Stop Downplaying the Golden State Warriors Championship

“To win, you need to have luck and be healthy. We played great, but in the end, we had no luck and we weren’t healthy.”

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It’s been less than 48 hours since the Golden State Warriors were crowned the 2015 NBA Champions, but already the naysayers are back in force to try and discredit or downplay their victory. It wasn’t enough that the Warriors refuted critics’ claims that a “jump-shooting team will never win” or that they were simply “not good enough” – the haters have come out and claimed that the Warriors’ were ultimately “lucky” in their Finals victory, even going so far as to suggest that they were undeserving winners.

Sure, many of these naysayers are Internet “trolls”, but that quote at the start of the article was straight from LeBron James’ mouth. James played an incredible series, but was unfortunate that it was all for nothing in the end. However, insinuating that the Warriors only won due to luck is simply false.

If LeBron wants to complain about winning with the help of injuries, perhaps he should recall his 2012 title, when then-reigning MVP Derrick Rose missed the season due to an ACL injury.

Injuries are a part of this sport. When you have athletes performing incredible feats of athleticism, sometimes accidents happen. It is almost impossible to predict whether a player will suffer an injury, but steps can be taken to reduce the likelihood of injury.

June 7, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Leandro Barbosa (19) celebrates a scoring play with center Andrew Bogut (12), guard Stephen Curry (30) and forward Draymond Green (23)against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half in game two of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The Warriors were aware of the importance of health, and took measures to ensure that the team would be healthy come the playoffs. The following key players all averaged a career low in minutes per game this season: Stephen Curry (32.7), Andrew Bogut (23.6), and Andre Iguodala (26.9). No player on the roster averaged 33 or more minutes per game, and coach Steve Kerr prioritised his players’ health over the results.

Furthermore, it’s not as though the Warriors were handed an injury-free roster. Bogut has been labelled as “injury-prone” after missing chunks of time throughout the previous seasons – he was even injured for a portion of their games this season, requiring plasma-rich platelet therapy midway through the season. Curry and his ankles were also an injury red-flag, so it’s not as though the Warriors were a healthy bunch.

“But the Warriors were able to rest their starters due to their depth – not many other teams have that same luxury.”

While the claim that the Warriors had superior depth is true, the harsh reality is that not many teams would have picked up the Warriors’ bench players before the season started. Let’s take a look at the Warriors’ possible bench rotation before the season started:

Leandro Barbosa had been out of the league for over a year, and was turning 32. With most of his game predicated on speed and athleticism, his increased age did not make him an attractive free agent to teams.
Harrison Barnes underwent a sophomore slump, which led many to wonder if he was a bust. Some teams would take a gamble on him, as he’s still in the early stages of his career, but don’t expect him to be playing big minutes on a contender.
Marreese Speights is a mid-range shooting undersized center that can’t play defense – not many teams would want him.
Festus Ezeli missed most of the 2013-14 season due to injuries, and would even miss the first half of the 2014-15 regular season. Most teams would pass here.
Shaun Livingston had an impressive season with the Brooklyn Nets, and would be an attractive back-up point guard for a contending team.
Andre Iguodala proved that he could still provide stellar defense and secondary playmaking in his debut season with the Warriors, but his decline in free throw and long-range shooting was a concern.

As you can see, not many of the Warriors’ bench players were considered “must-haves” for most NBA teams. To act as though coach Steve Kerr and his coaching staff were handed one of the best benches in the league is to downplay the role of the coaches in the development of the players.

What I’m trying to say here is that the Warriors weren’t just lucky – they created their own luck. The team was cautious with player minutes and the coaches were able to fully utilize the talent on the bench.

So before you start referring to the Warriors as lucky or undeserving of the title, think again.

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