NBA Champions

On June 16, the Warriors finished off the Cleveland Cavaliers to win their first NBA Championship since 1975. In doing so, the Warriors completed one of the most impressive seasons in NBA history. This accomplishment is even more extraordinary when one considers how abysmal this franchise has been for decades.

Warriors celebrate their long awaited championship.

The Warriors finished the season with 67 wins, which ties them for the sixth most wins all time. The only teams with more wins in a regular season that also won the Championship are the 1996 Bulls (72 wins), 1972 Lakers (69 wins), 1997 Bulls (69 wins), and the 1967 76ers (68 wins). In addition to winning basketball games, the Warriors played a dominant style of play. They led the league in defensive efficiency and were second in the league in offensive efficiency. The only other team since 1980 to be in the top two in both offensive and defensive efficiency was the 1996 Bulls. Furthermore, before the Memphis series, the Warriors were 44-0 when allowing less than 100 points. In effect, the Warriors were not merely a better version of the gimmick, run-and-gun, “We Believe” Warriors from 2007 and can do more than just shoot the 3s that have made them famous. Rather, this year’s champions were a complete team with a great offense, but also a dominant defense. This combination led to the Warriors special run.

While the Warriors experienced great success this season, that has not been a common trend in the Bay Area. The Warriors had not even been to a conference final since 1976. Furthermore, among teams that have been in existence since 1975, they are the second lowest in playoff appearances of all NBA teams in that span. On a similar topic, the Warriors 12 season playoff draught from 1994 to 2006 is the second longest playoff draught of all time, trailing only the Clippers’ 15-year draught. Considering the Warrior’s history, this most recent championship was even more special.

Team	Playoff Appearances since 1974-1975
LAC	9
GSW	10
SAC	14
WAS	18
BRK	19
CLE	19
DEN	22
IND	22
NYK	22
DET	23
MIL	23
PHI	25
UTA	25
ATL	26
CHI	26
OKC	26
HOU	27
BOS	28
PHO	28
POR	31
LAL	35
SAS	35
ORL	14 (founded 1990)
MIA	18 (founded 1989)
DAL	20 (founded 1981)
NOP	6 (founded 2003)
TOR	7 (founded 1997)
MIN	8 (founded 1990)
MEM	8 (founded 1996)
CHA	9 (founded 1989)

A big reason why the Warriors fell into such hard times was the departure of Chris Webber. After Webber lead the Warriors to the playoffs in his first NBA Season (1994), he forced his way out of Golden State due to disagreements with then head coach Don Nelson. Weber’s departure initiated the twelve year playoff draught that ended in 2007.

Finally, the question is whether this success is sustainable or if the Warriors will soon return to their losing ways of old. First, let’s consider the coach. This season, Steve Kerr became the first rookie head coach since Pat Riley in 1982 to win a Championship. Winning a Championship as a rookie coach does not guarantee future success. However, Kerr led his team to the best record for any team with a rookie head coach in NBA history. With Kerr at the helm, the Warriors appear to be in good hands.

Coach	First Year	Total Titles	Team
John Kundla	1949	5	Minneapolis Lakers
Pat Riley	1982	5	Los Angeles Lakers
Edward Gottlieb	1947	1	Philadelphia Warriors
Buddy Jeannette	1948	1	Baltimore Bullets
Steve Kerr	2015	1	Golden State Warriors
George Senesky	1956	1	Philadelphia Warriors
Paul Westhead	1980	1	Los Angeles Lakers

This table shows head coaches that won a championship as a rookie head coach. It is interesting to note that the Warriors as a franchise have won 4 NBA championships and rookie head coaches have won 3 of those.

Next, let’s consider the team’s superstar, Stephen Curry. Since dealing with ankle concerns early in his career, Curry has been an ascending star. After returning from his injury shortened 2012 season, Curry has improved every year in terms of field goal percentage, steals per 36 minutes, points per 36 minutes, assists per 36 minutes, rebounds per 36 minutes, win shares, and PER. In addition, Curry seemed to reach a whole new level this year. He earned his first MVP. Curry was only the second Warrior to win this honor (the other was Wilt Chamberlin in 1960). In addition, this superstar comes at a good value. Of all players in the top 20 in win shares, Curry leads all players not on rookie contracts in terms of win shares / 2015 salary. The Warriors have two more years on this steal of a contract. 

The above video highlights the ten most spectacular plays made by this years MVP, Stephen Curry. 

Player	Team	Win Shares	2015 Salary	Value (10^7 * Win Shares / Salary)
Rudy Gobert	UTA	9.3	1,175,880	79.08970303
Jimmy Butler	CHI	11.2	2,008,748	55.75612272
Damian Lillard	POR	10.6	3,340,920	31.72778756
Klay Thompson	GSW	8.8	3,075,880	28.60969869
Anthony Davis	NOP	14	5,607,240	24.9677203
Stephen Curry	GSW	15.7	10,629,213	14.77061378
Kyrie Irving	CLE	10.4	7,070,730	14.70852373
Pau Gasol	CHI	10.4	7,128,000	14.59034792
DeAndre Jordan	LAC	12.8	11,440,123	11.18869089
James Harden	HOU	16.4	14,728,844	11.1346145
Tim Duncan	SAS	9.6	10,361,446	9.265116085
Chris Paul	LAC	16.1	20,068,563	8.022497675
Al Horford	ATL	8.7	12,000,000	7.25
Tyson Chandler	DAL	10.3	14,846,888	6.93748077
Russell Westbrook	OKC	10.6	15,719,062	6.743404918
Marc Gasol	MEM	10.3	15,829,688	6.50676122
Gordon Hayward	UTA	8.7	14,746,000	5.899905059
Kevin Love	CLE	8.7	15,719,063	5.534681043
Blake Griffin	LAC	9	17,674,613	5.092049257
LeBron James	CLE	10.4	20,644,400	5.037685765

This table shows the value of the top 20 players in the NBA in terms of win shares. Here, value is defined as win shares / salary times a constant. Bold denotes rookie contracts, which will be lower in salary by default.

The Warriors are also in a good position in terms of their roster. The Warriors are young, and had the 4^th youngest average starter age of all playoff teams. Of the three teams younger than the Warriors, only one won a single playoff game and none advanced past the first round. The young core of the team consists of Stephen Curry (26), Draymond Green (24), Klay Thompson (24), and Harrison Barnes (23). While Key players like Andrew Bogut (31) and Andre Iguaodala (30) are older, the Warriors can hope that the young players will continue to improve and that they will be able to replace older ones when the time comes.

Team	Average Starter Age	Season Result
MIL	24.6	Lost in 1st Round
NOP	24.8	Lost in 1st Round
TOR	25	Lost in 1st Round
GSW	25.2	Won Championship
BOS	25.2	Lost in 1st Round
POR	26.6	Lost in 1st Round
HOU	26.6	Lost in Conference Finals
CLE	27	Lost in NBA Finals
LAC	28.8	Lost in 2nd Round
ATL	28.8	Lost in Conference Finals
WAS	28.8	Lost in 2nd Round
CHI	29.6	Lost in 2nd Round
SAS	30	Lost in 1st Round
DAL	30.2	Lost in 1st Round
BKN	30.2	Lost in 1st Round
MEM	30.4	Lost in 2nd Round

This chart shows the average starter age of every team in the playoffs and where they finished. The starters were deemed to be the five players with the most starts during the regular season.

In all, this was a remarkable Warriors team. While Curry got fame for winning the MVP, numerous players played large roles in winning the NBA championship. Throughout the season, the depth of the team was constantly on display. For example, this year was the first time an NBA finals MVP (Andre Iguodala) started 0 regular season games. Also worth noting is that the Warriors’ two highest paid players were David Lee and Andre Iguodala. They combined for four starts during the regular season despite the fact that each is a former all-star. While this remarkable depth may deteriorate over time, the Warriors’ young starting five, a superstar in Stephen Curry, and good coaching from Steve Kerr should keep the Warriors contending for years to come.

By Andrew Latham

Class of 2017