It is hard to win a championship in the NBA, just ask legends like Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Steve Nash, and Allen Iverson to name a few. It is even harder to win multiple titles, which is what makes this dynastic run of the Golden State Warriors all the more impressive.
They won their 4th championship in the last 8 seasons by beating the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals and have established themselves as one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history. Klay Thompson has been one of the biggest reasons for all this success but he has his eyes firmly set on winning another title. In fact, Klay had the Warriors put up a poster in his locker of the 26 players who have won 5 or more titles as a source of motivation, as he wants to join that group.
The newsclip, torn from the San Francisco Chronicle, features 26 faces—some in color, some black-and-white, some smiling, some stoic—arranged in tiers. They now stare back at Thompson every night at Chase Center, silently reminding the four-time champion of everything he hasn’t done yet, of all that he still hopes to accomplish.
There’s Bill Russell at the top, and beneath him K.C. Jones and John Havlicek, who sit a tier above Robert Horry, who glances down at Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan, who hover over a scrum of 13 others, including Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan. They are the only men in NBA history with more rings than Thompson—from Russell (11) down through Horry (seven) and the Magic/Kobe tier (five).
“The Five Rings and Above Club,” Thompson says on a recent off-day. “I didn’t know the list was that small. And the players who played in the modern era? It’s even shorter. So it’s like, Wow, that’s the only motivation I really need.”
It sure is quite a small list and quite a lot of the players on there played for those dynastic Celtics in the 1950s and 1960s. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Tim Duncan are among the few who have accomplished it over the last 25 to 30 years and it would be special if the Warriors trio of Klay, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green can join them.
Can The Warriors Win Back-To-Back Titles?
Before the season started, many would have had the Warriors as one of the favorites to win it all. They were bringing back most of their important players from 2021-22, but things have not gone to plan so far. They have a 15-18 record at this point and things are about to get a lot worse with Curry on the sidelines.
Stephen A. Smith said they hit rock bottom in their blowout loss to the Brooklyn Nets last time out, which made it seven defeats in their last nine games. They are really struggling but when Draymond was asked about the Warriors potentially being a play-in team, he replied he feels sorry for the no. 1 and no. 2 seed in the Western Conference if that happens. It is hard to argue with him there, as none of the elite teams would want to face them in the first round.
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