Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors are no strangers to the NBA Finals. They are the closest thing to a modern dynasty we have had, considering they have been in the NBA Finals every year except the last two, where Klay Thompson was out with back-to-back debilitating injuries.
The Warriors had a heartbreaking end to the 2020-21 season when they lost two games in the play-in tournament to the Los Angeles Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies. They came into this season with a fire to prove the doubters wrong, an endeavor they have been successful in so far, as they sit in the NBA Finals.
The job is not over until the Larry O’Brien trophy is in their hands, which is a circumstance the Warriors were preparing for all season. A video of Steve Kerr telling his team that they are fighting for a title in November has been shared by the NBA, proving that the championship mentality has run through the Warriors all season long.
Even early on in the regular season (11/16/21), Steve Kerr had his sights set on a title run for the Warriors. pic.twitter.com/ucEvMUoOk4
— NBA (@NBA) June 1, 2022
With the wage bill that the Warriors have and the age of their star trio, every season has to be a win-all season for the squad. Nobody understands that better than Steve Kerr, the coach who ushered in an era of winning for the Warriors in 2015.
Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green have been the crux of the Warriors for years, but this season they are getting a lot of help from the pieces around them. Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney had massive performances in the Dallas Mavericks series, while players like Jordan Poole have emerged as future stars.
Rookies like Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody are seeing the value of having a championship mentality as rookies, something that will go a long way in their development. Steve Kerr has been an admirable coach for years now, and his reinforcing the championship belief in his teams through tough times shows how the players have embraced him.
