Kurtenbach: The Warriors won their fourth title because they have
something that cannot be bought or taught
The Warriors beat the Celtics in six games to claim the NBA title —
their fourth in eight years. How did Steph Curry, Klay Thompson &
Draymond Green do it?
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 16: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry (30) and Klay Thompson (11) congratulate Draymond Green (23) after
scoring against the Denver Nuggets in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of
their NBA first round playoff series at Chase Center in San Francisco,
Calif., on Saturday, April 16, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 16: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry (30) and Klay Thompson (11) congratulate Draymond Green (23) after
scoring against the Denver Nuggets in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of
their NBA first round playoff series at Chase Center in San Francisco,
Calif., on Saturday, April 16, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
By DIETER KURTENBACH | dkurtenbach@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News
Group
PUBLISHED: June 16, 2022 at 9:00 p.m. | UPDATED: June 17, 2022 at 7:04 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/06/16/kurtenbach-the-warriors-won-their-fourth-title-because-they-have-something-that-cannot-be-bought-or-taught/

BOSTON — Golden State general manager Bob Myers was walking down the
aisle of the team’s plane on the Warriors’ flight to Boston on Wednesday
when he stopped in his tracks.

He had to say something, because the three stars of his team — Steph
Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green; the trio that built the
Warriors’ new San Francisco arena and filled it with banners — were
sitting together for the six-hour flight to another NBA Finals game.

The trio has played together for a decade. In a league run by stars
where loyalty is the exception, not the rule, the longevity for the
Warriors’ greats is, indeed, stunning.

But what Golden State’s stars have is even more special that that.

“Y’all don’t understand, it’s ten years. Like this, does not happen,’”
Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “Guys still sitting together at
the same table… He’s like, ‘guys are not even on the same team for ten
years, let alone still sitting there at the same table and enjoying each
other’s conversation and presence.’”

>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green
(23) gestures to teammate Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30)
after Curry made a 3-point basket during the fourth quarter of Game 6 of
the NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on Thursday, June 16,
2022. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics 103-90.
(Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

The Warriors will have an even happier flight home to San Francisco, on
Friday. Golden State beat the Celtics in six games to claim the NBA
title – their fourth in eight years. And they did it because they had
something that cannot be bought or taught:

Chemistry.

Yes, the prerequisite for winning games, much less titles, is talent,
and the Warriors had that in spades the first time they did it in 2015
and this time around, too.

But chemistry is the magic elixir for winning in this league. The
differentiator.

And not only do the Warriors’ top players know how to play together,
they know how to stay together. That’s allowed them to navigate both the
highs and lows of the last decade.

Those highs have been incredible. And in the tightest moments of the
biggest games, we’ve seen that chemistry and experience shine through —
trust, belief, and understanding all coming together to create something
special.

But the lows cannot be overlooked, either.

>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green
(23) hugs Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) as they celebrate
their 103-90 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 6 to win the NBA Finals
at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Nhat V.
Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

The Warriors were flash champions at first. No one foresaw their rise to
the NBA’s elite before the 2014-15 season, their first under head coach
Steve Kerr.

And who could have foreseen the Dubs, after back-to-back seasons missing
the postseason – with Thompson coming off a nearly 1,000-day layoff
because of injury, with Green having even more mileage on the odometer
and with Curry in his age 34 campaign – doing what they just did?

The epicenter of belief came from that trio.

And – like in any great partnership – they couldn’t quite explain why
they felt that way, either. They just knew it to be true.

“This journey wouldn’t be the same without those two guys,” Green said.
“I couldn’t imagine sharing this journey with anyone else. You know, we
built this thing from the ground up, and when you build something from
the ground up, that’s your baby, and I think for us, we all appreciate
each other and we understand what each of us bring to the table. It
stretches far past what we have accomplished on the basketball court.
You’re talking bonds, those bonds will last forever. We are linked and
connected together forever.”

This trio is no doubt a strange brew.

>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green
(23) hugs Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) after Curry received
the MVP trophy, next to Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson (11),
following their 103-90 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 6 to win the
NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on Thursday, June 16, 2022.
(Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Thompson is the most laid back in the universe. Green is perhaps the
most boisterous.

“I owe Draymond some money in dominoes, so I don’t want to see him too
many times,” Thompson said. “That’s funny. That happened like two days
ago. I was half asleep. Draymond and Bob were chatting their hearts away
for six hours on a plane ride. I was just trying to get some sleep. Good
times.”

And then there’s Curry, a fascinating mix of both. No one has more fun
playing basketball than Curry. No one works harder off the court.

Yet there’s always equilibrium. The combination has created greatness,
and all three know when they are needed to either step up or step back.

It allows role players to actually be role players. It affords young
players time to learn, even though the stakes are high. It allows
veterans to be pointed with their lessons and enjoy the ride, too.

It has obviously made Kerr’s coaching life pretty easy, relatively speaking.

But remove even one of them – as we saw with Thompson for two seasons or
Curry after he broke his hand early in the 2019-20 season – and the
operation falls apart.

>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors head coach
Steve Kerr hugs Golden State Warriors’ Gary Payton II (0) as they
celebrate their 103-90 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 6 to win the
NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on Thursday, June 16, 2022.
(Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

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It’s been back together since January though, albeit only for 11 minutes
before the playoffs started.
They came back together on the fly, in the postseason.

And by the end of these Finals, they looked like the 2015 edition of the
Dubs all over again.

“All the personalities are so different,” Curry said of the trip.
“Everybody comes from different backgrounds. But we’ve all jelled around
a collective unit of how we do things, whether it’s in the locker room,
on the plane, the hotels, like whatever it is. We know how to have fun
and jell and keep things light, but also understand what we’re trying to
do and why it all matters in terms of winning games.”

This trio is bonded by three things: enviable intelligence, experience
in the big moments, and the chips on their shoulders.

Thompson and Curry were both lottery picks in the NBA Draft, but neither
was considered a surefire star in the league.

Green was selected in the second round and remembers the names of
everyone taken before him.

>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry
(30) celebrates with teammate Klay Thompson (11) after winning the NBA
Championship at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on Thursday, June 16, 2022.
The Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics 103-90. (Jose
Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Even with all their incredible success — more than any one player or
team could possibly need — it’s those early slights that still stick,
that still motivate.

Curry was too small to put a team on his back and win NBA Finals MVP.

Allen wrote:
> Chemistry.
>
> Yes, the prerequisite for winning games, much less titles, is talent,
> and the Warriors had that in spades the first time they did it in 2015
> and this time around, too.
>
> But chemistry is the magic elixir for winning in this league. The
> differentiator.
>
> And not only do the Warriors’ top players know how to play together,
> they know how to stay together. That’s allowed them to navigate both the
> highs and lows of the last decade.

I wonder if it still happens that a bunch of players go out to dinner
after road games, and they play credit card roulette to figure out who's
going to pay the bill... ?

Smith