There’s still more history out there for this amazing team to achieve
The Warriors have already made a heap of sports history that will stand the test of time with this magnificent, incredible three-year run. Two championships. Three straight trips to the Finals. More victories over a three-season span than any NBA team ever.
That’s just the start of it. You think about the ancillary accomplishments and the mind is further boggled. An unprecedented 24-0 start to a season. An unprecedented 73-win regular season. An unprecedented 16-1 postseason. You can spend a day just bathing in this franchise’s numbing numbers.
Individually, the riches have been just as staggering. AllStar selections galore. A twotime NBA most valuable player. A two-time executive of the year. A coach of the year who arguably could have won each of the three years he’s coached. NBA Finals MVPs achieved by two different players. A defensive player of the year. The list goes on and on.
So what now for these certifiably great Warriors? Having made so much history to this
point, it’s now about making more, solidifying their legacy to put them in even stronger standing alongside the early Celtics, the 1980s Lakers, the 1990s Bulls and the Spurs of the 2000s. That’s the cusp of where they are now, whether they realize it or not.
Here’s the thing: They do realize it, and barring a major injury or some development of disharmony that doesn’t currently exist, the Warriors know they have a chance to push this remarkable era to even greater heights. They are motivated by how much better they can play, how much more dominant and thrilling they could be, and yes, how many more championships they can win. They certainly seem set up to add two or three, if not more, with this current core of stars.
“It’s always somewhere in the back of your mind,” said Draymond Green. “I don’t think you’re going into every day thinking, ‘Oh, man, we’re going to make history.’ It’s so hard to make history. Like, that’s over a course of time. You have to approach that year by year. It’s OK to have goals like that, but you can only achieve the long-term goals by achieving the short-term goals.”
Needless to say, Draymond already has some of those figured out.
“The history for us would be to try to repeat,” he said. “What is it, seven teams or eight teams, something like that, that’s repeated? We wanted to do that when we had an opportunity up 3-1 and couldn’t close the deal. So that’s something we still want to do.”
Such a statement could be at the root of why Green has downplayed winning the defensive player of the year award since the outset of training camp. It’s why Stephen Curry looks sturdier than ever and in the best shape of his life. It’s why Kevin Durant sacrificed millions to help keep the team together. It’s why Klay Thompson looks just as snarly and unsatisfied as ever. It’s why Andre Iguodala returned when he surely could have made more millions elsewhere. It’s why David West decided not to retire, and why Zaza Pachulia and JaVale McGee re-upped for relatively small change in Oakland.
They all want more, and there may be no better opportunity to capitalize than this season. So many of the core players are in the prime of their careers. There’s a great balance of veterans and youth. A superb coaching staff is in place. The Warriors have it all working for them.
“I think it’s been an amazing three years,” Green said. “You look at the things that we’ve been able to accomplish as a team, as an organization, and then things, guys have been able to accomplish individually as well. I think it’s been special. And it’s definitely something that this group doesn’t take for granted.”
But the fact is, they’re not complacent about it. Since none of these players know how far this run can be pushed, they’re trying not only to live in the moment but thrive in it.
“We all say things like, ‘Hey, man, enjoy it while you’ve got it because once it’s over, it’s over,’ ” Green said. “You do that to the best of your ability, but you’ll never get the full understanding until it’s over. Because at the end of the day I’m still grinding every day trying to make it happen again, trying to do this better, trying to do that better. So you can never really get it until you’re done with it and you look back.”
It’s to our great pleasure that we don’t yet have to look back just yet, either. This team that has entertained and astounded us and effectively reinvented the NBA game into something fresh, lively and exciting might be better this season than at any time during this run. We could still be on the upward part of the arc, crazy as it sounds.
They might not set any victory records but the Warriors will be more cohesive than a year ago, when it took them almost half a season to assimilate Durant into their already potent mix. And let’s not forget, he actually missed nearly two months at the end of the season, so we haven’t really seen the Warriors firing on all cylinders that much. That could happen this year, and it could be downright scary.
The scariest part of the Warriors, though, is that they will be pushing each other to be the best they can be. They will revel in the challenges from Oklahoma City, Houston and Minnesota, and don’t forget San Antonio. Of course, LeBron James and Cleveland should be there once again as well.
Another title this season will cinch the Warriors’ place on the altar of the all-time elite teams, if they’re not already there. But a repeat title might silence the last remaining doubters — and believe it, there are some — because it’s the last thing really missing from their resume.
With that in mind, as much history as has been made, it’s time to make some more. The full story has yet to unfold. The history-making isn’t done yet by these Warriors, and possibly not even close. Savor the ride.