The Golden State Warriors over the last decade have established themselves as one of the biggest dynasties in NBA history. With a future Hall of Famer like Stephen Curry starring alongside other stars like Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, it isn’t surprising that the Dubs have been a dominant force for such a long time.
While they had their fair share of trials and tribulations when they saw two of the biggest superstars in Curry and Thompson missing the 2019-20 season, the Warriors made an incredible return to the postseason. Cruising to the Finals, the Warriors defeated the favorites Boston Celtics to win their fourth title in seven years in the 2021-22 season.
Draymond Green Thinks The Warriors Weren’t At The Level Of Lakers Early In Their Dynasty
While the Warriors truly showed up during their 2014-15 season, they started showing their promise ever since the 2012-13 season. While some young teams are pretty confident of their abilities in challenging the best teams in the league, Draymond Green claims that the Dubs were surely not at the level of the Lakers early in their dynasty.
In a recent guest appearance at the Caffeine TV’s Checc’n-in podcast, Green explained how he and his Dubs teammates felt once they became an up-and-coming team in the West. (36:44 onwards):
“For us, when we really started to come to play in the west, was once we started having battles with the Clippers. The Lakers for us was like that’s cool, that’s them. We can’t compete with that. They OG’s like if we’re going to match up with them in the playoffs and they beat us, they supposed to, that’s cool. So we weren’t really looking at the Lakers like ‘We gotta get to them.’ Who we were looking at was everyone at that time was talking about how the Clippers were the next young team up, but we didn’t believe that.”
While the Dubs were not eying for the Lakers’ spot then, they set their sight on becoming the best young team in the West in place of the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers, who had the duo of a prime Chris Paul and exciting talent like Blake Griffin, looked like the next great team in the league.
While they did make their mark in the postseason, the Clippers were unfortunate as they suffered untimely injuries or just choked in some series. While they defeated the Warriors in the 2014 playoffs, their championship window closed instantly in 2015 when the Dubs emerged, ultimately killing off the CP3 and Blake-led Clippers era.
Once the Warriors dominated, they didn’t stop, and four championships in seven years later; the Dubs continue to be the biggest dynasty in the NBA right now.
