Playing in their third straight NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors have been perhaps the best team in the league for the last three years. Over that brief time-span, the Warriors have won a championship, set multiple records like with their 73-win season and 12-0 postseason this year. The Warriors have been so good that it is fair to call them dominant, which is why ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy believes Golden State will eventually make it to eight or ten straight Finals.
“Just the combination of offense and defense, the talent that they’ve been able to amass, it puts them in position where this is a dynasty to me,” Van Gundy said on a Tuesday media conference call.“They have their youth, they have their health. I see nothing preventing them from going to eight to ten straight Finals. It will be a massive upset, I think, if they’re not there each and every year.”
On the surface, the Warriors going to the Finals for eight to ten years seems like a stretch. After all, injuries may a play part in halting their dominance. Free agency could also be a factor, as Klay Thompson could very possibly choose to have a larger role on a different team while earning max money when he becomes a free agent in 2019.
But then again, Golden State’s stars are young and in their prime, so they are only going to get better. The team’s on-court chemistry will also continually improve the longer they play with each other. Plus, the Warriors genuinely seem to like playing with each other and have grown accustomed to winning. Why leave an ideal situation for a non-guaranteed promise elsewhere?
Remember, this is essentially why Kevin Durant decided to sign with the Warriors in the first place. He saw Golden State as his best option to win a title or even multiple titles, so he left Oklahoma City. And since he is now playing in the Finals and seems quite happy to be a member of the Warriors, Durant’s decision is clearing paying off.
Van Gundy is prone to hyperbole from time to time, but overall, he’s not wrong with his assessment of the Warriors. The way Golden State plays and are set up for the future, the Warriors could make it to the Finals for the next eight or ten years. This is, of course, not a guarantee, but right now, it seems more possible than impossible.
