Making history, the Golden State Warriors have stormed into the 2017 NBA Finals with an undefeated 12-0 postseason record. The Warriors set that historic record in dominating fashion, winning games with ease and thoroughly outclassing their opponents. And while Golden State has had a three-year reign over the Western Conference and the NBA at large, the Warriors haven’t always been such a postseason force. In fact, the Warriors routinely used to be near the bottom of the league not so long ago. But for a couple of glorious years, the 2007 “We Believe” Warriors changed Golden State’s standing in the league.
Earning the “We Believe” nickname since as the eighth seed the Warriors were matched up against the No. 1 seed Dallas Mavericks, that Golden State team rallied behind that mantra to win their first-round series. The Warriors would go on to lose in the next round, but their playoff series win over the Mavs immediately made that Golden State team revered by the fan base. And even till this day, the “We Believe” Warriors are viewed as one of the best Golden State teams of all-time, even though they only advanced to the second-round.
Warriors forward Matt Barnes, interestingly enough, was on the “We Believe” team and is currently on his second go-around in Golden State. And since he is part of two of the best teams in Golden State’s history, Barnes was asked on Wednesday which team would win in a hypothetical playoff match-up.
Matt Barnes believes a playoff series with the "We Believe" Warriors and this year's Warriors would go 7 games and come down to a last shot. pic.twitter.com/Hv2Ga4IX1o
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) June 1, 2017
“We were real tough,” Barnes said about the “We Believe” Warriors. “I tell people, we had a team full of Draymond Greens. Our mindset was that way. This team is really talented with Steph [Curry], Klay [Thompson], KD [Kevin Durant], Draymond and the bench, so it will definitely go seven games. And I would have to hit the game-winning shot for this team.”
Barnes played it a bit safe with his answer here, but how can you blame him? He clearly has allegiances to both teams, but since this Warriors team is currently playing in the Finals, he is favoring them.
And while Barnes’ recency bias may come into play here, his answer is a fine one especially since this is just a hypothetical and will never actually happen in real life.
