“We Believe” brought magic to an area that didn’t have any
The Golden State Warriors will honor their 2006-07 team before Game 1 against the Utah Jazz because that team was special.
The entire Bay Area fell in love then had their hearts broken. Basketball fans became enamored with a collection of hoopers that were overlooked and unwanted. The 2006-07 Golden State Warriors were special.
People love winners. It’s what separates Chris Paul from many of the other greats. It’s why Kevin Garnett gets talked about differently than Charles Barkley. It’s the only thing the “Kobe Bryant is greater than LeBron James” crowd can hang on to.
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It’s why the 2016 Warriors, who won more games in a year than any team ever, will be considered lesser than the 2004 Detroit Pistons who won far less games. Those Pistons were fantastic, but they, realistically, would not be able to compete with those Warriors at full strength. But only one team got to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy.
On rare occasions, we get those players and teams that captivate us just enough to live forever. That’s what ’06-07 “We Believe” Warriors were. They didn’t need to add a banner to the rafters to seize sports immortality.
The “We Believe” Warriors lost in the second round of the playoffs. They put up a fight. They let Game 1 get away from them with poor free throw shooting and lost Game 2 in overtime. The team won in blowout fashion in Game 3, but were just overmatched over the last two games eventually losing the series 4-1.
But it was everything before that that made them legendary. A timely trade, an increase in effort, and an amazing hot streak set them on their way. They snuck into the playoffs and them made noise.
That entire roster became local heroes. I’ll admit–Baron Davis is still one of my favorite athletes of all time. Jason Richardson completely embodied what it meant to be a Warrior. Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington were saviors for their contributions after they were traded in mid-January. Matt Barnes was everyone’s spirit animal. Monta Ellis was a rising star and Andris Biedrins was a whole lot of fun. And so on and so forth.
They became the first eight seed to beat the top seeded team in a best-of-seven series. The Warriors ran the 67 win Dallas Mavericks out of the gym. Season MVP Dirk Nowitzki looked like he needed to forfeit the hardware to Davis.
They lost to the Jazz, but it didn’t matter. The Warriors broke a twelve year long playoff drought and they did it playing their own way. Golden State was absolutely fun, running and hitting threes in their bright yellow “The City” jerseys. They played a brand of basketball that was worth watching and ahead of its time.
This year’s Warriors, under Joe Lacob, will be honoring that team. And, of course, the Dubs are taking on the Jazz in the second round. It’s the right thing to do for a team that won us all over.
That team didn’t win a trophy. They didn’t break any win records. They didn’t even have any All-Stars and yet they are held in the same regard as the Warriors’ championship squad of 2015.
We Believe brought magic to a place that didn’t have any for a very long time.