Waerriors on brink of becoming iconic

One championship in any major sport is an incredible achievement that puts a team and all the players on it in rarefied air. A second title, especially consecutively, puts that group in an entirely different stratosphere.

For the Golden State Warriors, they are two titles away from doing something special even in a league, the National Basketball Association, that is known for dynasties. Even as great as those Boston Celtics teams were in the 1980s and the San Antonio Spurs have been in the Tim Duncan era, those squads were never able to successfully defend their titles.

For Golden State, it seems inevitable that it will beat the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second straight year and hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the third time in franchise history. For this current group anchored by Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and head coach Steve Kerr, this championship will start the conversation of where this team ranks all-time.

While you can’t start putting this group in a class of the 1960s Boston Celtics, 1980s Los Angeles Lakers and 1990s Chicago Bulls, you can start to jump it past all the one-time winners and many of the multiple-time champs. Is this Warriors team better than the San Antonio Spurs of recent times, which one five titles with many different editions and without a repeat performance?

Is Golden State better than the Houston Rockets which pulled off the repeat in 1994 and 1995, or the Detrit Pistons of 1989 and 1990? The quick answer would be to say yes, only because of the 73-win season and some of the best shooting we have ever seen. Then again, Detroit played in the golden age of basketball and emerged on top twice, and perhaps had the best defense the league has ever seen.

In fact, Detroit of ’89-90 against the current Warriors would be an incredible series. Fantastic offense against fantastic defense. Joe Dumars and Isiah Thomas against Thompson and Curry. Dennis Rodman guarding Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes while Bill Laimbeer takes on Andrew Bogut inside. Andre Iguodala would come off the bench and get Mark Aguirre. It would be great, but I digress.

This championship puts Golden State is an entirely different patheon and sets it up for a chance at the rare three-peat, something only done by the Bulls and Lakers since the 1960s. Looking at the cap situation, the Warriors only have to worry about Barnes and Marresse Speights, with Barnes being a restricted free agent and Speights likely affordable.

This is a rare team. Golden State should be appreciated as one of the best squads to ever grace the hardwood. Two more wins, and the lofty comparisons can truly begin.