 2016-2017) and even becoming the first player to unanimously win an MVP (which I personally don’t agree with but he was still an incredible player)
Klay Thompson was a perfect Robin to Curry’s Batman, he could shoot the lights out of the gym, much like his partner, but he also brought an element of stingy defense along with him too.
Then, there was Draymond Green, a very important piece to the Warriors Championship DNA. Green was the light blood, he worked his tail off, played with a chip on his shoulder, and demanded the very best out of everyone he played with. Draymond was tough, he didn’t take any crap from anyone, but every once in a while he would cross the line. Sort of like what he did to LeBron James in the 2016 NBA Finals which allowed the Cleveland Cavaliers to erase a 3-1 deficit and beat Golden State.
Draymond Green hit LeBron James in the nuts during their 4th quarter scuffle https://t.co/k9DqnF5RoE pic.twitter.com/mYx4hXXqsf
— Larry Brown (@LBSports) June 11, 2016
Yeah, not one of his proudest or smartest moments.
The next phase came after that 2016 NBA Finals after the Warriors had erased a 3-1 series deficit themselves by eliminating Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.
The “with KD” phase started there when Durant essentially said, “If you can’t beat them, join them” and so he decided to leave the Thunder, realizing that he wasn’t going to beat Golden State so he decided to join forces with them. Now, what followed was a whole lot of scrutiny from the media, fans, fellow players, etc. but Durant didn’t care he just wanted to sip the sweet, sweet nectar of NBA glory, an NBA Championship.
If you thought the Warriors were great without KD, they were unbelievable with him. Now, they didn’t set any records for most wins in a regular season but they did win two consecutive NBA Titles in which they defeated King James and the Cavs both times and Durant won back-to-back Finals MVPs.
Golden State would have most likely won a third straight title if it weren’t for injuries to KD and Klay Thompson. However, along the way, during that 2019 season, two of the strongest personalities on the team clashed and exploded in Draymond Green and Kevin Durant. The two had a bad verbal altercation which led many to believe was the reason Durant left the Warriors after that season to join forces with Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn to play for the Nets.
Only, that was not the case as heard on Green’s show called “Chips” on Bleacher Report as he sat down with his former teammate to discuss what exactly happened and why he chose to leave such a good thing in Golden State. The reason will surprise you, it sort of caught me off guard.
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