The Golden State Warriors have been the lone overpowered team of the NBA in the last two seasons, boasting not only a deadly sharpshooting backcourt but a top-notch defensive anchor and now another MVP-caliber performer in Kevin Durant.
Juggernaut, loaded, and unfair are just some of the adjectives that come along with a team that has shredded its way to the NBA Finals the past four years after being the laughing stock of the league, even having their own mascot taken away after a team decided to boast its name (thanks OKC Thunder).
Yet for owner Joe Lacob and general manager Bob Myers, that is just the byproduct of fulfilling a promise they once made to a booing Oracle Arena crowd.
Myers, a former player-agent turned executive, went from getting the best deals for his clients to getting the best deals for his bosses, carefully curating a roster with youth, shooting, and most importantly — ambition.
“It’s not in my job description to please NBA fans. It’s to win, end of story,” Myers said Thursday with his team up 3-0 over the Cleveland Cavaliers in these NBA Finals, according to Ethan Strauss of The Athletic. “I don’t need to be entertained, I just need to win. That’s all it is. That’s all I was hired to do. Win. Everyone’s entitled to how that looks to them and feels, but I get to decide how that feels to me.”
The Warriors are one win away from getting their third championship in four years and in the process of becoming a dynasty. But where does it end? For Lacob, it simply doesn't have to end.
“I don’t think so, honestly, I do not,” said Lacob. “And I tell Bob every day, our job is not to let it end.”
While the Warriors have been characteristically zoomed into as a fun-loving bunch who enjoys playing with one another, the front office is a war room of hungry pitbulls, where success is the only viable meal.
“Honestly, the pressure of the job.” said Myers of the hardest part of his role as GM, “It’s a monster job. Even when you succeed, it’s daunting. It’s hard. You look around, anybody that takes this job in any professional sport. There’s an enormity to it, that lasts. Our mistakes live on for years.”
Head coach Steve Kerr was an executive with the Phoenix Suns before taking over his first coaching gig with the Warriors in 2014, having lived through the grind of every season with this roster.
“Every journey is a new one each season,” said Kerr. “Yet the cumulative effect on multiple journeys adds up, and we have felt that this year. I think it’s been our most inconsistent season. It’s been our most difficult season.”
The Warriors plan to reload this summer, signing Kevin Durant to a long-term deal, with Klay Thompson and Draymond Green awaiting their own deals in the respective next two seasons.
Money is not an obstacle — already pretty deep in the luxury tax — so long as the goal remains the same. Win. At all costs. Win. Until there's no more winning to be done.
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