It has certainly been a season to remember for the Warriors, and one unlike any other for coach Steve Kerr.
As Golden State prepares for its sixth NBA Finals appearance in eight seasons, Kerr reflected on the team’s “rocky path” to get there ahead of Game 1 set for Thursday at Chase Center.
“I think we had great hope to start the season and belief, which we didn’t really have the previous two,” Kerr told reporters on Sunday. “It felt like we had a real chance to kind of get back in the fight, and I think our players felt that way too.
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“I also felt like we had refilled our cups after missing the playoffs the last two years. Everyone came into this season really hungry, and you could see the way we started … We shot out of the gates, great connection on this team, great camaraderie.”
As a result of that attitude coming into the 2021-22 NBA season, the Warriors began on a high note and jumped out to a league-best 18-2 record to start things off. But then, already without Klay Thompson, injuries hit Golden State veterans like Steph Curry, Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green.
“It felt right from the start, but the injuries didn’t allow us to really get to where we are now,” Kerr said.
The Warriors have reiterated this season that when they are healthy, they are one of the NBA’s greatest threats.
Golden State Warriors
They didn’t get to prove that until Game 1 of their opening playoff round against the Denver Nuggets, when Thompson, Curry and Green took the postseason court together for the first time in nearly three years.
With their dynastic core healthy and together on the floor again and a group of eager, young talents on the roster making a name for themselves as well, Golden State’s “rocky path” to the playoffs only helped prove the team’s resilience in the face of adversity -- and bonafide excellence once those hardships were overcome.
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“In the regular season, we literally never got our main guys on the floor at the same time until Game 1 of the Denver series,” Kerr said on Sunday. “So it was sort of a rocky path to get here, but I feel good about the process and our potential if we could get all of our key guys on the floor.”
Now, the Warriors will look to take the lessons they’ve learned so far this season -- and their clean bill of health -- into the Finals in search of the franchise’s seventh NBA title.