Bay Area News Group - Gold standard: the Golden State Warriors dominant run to the 2017 championship

Contents

Introduction By Anthony Slater

The Warriors capped the greatest three-year run, record-wise, in regular season history with the greatest postseason, record-wise, in NBA history: 16-1, a three-sweep stampede to the Finals and then a powerful 4-1 dismantling of LeBron James Cavaliers. Folks will remember this 2017 playoff dominance.

But it began back in 2009. More specifically: June 25, 2009, draft day, when the Warriors almost unwisely traded their No. 7 overall pick for an aging Amare Stoudemire, but instead decided to keep it and select a skinny, small-college point guard who had the makings of a high-level shooter, but never a star. Right?

Everything about this Warriors rise starts with Steph Currys stunning ascension to MVP level greatness. His arrival in the Bay Area is the starting point for this unlikely in-progress dynasty, the tiny shove of this snowball down the hill.

But the franchise was still in need of a facelift.

Joe Lacobs ownership group took over in November 2010, infusing money, resources and brainpower into an NBA market with untapped advantages. By sports standards, it didnt take long to sprout.

Klay Thompson was selected in June of 2011, a smart pick at 11th overall that fit the leagues trend toward 3-point shooting and defensive versatility. Thompson paired perfectly as the bigger guard in a backcourt that could spread the floor wider and defenses thinner than any in basketball history. The Splash Brothers were born.

Other pieces were still needed to reach the next level.

The biggest came in June 2012, the third time in four drafts that Warriors management snagged a future All-Star at an uncommon slot, this one coming far outside the lottery: Draymond Green, 35th overall. The backbone of a future title team was completed.

But the Finals MVP from their first championship hadnt arrived yet. The Warriors worked out an offseason sign-and-trade with the Denver Nuggets in the summer of 2013, shedding salary and losing future first-round picks, but obtaining Andre Iguodala, who, a year later, would willingly accept a Sixth Man role for which he was overqualified, rounding out the rotation.

The Warriors rise from two decades in the ashes isnt only about the players. Its been about the culture a top-down transparent, laid-back, egalitarian environment that has fostered a fun, free-spirited, pass-happy brand of basketball. That stems from Steve Kerr, hired in 2014 and paired with Bob Myers to form the head coach-general manager combo most likely to go on a surfing trip together.

Warriors superstars Steph Curry and Kevin Durant embrace after fulfilling their goal of an NBA championship. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Staff)

Everyone noticed, including future free agents. Iguodala admitted the Warriors style caught his eye the year before he joined them. A couple years before he hit the open market, Kevin Durant became intrigued with the team, the franchise, the Bay Area and the idea of playing for them all.

When you play freely and have fun with the game, it just touches a lot of people, Durant said.

So there they all were in the Hamptons on July 1, 2016: Curry, Lacob, Thompson, Green, Iguodala, Kerr and Myers the seven people most instrumental in this ascension. They were there to recruit Durant, the final piece to a team that has just made postseason history. Months earlier, theyd claimed a regular season record 73 wins, but a flameout in the Finals they had a 3-1 lead! had provided enough motivation to add another superstar to their already loaded roster.

When they came into the meeting, I was really looking for that energy and I felt it from the beginning, Durant said. It was just so pure. It was a feeling I couldnt ignore. I wanted to be a part of it. No matter what happened, I wanted to be a part of it.

Curry was the megastar who started it all, yet was willing to share the superstar spotlight, sealing the deal with a welcoming text message. Thompson was the quiet assassin who, in a strange twist of fate, had made Durants exit from Oklahoma City possible by slaying the Thunder a month earlier with 11 3s in the game of his life, changing the course of NBA history.

Green was the lead recruiter, Durants closest friend on the team, persistent in his luring, convincing Durant that this was the right place for him as both a player and human. Lacob was the money man. Kerr and Myers were the architects who connected with Durant on a personal level, preaching the joy of basketball but also the importance of life beyond the game.

Kevin Durants dominant series earned him his first NBA title, as well as his first Finals MVP trophy. (Nhat V. Meyer/Staff)

Iguodala was the example that most fit Durant, the only one of the assembled players who wasnt drafted by the Warriors, a wiser veteran that had experienced life in different organizations and NBA cities, had sacrificed glory by coming off the bench and could best give a wider-lens assessment. His conversation with Durant might have been one of the most important.

Its just like going to college, Iguodala said. How do I see myself on campus? How do I see myself with other students? Whats my major on the side? Its a similar process as going to college. This is a place where you combine all media and basketball interests as far as Silicon Valley and tech.

Durant pulled the trigger, bolted for the Bay, absorbed the backlash and formed a megateam of stars four of them in their direct prime that all melded ideally into this era of 3s, defensive versatility and playmaking from every position.

The result: a 16-1 stampede to the title, the best playoff record in NBA history, and a second title in three years.

NBA Finals: Game 1

Warriors 113, Cavaliers 91

June 1, 2017 Oakland, California

Star Power

Warriors Ride Durant, Curry and a Huge Turnover Advantage to Lopsided Win

By Anthony Slater

Klay Thompsons shooting woes worsened, Draymond Green didnt score until late in the third quarter, and Zaza Pachulia led a brigade of first-half missed layups. But the Warriors, while not perfect, were still dominant in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, blasting the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-91 at Oracle Arena.

How? They transformed their two typical flaws into major advantages and rode their two MVPs one dunking on the world, the other bombing away deep 3s to a 13th straight playoff win, the 11th by double-digits, upping their average postseason margin of victory to 16.7 per game.

Theyre the best Ive ever seen, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. I mean, no other team has done this, right? 13-0.

To beat the Warriors this season, and its been done only 15 times in 95 games, you need to turn them over and beat them up on the glass. The Cavaliers did that on Christmas, grabbing 18 offensive rebounds and forcing 19 turnovers, which helped them edge the Warriors by one.