DYNASTY: WHERE WOULD ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP PUT THE WARRIORS IN THE PANTHEON OF NBA REIGNS?
Warriors patriarch Al Attles has been away from the team much of the season to tend to health issues, but he has followed enough to know that the franchise is still at the center of a familiar talking point: Where do these Warriors rank among NBA dynasties?
During a rare appearance at practice Saturday afternoon, Attles — the longesttenured employee of an NBA team at 59 years — downplayed the debate, telling Golden State assistant coach Ron Adams that “you can’t compare players from a different era.” Changes in rules, style of play and training techniques render such an exercise pointless.
Still, that won’t stop sportstalk hosts and ESPN pundits from trying to quantify the Warriors’ sustained greatness. With its fifth straight NBA Finals appearance, Golden State boasts a feat not accomplished in more than a half-century, when Bill Russell’s Celtics reached 10 consecutive Finals from 1957 through ’66.
If the Warriors beat Toronto in this best-of-seven series, they will become just the sixth team in league history — and the first since the 2000-02 Lakers — to win three championships in a row. That should quash any lingering doubts over whether Golden State is a dynasty. What is less certain, however, is where it would put the Warriors in the pantheon of NBA reigns.
As longtime NBA writer Bob Ryan put it, “When comparing eras, context is everything. And even with the necessary context, it’s still difficult.” For the purposes of debate, it’s worth limiting the conversation to the modern NBA’s greatest dynasties. The 11 titles that Russell’s Celtics won between 1957 and 1969 are a run that probably won’t be duplicated.
Because the league had no free agency or salary cap, Boston faced little resistance once it stockpiled the most talent. There is also the fact that the NBA grew from eight to 14 teams during those Celtics’ 13-year rule. Based on league size alone, it was three times easier to win a title during much of their run than it is today.
Since it introduced the 3-point arc in 1979, the NBA has had at least four dynasties other than the Warriors: the “Showtime” Lakers (198089), the “Big Three” Celtics (1981-87), Michael Jordan’s Bulls (1991-93, 1996-98) and Tim Duncan’s Spurs (19992014). The early 2000s Lakers, who reached four Finals and won three titles in a five-year span, also might have become a bona fide dynasty had Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal found a way to get along.
“To be considered a dynasty, you have to win five or more (championships) — or at least be in the middle of getting to five or more,” said Mychal Thompson, a center on the Showtime Lakers and Golden State guard Klay Thompson’s father. “If the Warriors can win their fourth (in five years), they’ll be in good shape because these guys are still in their prime.”
The Warriors are on par with the 1980s Celtics, putting them behind the “Showtime” Lakers, Duncan’s Spurs and Jordan’s Bulls. Larry Bird’s Boston teams averaged 61 wins per season over eight years. But because their reign overlapped with Julius Erving’s 76ers and Magic Johnson’s Lakers, they were limited to three titles and five Finals appearances.
In 12 seasons between 1979 and 1991, the Showtime Lakers won five championships and reached nine Finals. Their up-tempo offense was a precursor to the system Golden State employs.
Although not as dominant as Johnson’s Lakers or Jordan’s Bulls, the Spurs were the gold standard of longevity. In 15 years, they won five championships, making six NBA Finals and nine Western Conference finals.
However, the Bulls remain the preeminent modern dynasty. With six titles in eight years (two three-peats), Chicago was almost unbeatable when Jordan and Scottie Pippen shared the floor, leaving some of basketball’s most nagging hypotheticals in their wake: What if Jordan hadn’t left to play baseball? Could the Bulls have won eight straight championships?
With another few years as a title contender, the Warriors could vault up the hierarchy of modern dynasties. Golden State is in its fifth season ruling the NBA. The peaks for the Showtime Lakers (all five titles came between 1980 and ’88), the Spurs (four of their five were between 1999 and 2007) and the Bulls each lasted eight or nine years.
Even if Kevin Durant leaves in free agency this summer, the Warriors are well-positioned to contend for at least several more seasons. Stephen Curry (31), Thompson (29) and Draymond Green (29) are still in their prime. Golden State majority owner Joe Lacob has been open about his willingness to pay whatever it takes to keep his core together long-term, and the financial boon expected from the move to Chase Center next season should help.
But more than a decadelong dynasty, the Warriors are focused on mirroring the sustained success of the Spurs. This will require unearthing gems late in the draft and rebuilding on the fly.
“The Spurs and the (New England) Patriots, as far as I know, are the only two teams that have been doing this (at a high level) for two decades in professional sports,” said head coach Steve Kerr, who has been close friends with San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich since Kerr’s four seasons as a reserve guard for the Spurs (19982001, 2002-03). “I think we have the potential to be a franchise like that. But, there’s also a lot of luck and a lot of work that goes into it.” Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cletourneau@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Con_Chron