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TORONTO — When the 2019 NBA Finals tip off Thursday, the Warriors will be taking on more than the Toronto Raptors, they’ll be taking on history.
The Warriors have already become the first modern-era team to go to five consecutive NBA Finals, but now, they have a chance to win four titles in five years — something that has not been done since the Boston Celtics did it in the 1960s, when the NBA consisted of eight teams.
Win the title, and the Warriors’ run is inarguably one of the greatest in the modern history of the NBA. I’d argue it’s the best — three in a row and four out of five.
Three out of five, though? That’s great, but not transcendent. In the hierarchy of dynasties. The Warriors would certainly fall behind the five teams that won three in a row.
So, yeah, these Finals are loaded. And that’s not just for the team’s legacy.
Here are three big things the Finals will define:
1. Steph Curry’s legacy
Stephen Curry is a singular talent in basketball history, the greatest shooter of all time, and a one-man basketball revolution. History will be much kinder to his legacy than the current brand of caustic conversation where everything must be ranked in real time and one-on-one dominance overshadows the fact that there are eight other players on the court.
Warriors sage Andre Iguodala thinks Curry is the second-greatest point guard of all time and that he’s underrated overall.
And he’s right that Curry is underrated, but Iguodala is underrating him too. Curry is the greatest point guard to ever play the game. It’s just hard for people to admit that when he’s 31 years old and we live in the Golden Age of Point Guards. But when it’s all said and done, I’m certain Curry will be on basketball’s Mount Rushmore.
That said, these NBA Finals will be huge for Curry’s legacy. As strong as his resume is, one of the few knocks on it is the lack of an NBA Finals MVP award. It’s the one trophy that has eluded Curry and it’s used as testament to the preposterous argument that he’s a playoff choker.
Yes, Curry has turned in one (or two) less-than-elite performances in every NBA Finals he’s played in, and the end of the 2016 Finals — he missed 10 three-pointers in Game 5 and 10 more in Game 7 — is burned into the critics’ memory.
Still, in his 22 NBA Finals games (a number worth celebrating on its own), Curry is averaging 25.3 points, 6.3 assists, and 5.8 rebounds per game. Compare that to his averages over the last five seasons — 26.5 points, 6.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds — and you can’t fairly say he has “choked.”
Still, the narrative persists. It is 2019, after all — we’re well past the age of rational thought.
We still don’t know if Kevin Durant (who has two NBA Finals MVP awards) will play in these Finals. Even if he misses only a game or two, that means the Warriors’ offense in this series will revolve around Curry. And if he puts up his average, excellent numbers again and the Warriors win a fourth title in five years, then the narrative will likely swing Curry’s way and he will win that apparently all-important NBA Finals MVP award.
After which, people will have to acknowledge his already established place in history, or move the goalposts and claim that he needs two NBA Finals MVP awards. It’s all so transparent and silly, but Curry has big opportunity to shut up his naysayers, with or without Durant.
2. Next year’s Warriors team (aka the Durant question)
Durant says he has yet to consider his pending free agency. That’s the company line. (His company, of course).
There is obvious validity to the argument that Durant will stay, but also plenty to suggest he leaves the Bay to headline his “own” team at age 30.
Let’s take Durant at his (and his peoples’) word — for now. If the decision is yet to be made, then it would stand to reason that plenty hangs in the balance when it comes to these NBA Finals.
Will Durant feel that his work has been accomplished — his place in history unassailable — if the Warriors win the Finals with him?
And what if they win without him? Re-upping with the Warriors would resurrect the argument that he needs them more than they need him. That seems like something worth avoiding.
And if they lose the Finals without him? Well, that would be more validation that the Warriors need Durant to win. His value to the Dubs wouldn’t be put into question again. He’d probably start getting the respect he has always deserved. Perhaps that would sway him to come back.
Or maybe he rides that wave out of town, likely turning it into a groundswell of positive public sentiment. (The public is weird.)
Win or lose, if Durant stays, the Warriors are the prohibitive favorites to win the title next season, assuming Klay Thompson follows through and re-signs with the Dubs. They’ll probably be the favorites for a few more years beyond that
If the Warriors win and Durant still leaves, well, they’ll feel good about their chances to repeat.
But if the Warriors lose and Durant high-tails it out of town, then big changes might be needed. The Warriors might need to bring in another star player. That circumstance could easily mess with Draymond Green’s pending contract extension talks.
3. Steve Kerr’s reputation
Warriors coach Steve Kerr — like Curry — seems to get less respect than you’d expect for someone who is taking his team to the Finals for the fifth year in a row. (Yes, Kerr has not been on the sidelines for every game during that stretch, but the Warriors were still his team, playing his systems.)
And so much of this naysaying stems from their performances in the 2016 NBA Finals.
To some, Kerr is one of the greatest coaches of all time. To others, he’s the lucky beneficiary of superlative talent — anyone could coach these guys to glory.
The truth is somewhere in the vast middle, leaning towards the former camp, of course. But it’s still pending definition.
Kerr’s bold and deep substitutions, particularly in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals, were a factor in their unraveling. But in the last two rounds, with Durant out, Kerr has returned to that page of his coaching playbook — Strength in Numbers — and it has worked for him. He has had a tremendous postseason.
Of course, stealing a game in Houston against the Rockets and sweeping an overmatched, tired Portland team is a bit different than winning an NBA Finals against a worthy adversary like Toronto.
One could argue that with or without Durant, this will be the most evenly matched Finals of the Warriors’ five. Talent alone will not win it. More than ever, Kerr is going to need to make a positive difference. Any slip-up could be deadly to the Warriors’ title hopes and Kerr’s reputation.
And if Strength in Numbers is deployed well in these Finals and the Warriors win? Well, then it’ll be impossible not to put Kerr in the pantheon of all-time great coaches.
