Resurrecting the Early Dynasty Warriors

[WarriorGM]

If we were to look back at the history of this dynastic Warriors team how would you guys divide the era?

Probably one of the clearest ways is by breaking down these successful Warriors years into the first championship and record 2016 season, the KD years, and the renewed Warriors with Wiggins onward.

On reflection I have to say that after KD left, the team didn't really go back to the kind of team it was in 2015 and 2016 when the Splash Brothers were in their element. Even the 2022 championship team didn't feel to me like the 2015 championship team. The 2022 team had Curry being more dominant and Klay playing less of a role. While Poole was making a splash, the Poole party still seemed more of a supplement coming off the bench that was an opening act to the Steph Curry show.

This 2025 team though is giving me stronger 2015 and 2016 Warriors vibes with the advent of the Splash Buddies and Curry so far picking his spots and being more of a facilitator. It has a stronger Strength in Numbers aura about it and seems a throwback to the early dynasty years before KD joined. If it is then this might be a special year since it harkens back to the time I think the Warriors were the most fun.

What do you guys think? What are your impressions?

[Big J]

Those early days might have been the most fun, but 2022 was the most meaningful with Curry shutting all of his haters up.

[WarriorGM]

Those early days might have been the most fun, but 2022 was the most meaningful with Curry shutting all of his haters up.

Oh I'm not saying that wasn't fun too. But there was a sort of gravitas about it because of the depths the team had fallen into and the effort that came with coming back from that. I remember the beginning of that season causing Warriors haters consternation and despair but then the team kind of went into autopilot and Steph was taken out of MVP contention for his subpar year while chasing the most threes record. The team then revved up again for the playoffs and finished a great run with the doubters plaintively doubting the team all the way.

Still there was a certain lightness that wasn't in as much supply like there was with the 2015 and 2016 teams that took the basketball world by storm. I think this 2025 team can capture that.

[ILOVEIT]

After KD left, they didn't have the young horses they do now. The 2022 year was about older vets.....no way they were going to run up and down like these younger cats.
This team has almost the same level of shooters as the earlier days (can't replace prime Klay). But man...that team having Iggy as a BENCH player? Wow.

Anyway, this version is super fun to watch. They still need Kuminga or Wiggins to elevate to that crunch time scorer when playoffs come around.

[ILOVEIT]

After KD left, they didn't have the young horses they do now. The 2022 year was about older vets.....no way they were going to run up and down like these younger cats.
This team has almost the same level of shooters as the earlier days (can't replace prime Klay). But man...that team having Iggy as a BENCH player? Wow.

Anyway, this version is super fun to watch. They still need Kuminga or Wiggins to elevate to that crunch time scorer when playoffs come around.

[Jester_]

Those early days might have been the most fun, but 2022 was the most meaningful with Curry shutting all of his haters up.

'22 playoffs was by far the best

KD years were annoying because it was basically expected that we'd steamroll everyone and that made it hard to get excited... especially when we were getting stomped by Harden

2015 had potential but the injuries to all our opponents killed the vibe. and 2016 was on track to be the best playoffs ever.... until it wasn't lol

[Big J]

We’re not going to be blowing teams out nightly like those early days. That’s Boston this year. I think we could take them in the playoffs though. Tatum is too much of a beta to ever have full faith in him. He got bullied hard in 2022.

[Nvnervous45]

I remember this college basketball player told me that a jump shooting team like the Warriors could never win a title. 4 titles later!!!!lol. That's what I liked about the early titles, nobody knew what they were seeing, including Charles Barkley. We truly changed the game.

[WarriorGM]

Those early days might have been the most fun, but 2022 was the most meaningful with Curry shutting all of his haters up.

'22 playoffs was by far the best

KD years were annoying because it was basically expected that we'd steamroll everyone and that made it hard to get excited... especially when we were getting stomped by Harden

2015 had potential but the injuries to all our opponents killed the vibe. and 2016 was on track to be the best playoffs ever.... until it wasn't lol

I don't know why anyone moreso a Warriors fan figures that injuries narrative for 2015 is even worth mentioning. There are injuries every year. Going through all the other First Team All-NBA? Don't think that's ever been done aside from 2015. Team with longest pre-season odds winning? 2015. Team going through the playoffs and winning the chip with its highest paid player missing most of it? Do you know of any other year other than 2015? That 2015 run is underrated.

We’re not going to be blowing teams out nightly like those early days. That’s Boston this year. I think we could take them in the playoffs though. Tatum is too much of a beta to ever have full faith in him. He got bullied hard in 2022.

Nah, this team should blow their opponents out nightly. Indeed that's what they've been doing in their wins and why they currently are first in net rating and SRS. I guess when Hield regresses that might stop but Steph hasn't exactly been much of a factor yet this year.

[Scoots1994]

Boston is going to come back to the field some. The issue is the Warriors will too.

[Jester_]

Those early days might have been the most fun, but 2022 was the most meaningful with Curry shutting all of his haters up.

'22 playoffs was by far the best

KD years were annoying because it was basically expected that we'd steamroll everyone and that made it hard to get excited... especially when we were getting stomped by Harden

2015 had potential but the injuries to all our opponents killed the vibe. and 2016 was on track to be the best playoffs ever.... until it wasn't lol

I don't know why anyone moreso a Warriors fan figures that injuries narrative for 2015 is even worth mentioning. There are injuries every year. Going through all the other First Team All-NBA? Don't think that's ever been done aside from 2015. Team with longest pre-season odds winning? 2015. Team going through the playoffs and winning the chip with its highest paid player missing most of it? Do you know of any other year other than 2015? That 2015 run is underrated.

We’re not going to be blowing teams out nightly like those early days. That’s Boston this year. I think we could take them in the playoffs though. Tatum is too much of a beta to ever have full faith in him. He got bullied hard in 2022.

Nah, this team should blow their opponents out nightly. Indeed that's what they've been doing in their wins and why they currently are first in net rating and SRS. I guess when Hield regresses that might stop but Steph hasn't exactly been much of a factor yet this year.

no, finals teams dont' lose 2 of their 3 best players "every year"

same reason nobody besides raps fans thinks the Raptors ring was 100% legit either.

what we did that season was remarkable. but it's a bummer that we couldn't have whooped those cavs fully healthy (especially considering what happened the next year)

[Scoots1994]

'22 playoffs was by far the best

KD years were annoying because it was basically expected that we'd steamroll everyone and that made it hard to get excited... especially when we were getting stomped by Harden

2015 had potential but the injuries to all our opponents killed the vibe. and 2016 was on track to be the best playoffs ever.... until it wasn't lol

I don't know why anyone moreso a Warriors fan figures that injuries narrative for 2015 is even worth mentioning. There are injuries every year. Going through all the other First Team All-NBA? Don't think that's ever been done aside from 2015. Team with longest pre-season odds winning? 2015. Team going through the playoffs and winning the chip with its highest paid player missing most of it? Do you know of any other year other than 2015? That 2015 run is underrated.

We’re not going to be blowing teams out nightly like those early days. That’s Boston this year. I think we could take them in the playoffs though. Tatum is too much of a beta to ever have full faith in him. He got bullied hard in 2022.

Nah, this team should blow their opponents out nightly. Indeed that's what they've been doing in their wins and why they currently are first in net rating and SRS. I guess when Hield regresses that might stop but Steph hasn't exactly been much of a factor yet this year.

no, finals teams dont' lose 2 of their 3 best players "every year"

same reason nobody besides raps fans thinks the Raptors ring was 100% legit either.

what we did that season was remarkable. but it's a bummer that we couldn't have whooped those cavs fully healthy (especially considering what happened the next year)

You think the Raptors didn't earn their title? Sure there are different levels of injury, but injury is a regular part of the game. No asterisk needed.

[Jester_]

I don't know why anyone moreso a Warriors fan figures that injuries narrative for 2015 is even worth mentioning. There are injuries every year. Going through all the other First Team All-NBA? Don't think that's ever been done aside from 2015. Team with longest pre-season odds winning? 2015. Team going through the playoffs and winning the chip with its highest paid player missing most of it? Do you know of any other year other than 2015? That 2015 run is underrated.



Nah, this team should blow their opponents out nightly. Indeed that's what they've been doing in their wins and why they currently are first in net rating and SRS. I guess when Hield regresses that might stop but Steph hasn't exactly been much of a factor yet this year.

no, finals teams dont' lose 2 of their 3 best players "every year"

same reason nobody besides raps fans thinks the Raptors ring was 100% legit either.

what we did that season was remarkable. but it's a bummer that we couldn't have whooped those cavs fully healthy (especially considering what happened the next year)

You think the Raptors didn't earn their title? Sure there are different levels of injury, but injury is a regular part of the game. No asterisk needed.

no because if we were healthy we would've smacked them.

[Scoots1994]

no, finals teams dont' lose 2 of their 3 best players "every year"

same reason nobody besides raps fans thinks the Raptors ring was 100% legit either.

what we did that season was remarkable. but it's a bummer that we couldn't have whooped those cavs fully healthy (especially considering what happened the next year)

You think the Raptors didn't earn their title? Sure there are different levels of injury, but injury is a regular part of the game. No asterisk needed.

no because if we were healthy we would've smacked them.

But some version of that is pretty much always part of the narrative. If Steph doesn't slip on a sweat puddle against Houston the Cavs probably can't come back from the 3-1 lead the Warriors had. The problem is that no team is 100% healthy by the finals.

Talk about reasons that contributed to losing sure, but saying the winner isn't legit is nuts.

[Jester_]

You think the Raptors didn't earn their title? Sure there are different levels of injury, but injury is a regular part of the game. No asterisk needed.

no because if we were healthy we would've smacked them.

But some version of that is pretty much always part of the narrative. If Steph doesn't slip on a sweat puddle against Houston the Cavs probably can't come back from the 3-1 lead the Warriors had. The problem is that no team is 100% healthy by the finals.

Talk about reasons that contributed to losing sure, but saying the winner isn't legit is nuts.

there's always some aberation, but multiple star players injured is not the same as everyone not being 100%

you can't put the raps ring on anywhere near the same level as, say, the Pistons '03 ring. i'm not saying they're not "legit" a ring is a ring - but there is absolutely an asterisk

the initial conversation is about what ring was the most special. dirk's 2011 ring is a thousand times more special than KD's 2 rings.

[Scoots1994]

no because if we were healthy we would've smacked them.

But some version of that is pretty much always part of the narrative. If Steph doesn't slip on a sweat puddle against Houston the Cavs probably can't come back from the 3-1 lead the Warriors had. The problem is that no team is 100% healthy by the finals.

Talk about reasons that contributed to losing sure, but saying the winner isn't legit is nuts.

there's always some aberation, but multiple star players injured is not the same as everyone not being 100%

you can't put the raps ring on anywhere near the same level as, say, the Pistons '03 ring. i'm not saying they're not "legit" a ring is a ring - but there is absolutely an asterisk

the initial conversation is about what ring was the most special. dirk's 2011 ring is a thousand times more special than KD's 2 rings.

Okay, you were the one who brought "legit" into the convo just to be clear.

I didn't much care for Dirk's 2011, but it was a miracle for sure.

I think Steph beating all the other all-nba players on the way to a ring is pretty special.

Byron Scott didn't play after being injured the day before the finals and Magic was injured in game 2 and barely played in game 3 in a detroit sweep. That's multiple star players injured.

As long as you accept that the team that won the title deserved the title ... because they actually won.

[Warriorfan]

Haves of NBA improved since 2022.

Warriors need a Bogut reserve facsimile.

[Scoots1994]

Those early days might have been the most fun, but 2022 was the most meaningful with Curry shutting all of his haters up.

'22 playoffs was by far the best

KD years were annoying because it was basically expected that we'd steamroll everyone and that made it hard to get excited... especially when we were getting stomped by Harden

2015 had potential but the injuries to all our opponents killed the vibe. and 2016 was on track to be the best playoffs ever.... until it wasn't lol

The Warriors were "stomped" by Harden?

[Scoots1994]

Haves improved since 2022.

Warriors need a Bogut reserve facsimile.

Bogut was so under-rated. When the team was just starting to put it together and Bogut got hurt it took a while for them to adjust but it was healthy in the long run and Draymond took up the leadership role Bogut had been in. Those early years were so much fun watching them learn from each other and through hardship and keep moving forward.

In the current NBA the closest player to Bogut is probably Brook Lopez ... who is only 3 years younger than Bogut

The conflict with centers is, and has always been, do they need a bunch of shots to maintain effort on the other end. If we follow the Bogut model what you look for is a defensive monster who captains the defense, and also captains the offense at the other end while setting monster (and often illegal) screens.

Then add to all that, now you need that player to be above the Mendoza line on 3pt shooting too.

[CDM_Stats]

Everything, all of it since 2009, is the Steph era. Eras arent ever named after the 2nd place finisher, or the lieutenants.. the general gets the name. Steph Era 2009-current