There has been a recent debate in the NBA world about who would win in a matchup between the 2004 Detroit Pistons and the 2017 Golden State Warriors. Both of these teams won the championship in their respective seasons, but the Warriors had the better overall record.
Golden State finished with a 67-15 record that year, and they went 16-1 in the playoffs. The Pistons went 58-24 in their season and went 16-7 in the playoffs. One player that played against both teams is Richard Jefferson, and he thinks that he can end the debate.
Richard Jefferson had a long NBA career that started in 2001, and he played all the way until 2018, so he got to play the 2004 Pistons and the 2017 Warriors.
Jefferson played for eight teams while he was in the league. He played for the Brooklyn (then New Jersey) Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, San Antonio Spurs, Warriors, Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Nuggets.
Jefferson was on the Cavaliers 2015-2017 with LeBron James, so he is very familiar with that Warriors team. He thinks that the 2017 Warriors would've easily beaten the 2004 Pistons, and he thinks his Cavaliers team would have as well.
“That ‘17 team, was in my opinion the second-best team I ever saw, minus the ‘01 Lakers with Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal), and they were rolling, and they won three in a row,” Jefferson said during an episode of Road Trippin.
“The next best team I ever saw was the ‘17 team. The best team I was ever on was ‘16. The most-talented team I was ever one was our ‘17 team. And I’ll say this with all respect to Rip (Richard Hamilton) and them, our ‘17 team would’ve beat you. Our ‘16 team would've beat you. We were starting with LeBron James, best player in the world.
“We saw what he did to their team in their prime when he wasn’t in his prime, so LeBron was going to be the best player on the court. Then you had Kyrie [Irving], and then we had the depth. So respect to ‘04 Pistons, great champions, under-talked about team, but against that ‘17 Warriors team, it would’ve been a gentleman’s sweep.”
There you have it. Richard Jefferson experienced both teams, and he doesn't think there is even much of a debate there. He gives the nod to the Warriors.
The numbers back the Warriors
Because of how the teams performed throughout the season, both before the playoffs and in the postseason, most people side with Richard Jefferson when it comes to this debate. The Warriors were more dominant during the regular season, and they were more dominant during the playoffs.
However, the Pistons were very impressive in the 2004 NBA Finals as it took them just five games to eliminate the Lakers.
At the end of the day, there is no way to actually find out who would win between the 2004 Pistons and the 2017 Warriors. The debate will rage on, and everyone will have their own opinions regarding how a hypothetical matchup would go between the two teams. Both teams were great, and both teams won a championship for a reason.
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