We’re almost six weeks away from the NBA Playoffs, and it’s abundantly clear that the Warriors making it to the Finals five straight times, winning three championships, was pretty remarkable in real time, but seems downright monumental in retrospect. .
It’s entirely plausible that the Warriors are the last team to accomplish such a feat.
“I think it’s very unlikely,” coach Steve Kerr told Keynote USA Sports Bay Area this week.
The Warriors are not only the last team to win consecutive NBA Finals, but also the last team to reach the Finals in a row.
The entire cast has changed every year since 2019, when Golden State, in its fifth straight trip to the Finals, lost to the Toronto Raptors. Since both the defending champion Denver Nuggets and their 2023 Finals foe, the Miami Heat, were eliminated from the playoffs, there will be two completely different teams facing off next month.
Knocked out of the playoffs last Sunday, the Nuggets fell victim to the same beast that has ravaged every defending champion since 2018: fatigue. It is as ruthless as it is relentless and grows every year.
“I think the streak from last season and the return and the amount of minutes our starters had to play,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after the Game 7 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, “I think Mentally, emotionally (and) physically, guys are gassed.
Of course they were. Denver’s 2022-23 season lasted nearly nine months, from the start of training camp on September 27, 2022, to June 12, 2023, when the Nuggets clinched the NBA Finals. That’s what it took to become champions.
They didn’t have enough to repeat. The same goes for the 2022 champion Warriors, who were eliminated in the Western Conference semifinals next season. It also applies to the Milwaukee Bucks, who won it all in 2021 but were sent home in the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2022.
The Los Angeles Lakers, 2020 champions, were eliminated in the first round the following season. After winning the crown in 2019, the Raptors were stopped in the conference finals the following year.
“The first thing you realize is that everyone is teaming up to beat you,” Kerr said. “They’re not just targeting you. They’re literally building their team to beat you. (Denver’s Nikola) Jokic even said it after the loss. He said, ‘That team is built to beat us.'” If (the Timberwolves) don’t have those three players 7-footer, I don’t think they’ll win Game 7 or that series.
“Once you win one, everyone not only attacks you, becomes emotionally charged, but also conspires for you. “It gets harder and harder.”
Each of the last eight teams to reach the finals faced several factors, but what they had in common was a season that lasted more than eight months. No matter the conditioning, the fatigue factor is real and certainly contributed to Denver being exhausted after an extended season.
Any team that manages to document five consecutive extended seasons is embracing and successfully navigating an element of torture.
“I still marvel at our guys and the energy they mustered during that stretch,” Kerr said. “Take on all the contestants and keep going back there. Obviously, we had a lot of talent, but it takes more than that. It takes incredible passion and a competitive desire. And our guys had that.”
It also takes a willingness to adapt on the fly and carefully manage practice schedules. However, there is more to it than that.
The NBA and the Players Association are reaching collective bargaining agreements to promote lasting parity. The collective agreement, with its various financial obstacles, is designed to fight the concept of dynasties and generate workforce turnover.
“That’s definitely a problem,” Kerr said. “More importance is given to trying to develop young people. And developing young people while trying to win a championship (I know this firsthand) is not easy. (Malone) talked about it the other night after losing Game 7. All forces conspire against you when you’re the champion.”
Skillful moves during the offseason and at the trade deadline can upset the balance of power. Winning a title is hard enough, but it’s nearly impossible to assemble a championship roster and maintain it, even beyond the NBA Finals.
The 2022 champion Warriors lost a key player in Otto Porter Jr. The 2023 champion Nuggets lost crucial reserves Bruce Brown Jr. and Jeff Green. After leading the Raptors to the 2019 title, Kawhi Leonard signed with his hometown Los Angeles Clippers.
Then there is the natural evolution of the league and its players. The Warriors have done a wonderful job of maintaining a three-man core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. They are appreciated now, but their legend is destined to expand over time.
“The league is a lot better now than it was 10 years ago when I got here,” Kerr said. “Part of that is the example Steph and Klay set with the shooting. He really inspired a lot of young players but also a lot of teams. There were plenty of other trends happening too, like court spacing and league bigs shooting 3-pointers.
“Between the pace, the skill and the amount of shooters people have, the league is dramatically better. Going through a gauntlet of four playoff opponents – and chances are all of them can bury you on any given night and make 25 3-pointers – just makes domination that much harder.”
The Los Angeles Lakers reached three consecutive NBA Finals (2008-10), winning two. Miami Heat made it four in a row (2011-14), winning two. The Warriors reached five (2015-19). It was as if each team was passing the torch to the next over a 12-year period.
The torch goes out. The road to the Finals is a crowded field that gets smaller along the way. And the teams that did it last year must overcome the biggest beast of all.
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