Draymond Green has made a bold claim that the NBA Championship won by the Golden State Warriors in 2022 was the toughest one of their championship dynasty, where they won four titles in seven years.
“2022 wasn’t really a championship team.. but that’s also when Steph took that next step of like, ‘nah, I’m really one of them GOATs,’ and he carried us. That was the toughest one. [The Warriors] weren’t favorites, like everybody was calling us too small… and we went and made it happen. So that one was my favorite one, and then also I told [Kevin Durant], ‘I’m gonna win when you leave here.’”
Draymond took a shot at Kevin Durant at the end of the quote, which makes sense given the frosty relationship between the pair since Durant’s departure. Draymond has taken multiple public shots directed at KD over this season, recently reminding his former teammate that the Warriors have won multiple titles without him.
As far as the point about the 2022 title, Draymond might be correct. Their 2015 title was won after the Cleveland Cavaliers fell apart due to injuries by the time they made it to the NBA Finals, with the 2017 and 2018 titles coming with former MVP Kevin Durant on the roster, who won consecutive Finals MVPs.
The 2022 Championship Was The Warriors’ Greatest Achievement
The 2022 title solidified the championship DNA of the Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond trio. They were expected to come out of the West but the Celtics were favorites in the Finals. Despite being favored, the Celtics just couldn’t compete with the Warriors and fell apart after taking a 2-1 lead in the series.
The story around the team that season was also extremely compelling. It was the first season of their ‘double-timeline’ setup, featuring a mix of veterans and very young players. Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga, and Jordan Poole made up the young energy on the roster, but Moody and Kuminga rarely played that season, with Poole serving as the team’s sixth man.
Klay Thompson returned after two-and-a-half years of injury rehab for a torn Achilles and a torn ACL midway through that season. Despite the rust on Curry’s backcourt partner, Thompson stepped up when it mattered and was crucial in the team’s championship bid. It’s made him one of the greatest injury recovery stories in NBA history, even if his decline has become unmissable this season.
The most significant part of that championship run was Stephen Curry, who elevated his name among the greatest players the league has ever seen. Not having a Finals MVP to his name always affected Curry’s legacy, but there was no question in 2022 after he admirably led the Warriors through the playoffs as the best player in the NBA.
The dynasty may be over after their second-round exit last season and current position as the 10th seed in the West, but the 2022 title convincingly proved that this may be the greatest trio in NBA history and the only modern dynasty we have seen in the last decade.
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