Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors are again NBA champions. On Thursday night, they captured their fourth title in eight seasons, although this was the first one since the 2017-18 campaign. And there was one significant difference.

Stephen Curry is finally an NBA Finals MVP. In Golden State's previous three title-winning seasons of this era, that honor went to either Andre Iguodala (2015) or Kevin Durant (2017 and 2018). This time, it went to Curry.

Deservedly so, considering the 34-year-old point guard powered the Warriors past the Boston Celtics in six games. Curry averaged 31.2 points per contest and knocked down 31 3-pointers in the series (despite hitting none in Game 5).

Curry previously made 32 three-pointers in the 2016 Finals, and as Michael C. Wright of NBA.com noted, no other player since 1979-80 has made even 30 trifectas during a single playoff series.

There haven't been many players (if any) like Curry in the NBA's long history. He's a 6'2" guard with incredible long-range shooting skills who can take over a game on any given night by knocking down a plethora of three-pointers, some from well beyond the arc.

Now that Curry is also an NBA Finals MVP, he further solidified his placement among the league's all-time greats. And many have heaped praise on him since the Warriors' latest title victory.

Jerry Brewer of The Washington Post believes Curry's legacy will be how much he's changed the game with his unique skill set.

"He’s a top-tier immortal in NBA history," Brewer wrote. "And considering how good he looks at 34, he’s far from done. But now that he has submitted a signature Finals performance to the record books, perhaps there can be uninterrupted appreciation of his diverse impact on the game."

Scott Cacciola of The New York Times expressed a similar sentiment. He praised the "artistry" that Curry again showed while leading Golden State to the championship.

"It was a profound reminder of everything he has done to reshape the way fans—and even fellow players—think about the game," Cacciola wrote. "The way he stretches the court with his interplanetary shooting. The way he uses post players to create space with pick-and-rolls. The way he has boosted the self-esteem of smaller players everywhere."

It didn't take long for The Athletic's panel of NBA experts to reconsider where it should now place Curry on its list of the league's 75 all-time greatest players. In the outlet's initial rankings, it placed Curry at No. 15. It's not unreasonable to think he should now be even higher.

The Athletic's Jason Jones shared that he'd now put Curry as "certainly top-10." Jones wrote that he'd put Curry behind Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Kobe Bryant, but that he'd put Curry ahead of Larry Bird.

It's high praise to put a player in such illustrious company. But it shows how Curry continues to cement his legacy in the game, and that he's not done yet. There could still be more titles before he inevitably goes into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Golden State's latest title wasn't only about Curry, though. It marked a return to prominence for the franchise after the team had missed the playoffs each of the prior two seasons. Klay Thompson was finally healthy, and the Warriors got bigger contributions from youngsters such as Jordan Poole, Jonathan Kuminga and more.

And as The Athletic's Sam Amick noted, Golden State's success again wouldn't have been possible without veteran forward Draymond Green.

"The beauty of this Warriors dynasty, this journey that was born out of a special bond between Curry, Green and Klay Thompson above everything else, is that all of them are vital to the cause," Amick wrote. "And after all the talk about Green’s struggles in these finals against Boston, his one-of-a-kind impact, intensity and two-way value were there for all to see when it mattered most."

The Warriors are cementing a place among the NBA's top dynasties. And they may not be done yet. They could be back competing for another championship next June, and they may further add to their legacy.

Ja Morant is coming for the defending NBA champions.

The Memphis Grizzlies guard said he wants to play the Warriors on Christmas Day in a back-and-forth with Draymond Green.

The Grizzlies and Warriors have a simmering rivalry, with now multiple members of the veteran Golden State unit taking issue with comments made by Memphis players. After the Warriors closed out their championship win over the Boston Celtics, Klay Thompson called out Jaren Jackson Jr. for a tweet the Grizzlies forward sent out in March.

“Strength in numbers is alive and well,” Thompson told reporters after the win. “There was this one player on the Grizzlies who tweeted ‘Strength in numbers’ after they beat us in the regular season, and it pissed me off so much. I can’t wait to retweet that thing. Freakin’ bum. I had to watch that. I’m like, ‘This freakin’ clown.’

"Sorry, that memory just popped up. Gonna mock us? You ain’t ever been there before. We’ve been there before, we know what it takes. So to be here again, hold that.”

The Warriors eliminated the Grizzlies during the second round of the playoffs in a hotly contested series, so the NBA could easily book those two teams for the Christmas schedule.

The NBA champion typically plays a home game on Christmas, and giving this growing rivalry a chance to shine on the brightest regular-season stage would be a potential ratings bonanza.

The beef between members of the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies doesn't appear to be going away any time soon.

After Ja Morant tweeted that the Grizzlies "got a lot of real estate" in Klay Thompson's mind, Dubs forward Draymond Green couldn't help but respond to his comments.

The bickering began when Thompson recalled a tweet from Grizzlies veteran Jaren Jackson Jr. after winning the 2022 NBA title. Jackson tweeted Golden State's slogan after Memphis beat the Warriors during the regular season in March.

During his postgame press conference after eliminating the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, Thompson called Jackson a "freakin' bum" for the tweet, noting that he couldn't wait to get on Twitter to retweet it.

Thompson's comments prompted Morant's tweet, which then resulted in Green weighing in. Jackson has yet to comment since the back-and-forth began earlier this week.

The Warriors eliminated the Grizzlies in a heated six-game series in this year's Western Conference Semifinals. We should be in for some entertaining games between these two teams during the 2022-23 campaign.

Veteran wing Otto Porter Jr. is hoping to run it back with the Golden State Warriors next season.

"I do know this team can compete for another championship," the upcoming free agent told reporters Saturday. "And I think it would be a great opportunity if I can stay here. It would be an amazing to be here with this group of guys again and do it all over again."

Porter, 29, appeared in 63 games for the Warriors this season (15 starts), averaging 8.2 points and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 37.0 percent from three in 22.2 minutes per game.

His role reduced somewhat in the postseason (5.4 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 19.5 MPG), though head coach Steve Kerr did start him in Games 4-6 of the NBA Finals as the team came out in more of a small-ball look against the Boston Celtics.

That small tactical shift paid off—the Warriors won all three games en route to their fourth championship in the past eight years.

"Man, I learned a lot," Porter told reporters of his year with the Warriors. "How they win. How they go about doing it the right way. There's really no place like it."

He'll be an intriguing option for contending teams around the NBA in need of a solid veteran forward off the bench. It could be tough for the Warriors to retain him—they already have eight players under contract at $171 million, and that's before potentially re-signing players like Kevon Looney or Gary Payton II or signing incoming draft picks.

If Porter is willing to come back on a veteran minimum, it's an easy route to running it back with the Dubs. If a team on the market is willing to offer more for his services, however, he'll have a decision on his hands, with the Warriors already looking at a hefty tax bill.

The Athletic's John Hollinger wrote that "a 'one-plus-one' type contract for the non-taxpayer mid-level exception—signing [Porter] for 2022-23 with a player option for 2023-24—would be a smart move for a contender below the tax line."

The Warriors won't have that exception available to them, expected to be worth $10.3 million. They'll instead have the taxpayer mid-level exception ($6.3 million) if they don't use it elsewhere or a minimum salary to offer.

So if Porter returns to the Dubs, he may be giving up a sizable chunk of change to do so.

Andrew Wiggins has one year and $33.6 million remaining on his contract with the Golden State Warriors and is set to become a free agent next summer.

But if the Dubs are interested in a contract extension, Wiggins—fresh off of winning a title with the organization—is ready to stay in the Bay Area.

"I'd love to stay here," he told reporters Saturday. "Being here is top-notch... we're all one big family. A lot of places say that, but they show that through their actions."

The 27-year-old was Golden State's second-most-important player in the NBA Finals behind Steph Curry, averaging 18.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game while playing suffocating defense on Boston Celtics' star Jayson Tatum.

The former top overall pick was also a first-time All-Star this past season, putting up 17.2 points per game during the regular season while shooting a career-best 39.3 percent from three.

Wiggins has had a fascinating transformation during his NBA career, going from a highly hyped prospect for the Minnesota Timberwolves to a somewhat underachieving wing option for the team, as his partnership with Karl-Anthony Towns and eventually Jimmy Butler never quite elevated the Wolves to contender status.

He was traded to the Dubs in the 2019-20 season in the deal that sent D'Angelo Russell back to Minny, and the initial belief was that the Warriors would ultimately use him and their draft assets to put another veteran star next to Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

Instead, Wiggins made himself an indispensable part of this year's championship team, finally living up to the promise he showed coming out of Kansas.

That makes him a very real candidate to sign a lucrative extension this offseason, with Wiggins and Jordan Poole joking during the team's Game 6 celebration that a bag was incoming for both of them:

It won't be cheap to keep these Warriors together. But to this point, the Dubs haven't shied away from spending. To keep Wiggins, they'll need to take that mentality to the extreme.

Kenny Atkinson won't be heading to Charlotte after all.

The Golden State Warriors' top assistant will remain with the team and won't become the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets after reportedly agreeing to a four-year deal to take that position, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Per Woj: "After being offered [the] job during the NBA Finals, further conversations led Atkinson to believe it would be best to remain with Warriors."

Before Atkinson was offered the gig, Mike D'Antoni and Terry Stotts had been the other finalists for the job, according to Woj.

Atkinson, 55, served as an assistant for head coach Steve Kerr this past season after being an assistant on the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2020-21 season.

He was the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets for four seasons before that, going just 118-190 but helping rebuild the Nets and develop young talent despite the team being devoid of valuable draft capital given away in an infamous and lopsided 2013 trade with the Boston Celtics.

That rebuild led to a playoff berth in the 2018-19 season and helped pave the way for an organizational rebirth that led to the signing of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

Prior to Brooklyn, Atkinson served as an assistant for the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks.

His background as a rebuilder made him a natural fit for a Hornets team building around young star LaMelo Ball and a nice supporting cast. That group went 43-39 and reached the play-in tournament, though they couldn't earn a playoff spot.

Despite a third straight season of improvement, the Hornets chose to fire James Borrego, and it appeared they had their replacement in Atkinson.

Now, it's back to the drawing board in the coaching search.

Golden State Warriors big man Kevon Looney, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent, is in for a big payday after helping the franchise win its fourth NBA championship in the last eight seasons, and it appears a number of teams are interested in his services.

The Charlotte Hornets and Sacramento Kings are interested in signing Looney this summer, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.

"After playing a pivotal role in Golden State’s championship success, Kevon Looney’s forthcoming free agency will be monitored more closely than anyone might have imagined a month ago. Charlotte and Sacramento, soon to be coached by Golden State assistant Mike Brown, are among the teams said to be interested in signing Looney away from the Warriors, who spent nearly $350 million this season on salary and luxury tax for their championship roster."

Looney had a solid 2021-22 season for the Warriors. He appeared in all 82 regular-season games, making 80 starts, and averaged 6.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting 57.1 percent from the floor.

The 26-year-old was just as good in the playoffs, appearing in all 22 games and making 13 starts, averaging 5.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists while shooting 65.9 percent from the floor.

Looney is coming off a three-year, $14.5 million deal with Golden State, who selected him in the first round of the 2015 draft. He should receive a nice raise ahead of the 2022-23 campaign, but obviously the Dubs are going to face some hefty competition for his services.

Charlotte's interest in Looney comes as little surprise as it could use a solid interior presence to complement LaMelo Ball and the team's other shooters. In addition, the Hornets need a player who can help on the glass.

Mason Plumlee still has one year remaining on his contract, but Looney would be a solid depth addition for the franchise with Montrezl Harrell set to become a free agent.

As for the Kings, they don't necessarily have a huge need for Looney with both Domantas Sabonis and Richaun Holmes on the roster. However, he would undoubtedly strengthen the team's play on the boards.

That said, Looney has won three titles with the Warriors, so it would be no surprise to see him re-sign with the Dubs this summer and help the team contend for another championship in 2022-23 and beyond.

Utah Jazz All-Star center Rudy Gobert praised Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry for winning his fourth career NBA championship this week.

Speaking to TMZ Sports, Gobert gave Curry his props for leading the Dubs to their fourth title in eight seasons:

"He's definitely in the very rarified air," Gobert said. "He's at the top of the list, for sure."

Gobert went on to add, "I'm happy for him. I think he changed the game."

Curry played a huge role in the Warriors closing out the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, as he led all scorers with 34 points, securing the first NBA Finals MVP award of his career.

While the 34-year-old Curry was already among the all-time greats before winning his fourth championship, he undoubtedly cemented his place in that conversation.

Despite being an eight-time All-Star, two-time NBA MVP, two-time scoring champion and the NBA's all-time leader in three-point field goals made, Curry still had a gaping hole on his resume entering this year's playoffs.

When Curry won his first title, Andre Iguodala was given the NBA Finals MVP award because of the way he impressively held then-Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James in check.

Golden State signed Kevin Durant after losing to the Cavs in the Finals the following year, and KD went on to win the next two NBA Finals MVP awards.

Durant left after his third season with the Warriors, and the team went into a major downturn, largely because of injury issues.

With Curry missing most of the 2019-20 season and Klay Thompson missing all of it, the Warriors finished with the NBA's worst record on the heels of five consecutive NBA Finals appearances.

Curry returned and played at a high level the following season, but with Thompson out again, the Warriors narrowly missed the playoffs by losing a pair of play-in games.

The Dubs seemingly had a chip on their shoulder this season, however, going 53-29 and running their way through the Western Conference during the playoffs.

With the old core of Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green meshing well with newer additions such as Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr., Jonathan Kuminga and others, the Warriors were perhaps the most complete team in the NBA this season.

Curry was the unquestioned leader, and he proved once and for all that he is capable of leading a team to a championship and being the best player on that team when it matters most.

Since the Golden State Warriors hired Steve Kerr as head coach in 2014 and kicked off the run of six NBA Finals in eight seasons, they've openly aspired to the kind of sustainable success the San Antonio Spurs have enjoyed for the past quarter-century. Kerr played for Gregg Popovich near the end of his career, winning two titles as a role player supporting David Robinson and Tim Duncan. As a coach, he's had his own Duncan in Stephen Curry. The similarities were too obvious, bordering on cliche.

But in winning their fourth title in eight seasons since the run began, Kerr, Curry and the Warriors have their proof of concept.

With Thursday's series-clinching win over the Celtics, the trio of Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green picked up their 21st Finals win together. They've eclipsed the mark of 19 previously set by Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili for most wins in the Finals by an All-NBA trio in the past 50 years.

Even being here now, this far into the run, puts the Warriors in rare company. Winning this championship may be the start of something unprecedented.

The Warriors' 2022 title run, which comes after two seasons of missing the playoffs entirely due to injuries, has officially kicked off the third distinct era within this dynasty that started with their first Finals appearance and title in the 2014-15 season.

The constants have been Kerr and the star trio of Curry, Thompson and Green, but the Warriors teams that have made it this far have looked different around them. In eight years they've gone from a group of upstarts that won well ahead of schedule, to a superteam so dominant it had three years of think pieces about whether they were ruining the NBA, to the elder statesmen they once challenged, winning in different ways with different supporting casts on different age timelines, to a degree that's only been seen before in San Antonio.

That first Warriors title team, the one that lucked into unlocking Green as a starting power forward when David Lee suffered an injury in training camp, was built around Curry and Thompson as superstar shooters in their 20s surrounded by role players who were significantly older. Starting center Andrew Bogut was 30, forwards Lee and Andre Iguodala were 31. The first Spurs title team, too, won with a young generational superstar surrounded by much older veteran talent. At 22 in his second season, Duncan was the only player in the top eight in minutes played who was younger than 30, with the aging Robinson as his co-star.

The Warriors were even better the next year, winning an NBA-record 73 regular-season games but falling short in the Finals, and that 3-1 collapse led directly to their transition into the middle period, the one most people will remember as the definitive team of its era for many reasons.

Kevin Durant's arrival in Golden State in the summer of 2016 made the Warriors completely unbeatable for two seasons, and may have done so for even longer if he hadn't suffered a torn Achilles in the 2019 Finals against the Raptors and ultimately left for Brooklyn that summer. The bedrock of those three seasons of the Warriors was the same, with Kerr and the Curry-Thompson-Green triumvirate, but the presence of maybe the deadliest scorer of the modern era in the slot previously occupied by the solid but workmanlike Harrison Barnes completely changed the character of the team. It was all "the Warriors," but they weren't the same at all.

Neither were the mid-2000s Spurs with Duncan in his prime flanked by fellow All-Stars Parker and Ginobili. They won two titles in 2005 and 2007, the same number as the 1999-2003 Spurs, but the feel was different even though Duncan and Popovich were the constants of both eras. Those mid-2000s Spurs teams didn't blow opponents off the court for two years straight like the Durant-era Warriors did, but they were the defining team of a period of the league's history relatively bereft of star power.

This is also when the Spurs started to burnish their reputation for finding absolutely perfect role players to put around their stars—defensive specialist Bruce Bowen, sharpshooter Brent Barry, veteran scoring guard Michael Finley—leading to talk of "winning culture" and "the Spurs way," which many successful teams have tried to emulate but nobody has been able to successfully while winning at a high level for this long, until the Warriors.

The Warriors have developed a similar rep for finding ideal supporting players for their stars, starting with Shaun Livingston, who came on board for the first title run in 2014-15, and then JaVale McGee during the Durant years. Now, any role player who signs with Golden State for the minimum or mid-level exception—Otto Porter Jr., Nemanja Bjelica—is widely assumed to be a steal and a perfect glue guy, because the Warriors have hit on so many of these types of players before.

This version of the Warriors has officially entered their 2013-14 Spurs period. Curry, Thompson and Green are still here. But for the first time, with Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga, there's a belief that the young talent the Warriors have drafted and developed could one day keep the run going even after those three are finished playing. Those later Duncan-Parker-Ginobili San Antonio teams were bolstered by Kawhi Leonard, a non-lottery pick who became a two-way dynamo and MVP candidate, and Danny Green, a reclamation project who found his perfect role as a 3-and-D wing and might have won Finals MVP in 2013 if San Antonio had won that series against the Heat.

The Spurs were poised to continue contending past Duncan's retirement in 2016 until Leonard's quad injury and subsequent departure from San Antonio sent them into the rebuild they find themselves in currently. The next generation of the Warriors aren't ready for that yet, but they don't need to be, not with Curry, Thompson and Green still this good.

By the time the Big Three ages out, though, things could be different.

It's a good time to be Stephen Curry.

One day after Curry won his fourth NBA championship, Davidson athletic director Chris Clunie announced the school will retire his No. 30 jersey at an Aug. 31 ceremony.

The announcement comes on the same day that head basketball coach Bob McKillop announced he was stepping down after 33 seasons.

Curry played three seasons for the Wildcats from 2006 to '09. He was named Southern Conference Player of the Year twice and earned consensus All-American honors in 2007-08 (second team) and 2008-09 (first team).

The 2008 NCAA tournament was Curry's breakout moment on a national stage. He led Davidson to a 29-7 overall record and earned the No. 10 seed in the Midwest Region.

The Wildcats advanced to the Elite Eight with wins over Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin before losing to eventual national champion Kansas. Curry averaged 32.0 points, 3.5 assists and 3.3 steals per game during that tournament run.

Curry is the school's all-time leader in points (2,635), three-point field goals (414) and three-point percentage (41.2).

After a successful three-year run at Davidson, Curry was selected No. 7 overall by the Golden State Warriors in the 2009 NBA draft. He has gone on to lead the franchise to four titles, won two NBA MVP awards and earned his first NBA Finals MVP award in 2022.