Golden State Warriors: 10 Steps To Winning A Championship

5. David Lee’s Injury

Like Andre Iguodala, David Lee was a former All-Star who was relegated to bench duty. Unlike Andre Iguodala, that wasn’t the plan with David Lee from the beginning of Steve Kerr’s tenure with Golden State. Fortunately for the Dubs, fate intervened.

No one should be glad that an injury happened, but when David Lee missed 24 of the first 25 games of the season with a strained left hamstring, Draymond Green made the most of his chance to show his defensive impact as a versatile, Swiss Army knife-type player. It wasn’t by chance that the Warriors rattled off a 22-3 record during that span.

During the regular season, it was sad to see a former double-double machine like David Lee confined to garbage time. His defense had always been a problem, but he was a great interior scorer, rebounder and passer whose skills would have him starting for quite a few other teams in this league.

But like Iguodala, Lee accepted his role and prioritized winning over everything else. In the process, Green blossomed as a First Team All-Defensive Player (who probably should’ve won Defensive Player of the Year as well) and the Warriors’ defense became the stingiest unit in the league.

Green’s improvement on the offensive end deserves credit, since his ability to spread the floor with a respectable three-point shot and his playmaking ability as the roll man in pick-and-roll sets with Curry made him a threat on offense as well. But his ability to guard four different positions helped the Warriors switch pick and rolls and made them that much tougher defensively, even during the brief periods of the season when Andrew Bogut was injured.

Even better, Lee was ultimately rewarded for his patience. When Kerr turned to him midway through the NBA Finals, he could’ve wilted under the pressure of the moment after being rarely utilized for so long. Instead, he came out on a mission near the end of Game 3, finishing with 11 points in 13 minutes.

The Warriors lost that game, but Lee’s minutes were an epiphany to Kerr, who went with a small-ball lineup for the rest of the series. From that point on, the Dubs were 3-0 to close Cleveland out and win the title.

Lee’s future with the Warriors is uncertain given the size of his contract, but it was fitting to see him rewarded with a championship for his acceptance of a lesser role that just so happened to lead to the emergence of a max player in Draymond Green.

Next: No. 4