for two decades it was universally accepted that the 1996 Bulls were the greatest NBA team of all time but then the 2017 Warriors entered the chat a team that had just won 73 games added Kevin Durant behind the back Durant to the with two League MVPs a defensive player of the year and the best two-way shooting guard in the game The Warriors obliterated every team in the NBA setting the best playoff record in NBA history but did Kevin Durant's titles with State certify his place among the top 10 players ever and are the 2017 Warriors really the best team of all time obviously we will never know but you put us on paper with them I like our chances in the last 10 years it's not difficult to say who was the best organization in the NBA from the team owner to the cleaning lady there is no better organized franchise than the Golden State Warriors in 2023 the warriors were worth 7. 7 billion twice as much as the average NBA franchise other than the Dallas Cowboys the Warriors are the most valuable sports franchise in the world and if someone predicted this back in 2010 you'd call him insane back then the warriors were almost a laughing stock a fun little Squad that rarely made the playoffs and the fourth best team in California until Joe lob bought the team for $450 million and everything changed lob immediately started making big moves firing legendary coach Don Nelson trading then Dub's best player and crowd favorite Monte Ellis and hiring inexperienced Bob Myers as general manager all three moves were extremely unpopular with the Oakland fan base but lob and Myers soon proved to be three steps ahead of everyone else when it came to building a winning team if you look up there that is a very lonely pl we want another one while the new GM did inherit the best shooter of all time Myers immediately tied Steph to a team-friendly contract he'd then go on to draft Klay Thompson Harrison Barnes and Drymond Green in 2014 Myers hired Steve Steve Kerr and brought in impactful vets like Andrew bogot Andre Iguodala and Sean Livingston in their first season under coach Kerr the Warriors ran circles around everybody with hectic pace and unbelievable shooting from their star back court doing what seemed unimaginable just a few years ago winning the 2015 NBA championship we did it begin in 2016 the league didn't get the memo on how to catch up with the Warriors and they set the new NBA record for wins in the regular season with 73 wins and just nine losses however burdened by chasing the record the dubs ran out of steam and were defeated in the 2016 finals but this loss proved to be a blessing in disguise because they weren't crowned Champions and because of an enormous spike in salary cap thanks to a new NBA TV deal the warriors were able to sign Kevin Durant universally recognized as the second best player on the planet the whole world called KD a coward a traitor a snake a cupcake and God knows knows what else well I'm viewing it as the weakest move I've ever seen from a superstar plain and simple that's just the how I look at it but the truth was that KD needed the Warriors and the Warriors needed him when the 2017 season started the warriors were virtually unbeatable cruising through the season without any problems KD was incorporated seamlessly into the Warriors offense and kerr didn't have to find weird strategies for their four stars to share the ball KY played the most unselfish basketball of his career because For the First time ever he didn't have to score a single point and his team could still win the game Golden State won 67 games with the highest offensive rating in NBA history second best defense in the league and the third best net rating in NBA history it seemed like the Warriors turned on the PlayStation entered a cheat code and played the entire season in god mode they made it through the playoffs without losing a single game sweeping all three of their Series in the west and then in the finals a familiar opponent awaited LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers the defending champs had been Uber dominant themselves losing just one playoff game on their road to the finals but unlike the 2015 and 2016 finals where LeBron was by far the best player on the court the Warriors had the perfect antidote to King James KD not only did Durant bring in an offensive Dimension to the Warriors that they didn't have before but he also brought a defensive presence and his Mobility as a near seven-footer made it difficult for James to drive to the basket at will in the first two games the Warriors obliterated the Cavs turnovers created unsolvable problems for Cleveland as they gave up numerous easy points to the Warriors insane Pace down the lane but even when all five Cavs managed to get on defense on time they were murdered with the Durant Curry pick and roll the Cavs had a potent offense but the Dub's ability to knock down three-pointers in succession hit Cleveland like an avalanche in all 77 years of NBA history there wasn't a team that could switch on on the turbo quite like that and increase a two-point lead to 20 plus in 3 minutes pass all the way across and Durant throws it down however when the series returned to Cleveland for game three the Cavs looked much better and their offense kept them in the lead for much of the game it seemed like LeBron and Company would win the game and keep the series alive but then in the final minute ktie launched one of the most coldblooded shots in NBA finals history Durant for three it's good Kevin Durant from downtown and State takes the lead Cleveland still had a chance to win it but suddenly they couldn't buy a bucket and they didn't score a single point in the final three minutes the Warriors won the game snatching a 30-0 series lead then the Cavs somehow managed to win game four in what was arguably the best offensive game ever in the finals hitting 24 threes an NBA playoff record but it was clear to everybody that they couldn't sustain that kind of shooting and win the ring against these Warriors in game five Golden State finished the job finishing the playoffs with 16 wins and only one loss which was the best postseason run in NBA history there it is Redemption for Golden State one of the great playoff runs of all time is complete KD finally won that first title that had eluded him for so long he averaged an unreal 35. 2 points 8.
6 rebounds 5. 2 assists one steal and 1. 6 blocks per game while shooting 56% from the field 47% from three and 93% on free throws it was one of the best finals performances of all time and of course KD won the finals MVP and yet despite Durant's and Golden State's greatness the basketball world wasn't impressed a lot of people enjoyed seeing y'all lose in 2016 and a lot of those people were upset that we were so good and they're still upset when KD joined the Warriors it was kind of expected that they should win and their Championship looked too easy they had two MVPs on their team a reigning defensive player Player of the Year and Klay Thompson the best two-way shooting guard in the NBA all of them were an average age of 27 which is considered a prime for basketball players add Iguodala Shawn Livingston David West Javale McGee and Zaza pachulia all playing phenomenal basketball Off the Bench and then you have an absolute Juggernaut their offense had so many systematic Solutions and so much talent that defenses had to pick their poison either give up a wide openen dunk or let three of the best shooters ever have an open shot Golden State's defense was mobile and super connected they created a lot of turnovers and killed opponents in transition sure they didn't have a dominant post scorer and if they faced a top talent on the low block like Prime sha that would certainly give them problems but given the style of play and the state of the league in 2017 those were minimal flaws however it's one thing to dominate and it's a whole different ball game to become a dynasty we know how tough it's going to be we know how hard it is to be the best team in the league I think we're all ready for that challenge and in 2018 this unbelievable Warriors team had a tougher road than anyone expected they won 58 games in the regular season their defense dropped out of the top 10 best in the league and overall they didn't look as smooth and connected as they did the year before injuries played their part but still the dubs had so much talent that they easily won the first round against the Spurs despite Curry not playing in the second round Steph returned and they defeated the Pelicans in five games securing a matchup that every NBA fan hoped for a clash with the number one seated Rockets and the league MVP James Harden the Rockets built their whole roster to be able to match up with the Warriors and suddenly Golden State's players looked mortal again Houston pushed the Warriors out of their comfort zone by slowing down the pace as much as possible with an average possession lasting 18 seconds they also attacked the Warriors one-on-one to avoid double teams and they killed the dubs on the glass with their offensive re rebounding but whenever Kerr had faced a deficit in any game he simply used the death lineup which no team had an answer for except for Houston with PJ Tucker at Center and long Defenders at the wings the Rockets neutralized the best fiveman lineup in NBA history with their own version of small ball with dominant switch defenses the Rockets shut down Golden State's motion offense and forced them to attack through isolations which put Splash Brothers in discomfort for much of the series after five games the Rockets had a three to lead and it seemed like the Warriors dynasty was in serious Jeopardy has the Force One except in the final moments of game five Chris Paul got hurt and was ruled out for the Series game six was a blowout with the Warriors winning by 29 and everybody expected the same result in game seven and yet the Rockets started the deciding game playing out of their minds Houston had an 11-point lead at the half and it looked like David could somehow beat Goliath but then the Warriors hit that turbo button again and hit a series of Threes to turn the game around the game was still close until the end but then the Rockets missed 27 threes in a row and it was all over the dubs made another final and for the fourth straight year they faced LeBron and the Cavs but this time King James was without Kyrie and it was a miracle that he even made the finals because it looked like he was playing with some bystanders that he picked up on the street on his way to the arena however in game one LeBron proved that he is one of the goats by scoring 51 points Curry gets inside and throws it down only for J.
R Smith to forget the score of the game in the final moments and pass up a potential game-winning shot I look at Braun Braun look pointing like this is he pointing at I look over oh man and then after that I was just like I know this just happened not in the finals after that it was all over and the Warriors next title was a walk in the park as they swept the Cavs the only close game was game three which was again clinched by a Kevin Durant deep three from virtually the same spot as the year before Kevin Durant way outside delivers Kevin Durant from downtown it's a six-point game with 29 Points 11 rebounds seven assists and over two blocks per game and 50 40 90 shooting splits Durant deservedly won another Finals MVP it's incredible it's it's good for you to be around guys like this it helps you become a better basketball player and a better man and this a journey that's is better than a destination you know I'm happy I'm a part of this group but after the finals a familiar feeling was felt nobody was impressed everybody expected the Warriors to win again and in 2019 this feeling started to creep into the Warriors themselves they seemed to be just going through the motions and for the first time in the cerr era the dubs started to have chemistry problems in a close game against the Clippers Drymond took the ball and refused to pass it to KD messing up the play completely and losing the game instead of saying my bad Drymond went berserk cussing out Durant and telling him that he could leave the team Durant was in his contract year and he wasn't entirely happy in Golden State anymore communication is key like I we didn't show that and that that's what rote me the wrong way more than anything after this incident Drymond got suspended by the team but their chemistry issues were never solved they told me right then and they're like we're going to suspend you for this game I laughed in their literally laughed in their face however golden state was still the NBA royalty with more Talent than any other team still their Infamous motion offense got more stagnant and Durant didn't buy into the team concept as much as before instead he began playing like he did in OKC using his otherworldly basketball talent to score in isolation but because he was KD it worked and the warriors were winning I'm Kevin Durant you know who I am y know who I am they got past the Rockets again far easier than last time despite losing Durant to injury after game five five ktie wouldn't play a second of the Conference Finals but the dubs still swept Portland and got to the finals for the fifth consecutive year but against the Raptors which were led by kawh Leonard and were far more talented than any team the dubs faced that year the warriors were in trouble with draymont completely losing faith in his shot an aging Iguodala and Livingston and a thin bench golden state was suddenly lacking Firepower after four games they were losing 3-1 and were on the brink of a loss if they wanted to have any shot at another title they desperately needed KD so despite still nursing the calf injury Durant finally suited up first four games the Raptors were dominant and Lead three games to one but all of a sudden golden state has a new addition Kevin Durant will play and for the first quarter of game five it looked like the warriors were back with Durant in the lineup the Raptors couldn't throw all their Defenders at Steph and Golden State's offense was breathing again defensively KD was a huge help too and was one of the rare guys who could match up with Kawai one-on-one but but the dream of defending the title lasted for 14 minutes early in the second quarter Durant tried to drive by Serge Ibaka when he heard a pop and fell to the floor his Achilles was gone and he knew it immediately the Warriors somehow won game five but without Durant and then also Klay Thompson who tore his ACL in game six their season was over and the Raptors were the new NBA champs but while it's true that Durant came to an already built team a winning team this series per ly showed how important he was for the Warriors and how much they needed him to win championships while many will discredit KD's Legacy because he won his only two championships on Steph Curry's team it was clear that Durant was the best warriors player KD was always considered a Phenom because he was a seven-footer with the athleticism ball handling and shooting ability of a guard he was always a scoring machine but it was when he joined the Warriors that he became a complete player and one of the best to ever touch a basketball when he played in Oakland KD was in his athletic Prime packing 30 more pounds of muscle than when he got drafted and about 10 lb more than he has now because he's had to shed some weight after his Achilles injury to avoid getting injured again while his basketball growth stagnated in OKC when he got to the Warriors Durant had added something new to his game each season he became more comfortable moving without the ball in year one completely buying into the warrior motion offense with lots of screens and cuts Durant became a phenomenal defender in year two averaging a career-high 1. 8 blocks per game in fact before he got injured and missed the last two months of the regular season he was in strong consideration for defensive player of the year and finally he became a better playmaker in year three averaging a career-high 5.
