Golden State Completes Return to Prominence with NBA Championship

Four years ago, the Golden State Warriors won their third NBA championship in four years. That was followed by another appearance in the Finals, though that ended in a loss to the Toronto Raptors. The following season, (2019-20) saw the departure of Kevin Durant, an injury to Klay Thompson that kept him out all year, and a plunge into the abyss as Golden State finished with the worst record in the NBA at 15-50. The 2020-21 season saw improvement to 39-33. This season, the Warriors came all the way back.

Stephen Curry scored 34 points to lead the Warriors to a 103-90 victory over the Celtics in Boston in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. With the victory, the Warriors won the series and their seventh NBA title in franchise history. Curry, who averaged 27.4 points in the post season, was named the MVP of the Finals, securing one of the few awards he had not won in his NBA career. It is the fourth NBA championship for Curry, Thompson, and Draymond Green, all starters, as well as for Andre Iguodala, who is in the twilight of his career. Andrew Wiggins, picked up in the 2019-20 season, had an excellent post season averaging 16.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. He scored 26 and had 13 rebounds in Game 5. Jordan Poole, drafted in that same 2019-20 season averaged 17 points per game in the post season. Coach Steve Kerr has been at the helm for all four of these championships; add the five he won as a player during the Chicago Bulls dynasty in the Michael Jordan years and he has nine total championships.