The Golden State Warriors dynasty seemed to have come to an end in 2019. They had just lost to the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals and during that series, Kevin Durant suffered an injury to his Achilles while Klay Thompson tore his ACL. Durant would then leave in the off-season and the 2019-20 season would end disastrously for Golden State, as injuries ravaged the team.
They finished at the bottom of the West with a 15-50 record and while they improved the following season, thanks to Steph Curry’s heroics, they still ended up missing the playoffs. Coming into the 2021-22 season, no one was sure what to expect from them, but the Warriors bounced back to win 53 games.
They then proceeded to run through the Conference and made it back to the NBA Finals for the 6th time in the last 8 seasons. It is the first time that a team has made it to 6 Finals in 8 seasons since Michael Jordan’s Bulls did it in the 1990s and one NBA analyst claimed that the Warriors would be the best dynasty since the Bulls if they end up winning the title this year:
If the Golden State Warriors win the NBA Championship ..
6 NBA Finals appearances
4 NBA Championships
8 years
That would be the best dynasty since Michael Jordan and the Bulls.
And there’s still plenty of time for more
— Ben Stinar (@BenStinar) May 24, 2022
“If the Golden State Warriors win the NBA Championship ..
6 NBA Finals appearances
4 NBA Championships
8 years
That would be the best dynasty since Michael Jordan and the Bulls.
And there’s still plenty of time for more”
It is an interesting argument and there is some merit to it, although we’d think that the San Antonio Spurs would have something to say about this. The Spurs won 4 titles from 1999 to 2007 and they never missed the playoffs during that time. They would also go on to add a 5th title in 2014 over the Miami Heat, after losing to them in the Finals in 2013.
The Warriors have had a great amount of success and they will go down as one of the greatest dynasties of all time, but they probably need to sustain this level of excellence for a bit longer to eclipse the Spurs.