The Golden State Warriors have gotten back to the NBA Finals, and there is no doubt that this is a great achievement for a franchise that missed the playoffs for the last two seasons.
Steve Kerr has recently opened up on the Warriors’ “rocky path” to get to the Finals, praising his team for having a “great connection” and “great camaraderie”, while also adding that the injuries on the team “didn’t allow” them to show this level of play during the regular season. Angelina Martin of NBC Sports relayed the news.
As Golden State prepares for its sixth Finals appearance in eight seasons, Kerr reflected on the team’s “rocky path” to get there ahead of Game 1 set for Thursday at Chase Center.
“I think we had great hope to start the season and belief, which we didn’t really have the previous two,” Kerr told reporters on Sunday. “It felt like we had a real chance to kind of get back in the fight, and I think our players felt that way too.
“I also felt like we had refilled our cups after missing the playoffs the last two years. Everyone came into this season really hungry, and you could see the way we started … We shot out of the gates, great connection on this team, great camaraderie.”
As a result of that attitude coming into the 2021-22 NBA season, the Warriors began on a high note and jumped out to a league-best 18-2 record to start things off. But then, already without Klay Thompson, injuries hit Golden State veterans like Steph Curry, Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green.
“It felt right from the start, but the injuries didn’t allow us to really get to where we are now,” Kerr said.
There is no doubt that the Golden State Warriors have really bounced back after not being contenders. They still have their original core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, while also having some great young players such as Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole.
Draymond Green has previously claimed that the Golden State Warriors would win the 2021-22 NBA championship, and they will have a chance to make that happen soon enough. We’ll see if they can lift their 4th championship during the Stephen Curry era, and they will certainly be the favorites against the young Boston Celtics squad.
