Are The Golden State Warriors An All-Time Great Team?
What Comes Next
The Golden State Warriors are not the greatest NBA team we’ve ever seen. The statistics don’t back that kind of bold assertion up, even if you dive further into the numbers than simply recalling that the 1995-96 Bulls once went 72-10 during the regular season. But are the 2014-15 Dubs one of the 10 greatest NBA champions of all time? Without question.
They dominated the regular season to a degree that hasn’t been seen since that 1996-97 Chicago Bulls team that keeps popping up in this conversation. Statistically, the Dubs are the best team of the last 18 years, and they stack up pretty well with teams like Jordan’s Bulls, Larry Bird‘s Boston Celtics and Magic Johnson‘s Los Angeles Lakers.
The question is, what comes next after one of the greatest single seasons in NBA history?
Believe it or not, Golden State’s title defense could help define this team’s lasting legacy. Are they bound to be the next Michael Jordan-esque dynasty? Or was this just one tremendous campaign that will never be replicated by this current core again?
The Los Angeles Clippers are one re-signing of DeAndre Jordan away from being back in the title conversation next season. The Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs aren’t going anywhere. The Oklahoma City Thunder will be healthy again next year and the Cleveland Cavaliers will retool in the East as well.
Nothing gets easier for the Warriors from here, even if Golden State quickly takes care of business and re-signs Draymond Green this summer. A crucial assistant coach will be gone with Gentry coaching the Pellies, David Lee might be gone soon and this team won’t be the same next season. Will Green still play hungry as a max contract guy? Will Bogut stay healthy? Will the Warriors avoid getting complacent now that they’ve arrived?
We’ll have to wait a few months for the answers, but if the Warriors can make another deep playoff run next season — and especially if they win the title — they have a chance to start placing themselves in the conversation of the NBA’s all-time great teams…and perhaps even make their way toward dynasty territory down the road.
But no matter what the future holds, the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors had one of the greatest single seasons in NBA history and deserve recognition as such. No one can ever take that away from them and they have their seat at the table as one of the NBA’s 10 greatest teams. Now they just need to continue building on it to cement their legacy and determine where they sit at that table.
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