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Golden State Warriors: Three-peat is crucial to franchise legacy

By Justin Fried

TORONTO, ONTARIO - MAY 30: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors reacts against the Toronto Raptors in the second quarter during Game One of the 2019 NBA Finals at Scotiabank Arena on May 30, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO - MAY 30: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors reacts against the Toronto Raptors in the second quarter during Game One of the 2019 NBA Finals at Scotiabank Arena on May 30, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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The Golden State Warriors have more than a mere NBA Championship on the line this June as their legacy could rest on securing the elusive three-peat.

Establishing a legacy is sometimes more important than the awards, trophies, and accolades that generally lead to said legacy. For the Golden State Warriors, their legacy as a franchise still hangs in the balance.

When you think of the most legendary and successful dynasties of the NBA’s past, generally three teams come to mind. Bill Russell‘s Boston Celtics of the 1960s, Michael Jordan‘s Chicago Bulls of the 1990s, and Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal‘s early-2000s Los Angeles Lakers.

Each one of those teams had one important thing in common: they managed to accomplish the illustrious three-peat.

Plenty of so-called “dynasties” have tried and failed to achieve such heights. Take the Miami Heat for example. The star-studded trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh were dominant in the early 2010s, but they never could quite win three championships in a row.

They were great, but they weren’t a dynasty — at least not one on par with their legendary peers.

That’s somewhat where the Warriors sit right now. Sure they’ve won three championships in four years and are, by all accounts, the most successful dynasty we’ve seen since the Heat, but their story still remains untold.

How will history define the late 2010s Golden State Warriors? Will they be the team that dominated for years but never could quite get over the hump and win three in a row? Or will they be put in the same conversation as the Celtics and Bulls of the past after securing the ever-so-elusive three-peat?

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The NBA focuses on the whole idea of “legacy” much more than any other professional sports league. It’s why you see players grow increasingly unhappy when they’re not put in a position to win.

A player like Calvin Johnson can spend his entire career with the lowly Detroit Lions and not say a word — because his legacy as one of the greatest wide receivers of the 2000s remains intact. But for a player like Anthony Davis, he doesn’t quite have that legacy yet. Legacies are built by winning much more so than statistics in the NBA.

Sure, you could average 30 points per season for five years straight years but if you emerge with zero rings to your name, what legacy did you really leave behind?

Basketball is such an individualistic sport that the entire legacies of some players are directly tied to the success of their teams. Conversely, some players are negatively impacted by the success of their own teammates, as if their success diminished their own.

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That’s why you hear talk of star shooting guard Klay Thompson leaving in the offseason. Whether he ultimately decides to depart or not, the overwhelming rationale has been that he could “forge his own legacy.”

For years, he’s played second-fiddle to Stephen Curry and some speculate that he could opt to leave and change his reputation of being a great “No. 2 option” to a true leading man.

We’ve also heard similar talk about Kevin Durant. His victories with the Warriors will forever leave his legacy tainted long after he’s retired as there will always be chatter about the fact that he wasn’t the true leader of the Warriors. He simply inherited a team that was already a dynasty.

Is this all fair, though? That’s not exactly for you or me to decide. But one thing’s for sure, it is reality.

The Warriors are, for all intents and purposes, already a dynasty. As a team, they’ve broken more shooting records than some teams had wins in 2019. The likes of Curry, Thompson, Durant, and Draymond Green have all put forth statistical outputs that qualify them as some of the very best players in the NBA.

But their legacies will forever be tied to the success of the Warriors. Statistics are a numerical representation of winning, but when the wins fail to follow suit, the statistics become hollow.

Next. Golden State Warriors: What went wrong in Game 1 of the NBA Finals?. dark

In a league fueled by legacy and driven by winning, the Warriors have a chance to solidify their place in NBA history. But it’s going to take a victory in the 2019 NBA Finals to get it done.

It’s going to take a three-peat.

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