Golden State Warriors: The Ultimate Team

If the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary could be re-written today, under synonyms for the word “team,” you would find “The 2014-2015 Golden State Warriors.”

For there likely has never been a team like the Warriors that so embodied that word, so meshed as one unit, so selfless that their “just us” attitude and unselfish dedication led them to their first championship since Gerald Ford was President.

And there has likely never been a Finals with two teams that contrast so much in nearly everything — style of play, chemistry, attitude, leadership.

As LeBron James now famously quipped after a Game 5 loss that pushed his team to the brink of elimination, “I feel confident because I’m the best player in the world. It’s simple.”

Except it’s not really that simple.

Not without Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. Not with LeBron reverting back to the 2007 version of himself. And especially not with the opponent being these Warriors, a team built to counteract exactly all that the Cavaliers are: isolation basketball, little teamwork, full of dysfunction.

With this Finals win, the Warriors not only proved that teams relying on outside shooting can win, but they also became the first team to take the Spurs-ian model of ball movement and unselfishness to a whole new level.

Watching the Warriors this season was like watching the Harlem Globetrotters, except the opponent was actual NBA talent and not the Washington Generals. Running the weave, swinging the ball from end-to-end like a hot potato, passing up a good shot for an even better shot — the Warriors, like that State Farm commercial says, took full advantage of “the power of the assist.” The Warriors led the NBA in assists in both the regular season (27.4 per game) and in the playoffs (24.5 per game), compared to just 18.0 per game for Cleveland, better than only Portland in the playoffs.

May 25, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes (40) looks to pass around Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (12) during the first quarter in game four of the Western Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs. at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

It’s unbelievable, really, how willing this team was to pass the ball considering the talent. Stephen Curry vaunted into the depths of true superstardom and claimed the MVP award, yet very rarely would he hold on to the ball for a full possession before flinging up a contested shot, nor would he ever make a comment about his greatness a la LeBron. Klay Thompson started the All-Star Game and set an NBA record for most points in a quarter, yet never looked to dominate the ball a la Kobe Bryant.

The Warriors truly bought in to Steve Kerr‘s offensive system, a system with spacing and movement and motion and passing. Lots of it. That meant more shots for everybody, which meant less opportunity for players to dominate the ball and pad their stats. It meant that everyone would have to sacrifice in order for all comers to get a piece of the pie.

And sacrifice, they did.

David Lee and Andre Iguodala, former All-Stars, happily took seats on the bench and didn’t pout, despite the fact that their replacements were Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes, two youngsters with far less experience and pedigree. Lee became a running joke on social media — the Warriors’ highest-paid player languishing on the bench — yet didn’t complain. Iguodala, who had started every single game of his career for 9 seasons, saw his numbers dip well below his career averages, but never pouted and kept the team first.

All of the above — the system, the mindset, the teamwork, the unselfishness — paid off in the final, crucial games of the championship round. In a risky move, Kerr opted to replace Andrew Bogut in the starting lineup with Iguodala with the Warriors down 2-1.

October 24, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut (12), shooting guard Andre Iguodala (9), and point guard Stephen Curry (30) look on during the fourth quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Oracle Arena. The Trail Blazers defeated the Warriors 90-74. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Normally, a player who was a former No. 1 overall pick and one of the elite centers in the league would be aghast at being benched in the NBA Finals after playing big minutes all season. And Bogut probably would have been upset on any other team, but as he mentioned to Tim Kawikami of the San Jose Mercury News, he had no right to complain. Not on this team.

“I think it’s important to be selfless,” he said. “We have a very deep team. We have a lot of guys that you would say are getting screwed out of minutes, like you said. So I’ve got no reasons to gripe. If it’s going to win us a championship, which I think it will, I’ll be happy with it.”

Bogut played exactly zero minutes in Games 5 and 6 — both Warrior wins — while Iguodala took the basketball world by storm, breaking out as the designated LeBron-stopper and suddenly re-kindling his All-Star days with the 76ers. He knocked down key shot after key shot and made pivotal defensive plays that helped the Warriors even up and eventually take control of the series.

More from Blue Man Hoop

• 3x champion may come to regret forgoing Golden State Warriors reunion
• Golden State Warriors: History shows USA may need Stephen Curry for more than the Olympics
• 7 players Golden State Warriors might replace Klay Thompson with by the trade deadline
• Golden State Warriors villain pours on more pain to end USA’s World Cup
• Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry continues philanthropic efforts off the court

It earned Iguodala the Finals MVP, capping off a fairy-tale of a story that embodies this team: former All-Star relegated to bench role, averages career-lows in every significant statistical category, replaces former No. 1 overall pick and bona fide center in starting lineup in most important games of season, wins Finals MVP.

On what other team would that sequence be possible? And it wound up being the key that saved the Warriors season, from the world salivating all over the eminence of His Highness LeBron James and discarding Golden State as a rogue, jump-shooting, inexperienced, flawed team that would never win a ring playing their style.

For their style so diverges from the ego-centric, individualistic, look-at-me culture that has overtaken modern society, one that promotes “Hero Ball” (looking at you, TNT) instead of collectivism.

When you look back at the 2014-2015 Golden State Warriors, you might think of Stephen Curry’s wizardry, Klay Thompson’s smooth jumper, Draymond Green’s energy, Harrison Barnes’ explosive dunks, Andrew Bogut’s blocks, or Andre Iguodala’s superb defense.

But that would be one person carrying the torch, and for this team, it wasn’t one person or even two or three people like Magic and Kareem, Jordan and Pippen, Kobe and Shaq, or LeBron, Wade and Bosh.

It was a team, a true team, 15 players from Stephen Curry to Ognjen Kuzmic who bought in to the system, saw it all the way through, and reaped the ultimate reward.

And that is why when you look back at this team, this Golden State Warriors championship team, instead of a LeBron-like diva, you may actually think of a team.