Speaker 1: Dubbed Dynasty as a production of iHeartMedia and the NBA.
Speaker 2: Good vision was always in my repertoire, my repertoire, my repertoire,
Speaker 2: my repertoire.
Speaker 3: The internet was so worldwide.
Speaker 4: You congratulations, missus Principessa.
Speaker 5: I love seeing those engagements here.
Speaker 6: That's always special.
Speaker 4: I'm tired, Jared, I want to go eat a sandwich
Speaker 4: and this will be in the past.
Speaker 7: I could call me tail.
Speaker 4: I don't know if I was born for it, but
Speaker 4: I definitely worked my butt off to get to this point.
Speaker 4: And I mean, I guess you could say I was
Speaker 4: born for it. I might go see the swamps or something.
Speaker 4: I'm trying to catch an alligator.
Speaker 8: I don't know, man, I'm not gonna lack a lot.
Speaker 6: I just blanked out ball.
Speaker 3: To see it in real time.
Speaker 8: Oh it's crazy.
Speaker 1: That was a collection of quirk from none other than
Speaker 1: Clay Thompson, the far more eccentric half of the Splash Brothers.
Speaker 1: I'm Israel Gutierrez and this is dubb Dynasty. Clay's is
Speaker 1: a unique NBA existence. His jump shot is one to envy,
Speaker 1: not just for casuals, but even for NBA greats. But
Speaker 1: it's the second most discussed jump shot on his own
Speaker 1: Warriors team. He's considered one of the best two way
Speaker 1: players of his time because his defensive efforts often matched
Speaker 1: or surpassed his offensive output, but he'd make just one
Speaker 1: NBA All Defensive Second Team in his Golden State tenure.
Speaker 1: He's largely considered to have been snugged left off the
Speaker 1: NBA's Greatest seventy five Players of All Time list, Yet
Speaker 1: he was also fortunate to have played alongside teammates who'd
Speaker 1: be considered possibly top ten all time, rarely requiring him
Speaker 1: to carry his team for extended stretches.
Speaker 6: If I could do it all over again, I would
Speaker 6: be Clay. I mean that I want to be Clay.
Speaker 6: He's got it figured out, just wants to play hoop
Speaker 6: and have fun and play with his dog. The most
Speaker 6: low maintenance guy on Earth.
Speaker 1: And while he has saved his Warriors team at times
Speaker 1: and put together some of the more impressive scoring performances
Speaker 1: basketball has ever seen, Clay has always been arguably the
Speaker 1: greatest luxury there's ever been in the NBA. He's the
Speaker 1: second yacht that rarely makes it out of the marine.
Speaker 1: He's the Rolls Royce Phantom that only rolls out of
Speaker 1: the garage when family visits. He's a game six. Savor
Speaker 1: a postgame interview, Jim, He's sixty points in three quarters.
Speaker 1: More on that momentary. But when Clay Thompson wasn't even
Speaker 1: through a championship and another run to the finals was enough,
Speaker 1: last week left you. The Warriors were still experiencing the
Speaker 1: rebound effect of losing a three to one lead in
Speaker 1: the finals to Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. It
Speaker 1: was as much as it could be for a team
Speaker 1: that had just set their regular season winsmark a moment
Speaker 1: of international embarrassment. As a result, the Warriors would attempt
Speaker 1: to woo the biggest free agent available, Kevin Durant, and
Speaker 1: so far, through a series of sales pitches in the
Speaker 1: high Faluton Hamptons, the Warriors had at least contributed to
Speaker 1: the possibility of Durant changing teams. Durant possibly going to
Speaker 1: Golden State was a topic on ESPN's The Jail with
Speaker 1: Rachel Nichols, Zach Lowe and Tracy McGrady.
Speaker 9: I think he's talented enough to bet on a team
Speaker 9: to win a championship, to carry our team to a championship.
Speaker 9: That's the type of talent that he has. Go team
Speaker 9: up with Chris Paul and Los Angeles, Go team up
Speaker 9: with you know, Melo and New York.
Speaker 10: So I go somewhere where at no.
Speaker 8: You team up here, but don't team up there, team
Speaker 8: up in some places.
Speaker 9: And I go to say, team up with a team
Speaker 9: that hasn't won a championship. I mean that will be
Speaker 9: more gratifying for filling.
Speaker 1: And On our nation's Independence Day twenty sixteen, Durant announced
Speaker 1: via The Player's Tribune in an article titled My Next Chapter,
Speaker 1: that he would sign with the Warriors. The article featured
Speaker 1: a photo of Durant in a white sleeveless T shirt
Speaker 1: looking off to the right at nothing in particular. It's
Speaker 1: an image and headline combo that still gets the mean
Speaker 1: treatment to this day. In the article, Durant announced his
Speaker 1: decision to join the Warriors given the level of hatred
Speaker 1: spewed at Lebron James after he chose to leave his
Speaker 1: first organization in free agency in twenty ten. Durant made
Speaker 1: sure to mention his appreciation for the Thunder organization and
Speaker 1: its fans. Durant wrote, quote, it really pains me to
Speaker 1: know that I will disappoint so many people with this choice,
Speaker 1: but I believe I'm doing what I feel is the
Speaker 1: right thing at this point in my life and my
Speaker 1: playing career. It wasn't just thunder fans would feel disappointment.
Speaker 1: Fans of competition would also the idea that a team
Speaker 1: that just set the all time wins record for a
Speaker 1: single season and was just one more win away from
Speaker 1: also winning the championship just added a player who might
Speaker 1: be better than anyone else on the roster. It just
Speaker 1: didn't sit well in the eyes of many. In twenty ten,
Speaker 1: after Lebron signed with the Heat, Jeff Van Gundy predicted
Speaker 1: that Heat team that also had Dwayne Wade and Chris
Speaker 1: Bosch would break the wins record. The Warriors had already
Speaker 1: done that and now added an MVP in his absolute pride.
Speaker 1: The immediate backlash was so strong it felt as if
Speaker 1: Durant was getting attached from all angles, not just his
Speaker 1: former teammates.
Speaker 10: Team and a the news again coming in moments ago,
Speaker 10: Kevin Durant heading two the Golden State Warriors.
Speaker 6: How are you viewing this move from Durant?
Speaker 11: Well, I'm viewing it as the weakest move I've ever
Speaker 11: seen from a superstar playing as simple.
Speaker 3: That's just how I look at it.
Speaker 11: It's not that he's leaving Oklahoma City. If you're not happy,
Speaker 11: then you want to move on and you want to
Speaker 11: grow as a player, or you know, there's nothing wrong
Speaker 11: with that. He's one of the top three players in
Speaker 11: the world. He's a quit essential superstar. He deserves all
Speaker 11: the credits in the world, but the talent that he possesses.
Speaker 5: But the flip side is this.
Speaker 11: They were up three to one in the Western Conference finals,
Speaker 11: not one, not two, but three different times. He was
Speaker 11: forty eight minutes removed from getting to the NBA Finals
Speaker 11: by winning the Western Conference three times. He failed, particularly
Speaker 11: in Game six. And you depart for the team that
Speaker 11: beat you when you're on the cusp of getting to
Speaker 11: the finals yourself ultimately winning the championship with a franchise
Speaker 11: that you've been with since you've come into the NBA,
Speaker 11: I think it's incredibly weak.
Speaker 1: His most famous teammate, Russell Westbrook, did post a response
Speaker 1: on Instagram that would consolidate the nation's thoughts on Durant
Speaker 1: into one sweet, patriotic image. Westbrook posted an image of
Speaker 1: cupcakes decorated for the holiday with the caption Happy Fourth y'all.
Speaker 1: It turns out another former Durant teammate, Kendrick Perkins, used
Speaker 1: to call teammates cupcakes if they were playing soft. The
Speaker 1: cupcake response from Westbrook would be the one Thunder fans
Speaker 1: would cling to. From the outside looking in, it was
Speaker 1: easy to pick sides here. Westbrook was the teammate left
Speaker 1: behind as Durant left to join the big bad favorites.
Speaker 1: Even Slater felt the venom from the Thunder fans after
Speaker 1: he left the Oklahoma to cover the Warriors.
Speaker 12: So much of the Durant backlash felt like you're going
Speaker 12: to the enemy, like the team that really, you know,
Speaker 12: just kind of slayed you. I think there was a
Speaker 12: lot of people at the time that really wanted to
Speaker 12: see Thunder Warriors again the next year. Right, it was
Speaker 12: like but it also I mean, people in the league
Speaker 12: viewed it, and I guess you would say the same
Speaker 12: about the Miami one. But people in the league viewed
Speaker 12: it like, man, you just ruined the league for the
Speaker 12: next four years. We know who's gonna win the title.
Speaker 12: You're gonna be massive favors. In some ways, they were
Speaker 12: kind of proven correct.
Speaker 1: At this point in our NBA experience, the media and
Speaker 1: the public had already learned their lesson about critiquing a
Speaker 1: player's free agency choice too vigorously. The hyperbolic reactions to
Speaker 1: Lebron James leaving Cleveland for Miami taught us to calm
Speaker 1: down a little bit when a player simply exerts his
Speaker 1: own free will and chooses where he wants to work.
Speaker 1: But there was something especially off put about Durant joining
Speaker 1: the enemy that defeated him in the most recent playoffs.
Speaker 1: Forget about an unfair talent advantage for the Warrior. Amateur
Speaker 1: psychiatrists everywhere, we're trying to examine Durant's mentality. Why not
Speaker 1: run it back and try to beat the Warriors after
Speaker 1: being so close in the conference finals? Was Russell Westbrook
Speaker 1: really that difficult to play with? What it really satisfied
Speaker 1: Durant to win a title with this turnkey championship ready team.
Speaker 1: Rachel Nichols has examined the Durant conversation from every angle.
Speaker 1: Upon reflection, she believes Durant's decision isn't a shocking when
Speaker 1: you look back at the circumstances.
Speaker 13: And we all acknowledge it now. And by the way,
Speaker 13: I happen to like Russell Westbrook. I think he'said a
Speaker 13: lot of community stuff people don't give him credit for.
Speaker 13: And I also think the way that he uplifted that
Speaker 13: Thunder team after Kevin left really reset the course of
Speaker 13: the franchise and enabled what is happening now, because without
Speaker 13: that belief he provided for them, I'm not sure that
Speaker 13: they are what is this in our Year of Our
Speaker 13: Lord twenty twenty four to twenty five the title contender.
Speaker 3: But he can wear on you, man, He can be
Speaker 3: hard to play with.
Speaker 13: And also Kevin in a small market that wasn't maybe
Speaker 13: naturally the sus from Texas, but maybe wasn't naturally aware
Speaker 13: and who he saw himself at that stage of being
Speaker 13: an adult year a lot different at that age seven
Speaker 13: years into your career than you are when you first
Speaker 13: came in. And by the way, he started in Seattle
Speaker 13: and then they go to Oklahoma City and all of
Speaker 13: that stuff, So I think his decision to leave Oklahoma
Speaker 13: City is a little separate.
Speaker 1: There was one financial detail that allowed for this to
Speaker 1: even be a conversation. After the NBA signed a new
Speaker 1: television deal in twenty fourteen, the league was set to
Speaker 1: experience a spike in revenue beginning in the twenty sixteen offseason,
Speaker 1: setting up for the largest salary cap increase the league
Speaker 1: had ever seen. There was an attempt by the league
Speaker 1: to avoid the big spike and spread out the revenue
Speaker 1: over multiple years so that more free agents benefit, not
Speaker 1: just the twenty sixteen group. That attempt was rejected by
Speaker 1: the players Association, setting up the possibility of Durant signing
Speaker 1: with Golden State and setting up seemingly endless debate of
Speaker 1: should Durant have even considered the Warriors.
Speaker 13: Here's Nicholas, I think he was ready to be somewhere fun.
Speaker 13: Kevin Durant loves basketball. I think if you know Kevin
Speaker 13: at all, if you followed his career at all, you
Speaker 13: know he says a lot of the time, I just
Speaker 13: want a hoop man. And it's easy to take that
Speaker 13: is a cliche or casually it is the building block
Speaker 13: of who he is. He will get out there with
Speaker 13: a basketball and annette wherever he is, he wants to play.
Speaker 13: He's most comfortable with himself and who he is on
Speaker 13: the court. He just wants to play ball man. And
Speaker 13: it's a little reductive but it's also true, and I
Speaker 13: think the fact that this team was able to offer
Speaker 13: him not only a chance at a title and a
Speaker 13: ring and all the things the public focused on, but
Speaker 13: the chance to have this sort of environment where basketball
Speaker 13: was the main thing and it was supposed to be fun.
Speaker 13: I think that was really appealing for him. On top
Speaker 13: of oh yeah, I could finally win a title, Oh yeah,
Speaker 13: I get to play with Steph, and the fact that
Speaker 13: Steph behaved in a way that, frankly, we just haven't
Speaker 13: seen modern superstar and any sport behave. Willing to say
Speaker 13: to someone who maybe was in some ways, in some ways,
Speaker 13: in some ways better than him in certain areas, to
Speaker 13: come onto the team and be at the very least
Speaker 13: a Coh headliner, I think was remarkable.
Speaker 1: This just didn't fit the story arc that we all projected.
Speaker 1: After the phenomenal twenty sixteen playoffs, the thunder were supposed
Speaker 1: to get another shot at the Warriors. Lebron was supposed
Speaker 1: to have ended the Warriors run the same way he
Speaker 1: stopped Eastern Conference teams from ever starting THEIRS. Teams like
Speaker 1: the Rockets and Grizzlies were supposed to emerge as true
Speaker 1: challengers o West, Durant's choice would eliminate all those as
Speaker 1: possibilities and we would all have to accept the inevitable
Speaker 1: Avengers endgame type finale that was to come. Despite the
Speaker 1: cinematic setup, people hated on Durant for creating leading this
Speaker 1: offensive genius to be on the defense from the start
Speaker 1: of his time in Bothen State.
Speaker 5: Nothing in this league is easy, and I know it's
Speaker 5: going to be ups and down throughout a season.
Speaker 14: I know we expected to be perfect every single day,
Speaker 14: but I know that's not realistic.
Speaker 13: I think the Warriors were so dominant throughout the twenty
Speaker 13: sixteen season. I think the fact that Steph Curry felt
Speaker 13: like a little bit unbreakable and unbeatable, and we just
Speaker 13: as if you're a fan of any other team, you're thinking,
Speaker 13: we just went through a decade of Lebron James doing
Speaker 13: whatever he wanted. I mean, Lebron dismantled what three different
Speaker 13: organizations in the Eastern Conference in the time that he
Speaker 13: was in Cleveland. I mean, you look at the rise
Speaker 13: and ball of the Boston Celtics at that time, or
Speaker 13: the Pacers, or we could talk about the Bulls that
Speaker 13: there's so many teams that the Rafters that he just destroyed,
Speaker 13: and that the feeling among fans was, way, We're about
Speaker 13: to go through this all over again, You're kidding me.
Speaker 13: I think there was a little bit of that. I
Speaker 13: think that this sort of radio talk show host narrative
Speaker 13: of oh wow, you lost, so you're going to go
Speaker 13: join the winner, and it spoke to this idea of
Speaker 13: manliness in some way that caught a lot of fire
Speaker 13: with a lot of people. I think was an ingredient
Speaker 13: in all of that.
Speaker 1: The drama of the season had been removed by this decision,
Speaker 1: so all the dramatics would be focused on Durant and
Speaker 1: his free agency choice. The Warriors would also need to
Speaker 1: adjust their roster to fit Durant. Goneweror Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogitt,
Speaker 1: Maurice Spates, and Festus A. Zili In were veteran forward
Speaker 1: David West, rookie Patrick mccau and big man Jajah Peculia.
Speaker 1: The veteran center had just experienced his thirteen season in
Speaker 1: the NBA, but before he was able to join the
Speaker 1: star studded Warriors, Peculia was just like the rest of us,
Speaker 1: wondering why Durant made the NBA, possibly the most top
Speaker 1: heavy it had ever been.
Speaker 8: I can tell you how mad I was when Katie
Speaker 8: signed with the Warriors, already amazing team. I lost to
Speaker 8: the final in the finals to Clivement, already great team,
Speaker 8: and guess what breaking breaking news, Katie signs, but I'm gonna.
Speaker 8: I was so mad. I said, who is going to
Speaker 8: beat them? I said, this is not fair. I mean
Speaker 8: my wife, my kids said, Dad, why are you angry?
Speaker 8: I said, it's not fair. It's not fair. I said,
Speaker 8: what Katie just signed with? Like, because my mind is
Speaker 8: like okay, because I was in Dallas. I just had
Speaker 8: my career year in Dallas. I really bonded with Dirk
Speaker 8: and you know Darren Williams and played for coach Carl.
Speaker 8: I said it was great. I really liked it. But
Speaker 8: I was free agent and I didn't care about free agency.
Speaker 8: All I cared about, like why Warriors sign Kevin the
Speaker 8: Red So two days later, so after being mad and disappointing,
Speaker 8: frustrated for forty eight hours, my agents called me because
Speaker 8: I was free agent, so and he goes Zaza. We've
Speaker 8: been working together for a pretty good amount of time,
Speaker 8: and I had a lot of offers for you during
Speaker 8: your career, but nothing like this.
Speaker 1: Peculia had offers from the Trailblazers, Mavericks and of course
Speaker 1: the Warriors. Suddenly his complaint stopped.
Speaker 8: No brainer, that was a lifetime opportunity.
Speaker 9: You know, to.
Speaker 8: Forget about winning it first, like winning is a huge part,
Speaker 8: but just to experience, I need to play with the guys.
Speaker 8: So I just mentioned you know, Steph clay KD Drama
Speaker 8: and the center spot was open. And but you know,
Speaker 8: the like they were very open about, like, you know,
Speaker 8: we want we looking at you as your number one
Speaker 8: option for us to be a starting center. So I
Speaker 8: was joking with my friends. Actually I never made an
Speaker 8: All Star, but hey, there you go. I'm playing with
Speaker 8: the all Stars. So four all stars, I say, and
Speaker 8: right away I told him yes.
Speaker 1: Filling out the roster around Durant, the Splash Brothers and
Speaker 1: Draymond would seem like a relatively easy task, But remember
Speaker 1: the center position had been held by Andrew Boget the
Speaker 1: previous few years, a former number one overall pick with
Speaker 1: defensive player of the year type of ability and a
Speaker 1: selfless approach that fit right in. Replacing him wouldn't be
Speaker 1: as easy as taking the first free agent center available.
Speaker 1: Peculia's role would be critical, and he recognized that early
Speaker 1: on as he was adjusting to Golden State's faster style
Speaker 1: of play.
Speaker 8: I never played in this system before, so it was
Speaker 8: quite adjustment. It took some time for me, a couple
Speaker 8: of weeks, a couple of months to really keep out
Speaker 8: with the pace, keep out with you know, the movements.
Speaker 8: And you know he's not like you know you have
Speaker 8: windows right, No, like jump ball back and forward, like
Speaker 8: not only is north and south, also like east to west,
Speaker 8: you know, so like ball should have been moving. You
Speaker 8: could not hold the ball and understand, I mean, well
Speaker 8: Staff needed a ball right where Clay like where Kad
Speaker 8: needed the ball right. So all this smolding little things,
Speaker 8: I think that's the differentiates good and great. And as
Speaker 8: a starting center, I had to be good. I had
Speaker 8: to be right on in point and I could have
Speaker 8: messed it out.
Speaker 1: The Warriors thought they were done building the team around
Speaker 1: the core of Curry, Clay, Draymond Durant and Iguadala, but
Speaker 1: Agwadala suggested one of his former teammates also be brought
Speaker 1: on board. JaVale McGhee was on the Mavericks the previous season,
Speaker 1: just like Jajah Paculia, but he was teammates with Iguadala
Speaker 1: on the Nuggets team that lost to the Warriors in
Speaker 1: the twenty fourteen playoffs. Iguadala pushed the Warriors to give
Speaker 1: the uber athletic seven foot McGee a chance. McGee would
Speaker 1: give Golden State a lab option. They didn't quite have
Speaker 1: a vertical threat in the half court and a big
Speaker 1: man who runs the floor. Well, it was the first
Speaker 1: time McGee teamed with Curry, but it wasn't the first
Speaker 1: impression he had of Steph. That came when Steph debuted
Speaker 1: one of his signature celebrations against McGee and the Denver Nuggets.
Speaker 15: I mean, the only thing that really lingered was, I
Speaker 15: believe a game against US Denver was the first time
Speaker 15: he had done a shoot in the corner three and
Speaker 15: turn around to look at the bench before it goes in.
Speaker 15: So it was like a spark for his swag to
Speaker 15: go up one hundred x. And I hate the fact
Speaker 15: that we were a part of that, or I guess
Speaker 15: I was a part of that.
Speaker 3: Curry with the whisker tree getting in back three on
Speaker 3: the way, Yes, Sir, turned around two. That was dirty.
Speaker 1: My goodness, this dude is ridiculous.
Speaker 3: Eight unanswered curry off a drive curry for three cats.
Speaker 16: God, Steph Curry from way downtown. There's step three pointer
Speaker 16: of the night.
Speaker 1: And it wouldn't take long for this center with the
Speaker 1: reputation of being somewhat goofy, to play a very serious
Speaker 1: role with the loaded dumps.
Speaker 15: I feel like I realized that once I started realizing
Speaker 15: how Draymond played and how he was more of a
Speaker 15: pass first player but would always have the ball in
Speaker 15: his hands. So I believe a couple of practices, a
Speaker 15: couple of preseason games, I'm realizing, like, Okay, he's throwing
Speaker 15: the live no matter what. So it was really helping
Speaker 15: me just with my timing and with my role of knowing, Okay,
Speaker 15: if he got the ball in his hand, be ready
Speaker 15: for a live and just dunk the ball and get
Speaker 15: back down the court and just focus on that because
Speaker 15: they don't need you shooting breeze, and it needs you
Speaker 15: posting enough, and it's a whole different type of team
Speaker 15: or whatever we got going. You got to be great
Speaker 15: at that certain roles so each person can do what
Speaker 15: they have to do so that we win this championship.
Speaker 1: The team was complete, and all that was left in
Speaker 1: the regular season was to acclimate Durant to his new
Speaker 1: teammates and for his new teammates to effectively shield him
Speaker 1: from the hatred that was to come. That would be
Speaker 1: at its most intense when Durant played in Oklahoma City
Speaker 1: for the first time as an opponent, but that wouldn't
Speaker 1: happen until February. Until then, the team's concerns were minimal.
Speaker 1: There was perhaps no better display of just how much
Speaker 1: scoring talent was on this team than on December fifth,
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen, in Oracle Arena. That's when Clay Thompson did
Speaker 1: his best Will Chamberlain impression, scoring sixty points in just
Speaker 1: twenty nine minutes and three seconds of playing time. It
Speaker 1: was a game against the Indiana Pacers, who happened to
Speaker 1: be starting old friend Monte Ellis opposite Thompson. Unlike the
Speaker 1: game in which Thompson scored thirty seven points in the
Speaker 1: third quarter, Clay was hot from the beginning of this one.
Speaker 1: With so much attention paid to Curry and Durant, Thompson
Speaker 1: scored an easy seventeen in the first court, all within
Speaker 1: the flow of the offense, all without much If any
Speaker 1: dribble can play.
Speaker 17: Himself twenty Thompson, your son, he's having a life. Play
Speaker 17: want to get three quarter?
Speaker 3: The events has gone nuts twenty seven for twenty. I'm
Speaker 3: twelve of sixteen.
Speaker 1: Shooting midway through the second period, with the Warriors leading
Speaker 1: fifty six to thirty nine, Thompson caught a pass from
Speaker 1: Sean Livigson. While crossing the floor from left to right.
Speaker 1: He turned over his left shoulder and shot a fading
Speaker 1: three pointer that landed him in the front of his
Speaker 1: own bench as the ball switched through the net.
Speaker 3: Thirteen not the Warrior run Let's they figured to play
Speaker 3: next time.
Speaker 1: That shot sent the Warrior's bench into a friends It
Speaker 1: was a celebration just as jubilant as any of the
Speaker 1: title celebrations. Steph Perry even left the bench momentarily darting
Speaker 1: to the hallway leading to his locker room, unable to
Speaker 1: contain his joy. This was based strictly on reaction, one
Speaker 1: of the happiest moments of this entire Golden State run.
Speaker 1: The Warriors were coasting and their third option offensively was
Speaker 1: putting on a scoring display for the Ages. By halftime,
Speaker 1: Clay had forty. His last three pointer of the half
Speaker 1: didn't even draw much of a celebration, just three fingers
Speaker 1: directed to the floor.
Speaker 9: And a bit of a meaning.
Speaker 1: And the first halt, and with twenty more points in
Speaker 1: the third quarter, Thompson had sixty. He left the game
Speaker 1: with one twenty two remaining in the third quarter and
Speaker 1: the Warriors leading by thirty five place.
Speaker 3: Ray light Top said, warners are having fun clad.
Speaker 1: For thy.
Speaker 3: Guy's gotta go up to sixty play quarter three sixty
Speaker 3: sixty for play top set.
Speaker 1: Had the Pacers managed to stay close, Clay would have
Speaker 1: had a chance to reach Kobe's famed eighty one tote.
Speaker 1: But fittingly, Golden State was just too done, And just
Speaker 1: to show how much of a sixty point game can
Speaker 1: truly be a team effort, Clay only needed eleven dribbles
Speaker 1: for the entire game. I counted fourteen. But whatever, the
Speaker 1: whole performance, save for one or two difficult shots, was
Speaker 1: a display of just how well oiled this machine really was.
Speaker 1: Here was Thompson after the game.
Speaker 8: With ros goold On Moude.
Speaker 3: It was fun. I was in a great rhythm, took
Speaker 3: all good shots most part, still.
Speaker 4: Miss a few while the threes or what she got back.
Speaker 3: But it was a fun night, say the least at halftime.
Speaker 6: You had forty points.
Speaker 3: Usually at halftime people cool off. How were we able
Speaker 3: to stay hot in the third quarters.
Speaker 4: Not getting caught up and having forty just trying to
Speaker 4: play every possession like it matters were Bay and.
Speaker 10: It did.
Speaker 3: I mean, we're trying to build great habits.
Speaker 4: Since the turnover ratio tonight was phenomenal, we got to
Speaker 4: keep that up.
Speaker 3: You had sixty and three quarters. What do you think
Speaker 3: would have happened if you played in the fourth? Who knows? Hopeyah,
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 9: I don't know.
Speaker 3: That's a great question.
Speaker 6: Who knows.
Speaker 1: Thompson's personality, a laid back approach to life that includes
Speaker 1: taking his boat to work as often as possible in
Speaker 1: the Bay Area, was just what this pressure cooker of
Speaker 1: a team needed. It wasn't just Curry's joyful demeanor that
Speaker 1: set the tone for the Warriors. It was also Thompson's
Speaker 1: lovable personality. At this point in the process, Captain Clay,
Speaker 1: as he was nicknamed, wasn't affected by the extra attention.
Speaker 1: Kareth Burke had been a Warrior's sideline reporter since twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1: She recognized the benefit of Thompson's work life balance fairly earth.
Speaker 7: Who could you think of that would leave his house
Speaker 7: in Tiberan. She would drive a boat to work, park
Speaker 7: it at this marina and then ride his bike to
Speaker 7: the arena like he would do Instagram lives. As he
Speaker 7: was captaining his boat listening to Bob Barley Michael Jackson,
Speaker 7: like he really liked the old Motown stuff especially, and yeah,
Speaker 7: he's just out there.
Speaker 3: He was like, hey, guys, water's fine today.
Speaker 7: Like Clay was always himself, He never changed with the spotlight.
Speaker 7: Clay was very fortunate that Steph commanded the attention and
Speaker 7: that Kadi commanded the attention, because Clay is actually, especially
Speaker 7: during those years, pretty shy. You could see it in
Speaker 7: the way that he talked to media. He looked down
Speaker 7: a lot, He stumbled a little bit. He always knew
Speaker 7: what he wanted to say when it comes to talking pop.
Speaker 7: But I think he just didn't like the glare of
Speaker 7: the attention. As they kept winning championships, there was more
Speaker 7: and more and more media and more demands on their time,
Speaker 7: and I could see him retreating into himself a little bit. Yeah,
Speaker 7: not everybody is a public speaker, and when it comes
Speaker 7: to Clay, he's a very simple person, and I want
Speaker 7: to make sure this does not come off as simpleton.
Speaker 7: He is a very intelligent guy, but he likes three things, basketball,
Speaker 7: his dog.
Speaker 1: And the water.
Speaker 15: Guys, that's it.
Speaker 7: It doesn't take a lot to make him feel fulfilled.
Speaker 7: So he was really living this dream and then doing
Speaker 7: his best to be incognito and left alone with his
Speaker 7: dog out in the Oakland Hills.
Speaker 1: Incognito was impossible, of course, for a player on this
Speaker 1: highest of profile teams. In fact, the Warriors had become
Speaker 1: so high profile after the Durant signing, just dealing with
Speaker 1: the constant pressure of expectations was among the team's biggest challenges.
Speaker 1: According to ja Jah Peculia, who was experiencing his first
Speaker 1: year under this scorching spotlight, it took a conversation with
Speaker 1: Steve Kirk for him to learn how to properly managed
Speaker 1: overly eager fans in Meetia.
Speaker 8: So when I I'm with the Warriors, suddenly my following
Speaker 8: go on to social media just just started increasing like crazy.
Speaker 8: It's a good thing, but also there's some bad thing
Speaker 8: came with it. Suddenly lots of negativity came. We were
Speaker 8: winning games left and right, nothing was stopping us. We're
Speaker 8: having good time, fun, smile, highlights, sports centers, top ten,
Speaker 8: you know, maybe half of us us. You know, so
Speaker 8: so many good things are happening. But like with the
Speaker 8: increase of following, also there was an increase of the negativity.
Speaker 8: You know, the comments and this and that. So I
Speaker 8: couldn't share with this anymore. Right, so going home, I
Speaker 8: would always thinking, I said, hold on, like it really
Speaker 8: doesn't add up. I don't understand it. Like we playing well,
Speaker 8: I fit perfectly. I think we're gonna be even better,
Speaker 8: like you know, once we get into the middle of
Speaker 8: the season, so you know, and by the playoffs and
Speaker 8: you know, most likely we're gonna win the championship. We
Speaker 8: stay healthy. I don't understand why so much negativity. So
Speaker 8: one day, Coach Kirk calls me after the practice. Everything
Speaker 8: was going just fine. But that's all Coach, I don't
Speaker 8: understand why so much negativity around it. Like we're playing
Speaker 8: good and I think I'm doing whatever you asked me
Speaker 8: to do, Like you know, I'm pretty good with my role.
Speaker 8: Everything is going fine. I don't understand why so much
Speaker 8: negativity around and he goes, who is your head coach?
Speaker 8: I said, you are? What about assistant coaches? I said, well,
Speaker 8: Mike Brown, Ron Adams, you know, Q Jaron Collins stay around.
Speaker 8: I mean, because there was up right after the practice,
Speaker 8: so still a whole team and you know, the whole
Speaker 8: staff was there. And he goes, how about your teammates?
Speaker 8: I said, where are you trying to go with this?
Speaker 8: I said, well, Steph is shooting half court shots clays
Speaker 8: like making ten in a row, thro from three's, Draymond
Speaker 8: is beating up someone over in the dgotic corner. Katie
Speaker 8: is working on his mid moves.
Speaker 15: You know.
Speaker 8: I say, like this, that's how my teammates and he goes, exactly,
Speaker 8: that's what matters the most, you know. So that was
Speaker 8: such an important moment, you know, in my life. Driving
Speaker 8: back home, I say, you know what, He's so right.
Speaker 1: It was Kerr's most challenging job keeping together a group
Speaker 1: that had so many possible distractions, but on a team
Speaker 1: this loaded, he had the added challenge of making sure
Speaker 1: the stars were engaged on a nightly basis. Also, with
Speaker 1: this established a winning formula, even Kevin Durant can fade
Speaker 1: into the background on occasion in his first Warrior season,
Speaker 1: Durant would often say as much that he was just hooping,
Speaker 1: figuring out where he fits and occasionally picking his spots
Speaker 1: to be a killer, like in the fifth game of
Speaker 1: the season, his first again his old team, when he
Speaker 1: had thirty nine seven three pointers.
Speaker 18: West books past foot off by prittolia. There's purry behind
Speaker 18: a boy. Yes, they are all join us in an
Speaker 18: Olklahoma center.
Speaker 3: It's putting up prick golf Ran pulls it off. He
Speaker 3: is a quiet.
Speaker 6: That's ridiculous.
Speaker 8: Welcome the Golden Steak.
Speaker 1: Or his second game against his former team, which happened
Speaker 1: to be his best game of the season, when he
Speaker 1: had forty twelve rebounds and three blocks.
Speaker 16: Durrect for three access fifth to the game and a
Speaker 16: forty point outing season high for Kevin.
Speaker 1: D'lan book goose by the way, We're an Oak. It
Speaker 1: was quite the contrast to the start of Lebron James's
Speaker 1: tenure in Miami, when he infamously bumped into head coach
Speaker 1: Eric Spolster early in the season and was tossing hints
Speaker 1: that he wanted pat Riley back on the bench for
Speaker 1: Steve Kerr. This was as close to basketball nirvana as
Speaker 1: there could be, and he happened to be the director
Speaker 1: of it all.
Speaker 5: So we would wrap up practice and I would go
Speaker 5: to the side of the court and at one end
Speaker 5: was Staff going through his routine. At the other end
Speaker 5: was Kevin going through his routine. And you know, it's
Speaker 5: like we're watching Mozart and Bach, you know, at the
Speaker 5: exact same time composed music. He was stunning. These are
Speaker 5: the guys who, you know, the most talented people in
Speaker 5: the world at what they do and maybe of all time.
Speaker 5: And I got to witness that day after day. So
Speaker 5: I just admired Kevin's his work ethic, but how much
Speaker 5: he would zen out within the work. You know, you
Speaker 5: could see how much it meant to him, even if
Speaker 5: he didn't talk about it a whole lot, who's a
Speaker 5: pretty private guy. You could just see how much the
Speaker 5: game meant to him. And it was It was beautiful.
Speaker 5: It was mesmerizing to watching more.
Speaker 1: And by the time the Warriors did face the Thunder
Speaker 1: and Durant's old stomping ground of Oklahoma City, the team
Speaker 1: was forty five and eight and Durant had already experienced
Speaker 1: the awkwardness of playing against his former teammates and coach.
Speaker 1: The game began with the expected level of hatred, as
Speaker 1: thunder fans wore t shirts with cupcakes on calling back
Speaker 1: to Westbrook's post after Durant's free agency decision thirty five
Speaker 1: Kevin Duran. Durant would effectively silence all of them, scoring
Speaker 1: thirty four points on fifty seven percent shooting. The Warriors
Speaker 1: won easily, one thirty one fourteen.
Speaker 16: Durant Way Downtown sign Kevin Durant drills a three pointer.
Speaker 1: Westbrook did have forty seven points with eleven rebounds and
Speaker 1: eight assists in what would be his MVP season and
Speaker 1: his first averaging a triple double, but he also had
Speaker 1: eleven turners. Durant talked with Lisa Salters after the game.
Speaker 19: Now, you said you thought that you were going to
Speaker 19: get food, but actually hearing it, seeing the cupcake signs,
Speaker 19: hearing the fans that used.
Speaker 10: To cheer you, What was that like for you?
Speaker 14: I actually go to a bit a little louder, But
Speaker 14: you know it was fun. You know, I was on
Speaker 14: the other side of it, you know, So to become
Speaker 14: one of these guys now whenever Brewy.
Speaker 10: Was kind of fun.
Speaker 8: So, you know, I got ambrasing it.
Speaker 14: That's all I can do and keep playing my game,
Speaker 14: and keep preparing away up a fair and enjoy every
Speaker 14: game as well.
Speaker 3: So you know it was fun.
Speaker 14: Now, you and Russell seemed to exchange words.
Speaker 19: At one point you were had to haggard with Andrey
Speaker 19: robertson what were your former team makes, saying to you,
Speaker 19: I don't remember. So once again, none of the players
Speaker 19: exchanged how MUDs or anything like that?
Speaker 14: Does that mean something to you at all?
Speaker 1: To this point, the projections were proving true. The Warriors
Speaker 1: wouldn't face much resistance. How could there be any real
Speaker 1: suffering if Durant and Curry were in uniform every game, well,
Speaker 1: there was always friendly pile. When Jasha Paculia crashed into
Speaker 1: Durant early in a February twenty eighth game in Washington,
Speaker 1: d C. Near Durant's hometown, it would result in a
Speaker 1: Grade two MCL sprain that kept Durant sidelines for more
Speaker 1: than a month. He'd return with a few games remaining
Speaker 1: in the regular season. In the nineteen games he missed,
Speaker 1: the Warriors went fifteen to four, including a three game
Speaker 1: losing streak and a thirteen game winning streak. The viewing
Speaker 1: audience would take that Warrior's success without Durant has further
Speaker 1: evidence that Golden State never needed him to begin with.
Speaker 1: Durant also missed two games in the warriors first round
Speaker 1: sweep of the Portland Trailblazers. Curry averaged thirty in that series,
Speaker 1: including forty two percent from three point range. The Warriors
Speaker 1: won by an average of eighteen points in that seek a.
Speaker 18: Waller the Blazers one twelve O three.
Speaker 3: Golden State with the four games close out.
Speaker 18: Over the Portland Trailblazers.
Speaker 1: In the next round, with a healthy squad, the Warriors
Speaker 1: swept Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gobert and the Utah Jazz.
Speaker 3: The Golden State Warriors, I've swept the Utah Jazz.
Speaker 8: Another great round.
Speaker 14: Everybody contributive what we do and looking forward to what's
Speaker 14: a compace spot.
Speaker 1: This is probably as good a time as any to
Speaker 1: mention the Warriors were doing most of this without Steve
Speaker 1: Kerr on the sideline. The complications from his back surgery
Speaker 1: so bad Kerr missed eleven playoff games, with Mike Brown
Speaker 1: serving as acting head coach. JaVale McGee said Kerr's absence,
Speaker 1: which lasted until Game two of the NBA Finals was
Speaker 1: a clear source of motivation.
Speaker 15: It was definitely sad to seeing him in pain and
Speaker 15: not being able to do what he loved with his coach.
Speaker 15: He definitely gave us some inspiration though, knowing that he's
Speaker 15: out here fighting real life things as in back pain
Speaker 15: and if anybody knows back paint, No, Joe, I don't
Speaker 15: care if it's serve you back pain or you've been
Speaker 15: golfing for eighteen holes back man.
Speaker 8: Back pain was old Joe.
Speaker 15: So the fact that he had to sit out that
Speaker 15: really pushed us to Okay, we to this receivee just
Speaker 15: in case he didn't come back, just because he's been
Speaker 15: leading us this whole time and going through where he's
Speaker 15: going through, but not letting that way for him from
Speaker 15: being a great coach.
Speaker 1: Waiting for Mike Brown and the Warriors in the Conference
Speaker 1: finals was a San Antonio Spurs team that looked quite
Speaker 1: different than it did the last time these two teams
Speaker 1: met postseason. Gone was Tim Duncan. Unavailable was Tony Parker,
Speaker 1: who'd gotten hurt in the previous series. Still, the Spurs
Speaker 1: were riding big brother vibes when it came to the Warriors.
Speaker 1: They were the last Western Conference team Golden State lost
Speaker 1: to in the postseason. They even blew out the Warriors
Speaker 1: in Kd's Golden State debut to start the year. They'd
Speaker 1: replaced Duncan with LaMarcus Aldridge, who'd come over as a
Speaker 1: free agent from Portland, and Kawhi Leonard had fully developed
Speaker 1: into a superstar, coming off two consecutive Defensive Player of
Speaker 1: the Year awards and finishing second to Steph Curry an
Speaker 1: MVP voting in twenty sixteen. Danny Green was on the
Speaker 1: Spurs for the twenty thirteen playoff series and would face
Speaker 1: Golden State three more times in the playoffs before his
Speaker 1: career ended. Green said those revamped Spurs didn't view the
Speaker 1: Warriors the way the rest of the league did.
Speaker 10: I'll approached Pop always keep kidding and just me being young,
Speaker 10: being competitive. It didn't matter who was where. We always
Speaker 10: they were vulnerable or they had vulnerable spots, and nobody
Speaker 10: was invincible to us. You know, Pop was like, I
Speaker 10: don't see Michael out there. I don't see Larry and
Speaker 10: Robert part you know, I don't see you know that team.
Speaker 10: Those they're good, but they're not These guys Boston back
Speaker 10: into the Lakers back in the day, He's like, or
Speaker 10: Michael Jordan was Chicago Bulls, They're not that good, So
Speaker 10: we was put it in our minds like they're beautiful.
Speaker 1: To this point in the postseason, the Warriors hadn't lost
Speaker 1: a game. No team in NBA history has gone undefeated
Speaker 1: throughout a championship. Golden State had a real opportunity to
Speaker 1: be the first, or at least that was the discussion
Speaker 1: around this group that had won all but one of
Speaker 1: its first eight playoff games by double figures. The Spurs
Speaker 1: weren't trying to hear any of them. It's behind a
Speaker 1: dominant Kawhi Leonard. San Antonio led Game one by as
Speaker 1: many as twenty three points in the third quarter. The
Speaker 1: Warriors shot just thirty four percent in the first half,
Speaker 1: and Leonard looked like the best player on the floor.
Speaker 16: Curry comes up with the steel, crows it, Leonard with
Speaker 16: the ball, drives and finishes.
Speaker 6: Leonard gets away.
Speaker 16: Drives eight side and finishes again. Leonard fake screen, goes
Speaker 16: fort Leonard drives, look up, oh, he floats to the
Speaker 16: rim using the left hand.
Speaker 1: If we were to pause time and examine the NBA
Speaker 1: at this very moment, Kawhi Leonard could actually stake the
Speaker 1: claim as the best player in the league. He had
Speaker 1: already won a Finals MVP in his third year, largely
Speaker 1: because of defense he played against Lebron James. He'd been
Speaker 1: given the reins to the Spurs and had led this
Speaker 1: team to sixty one wins. Leonard was the perfect foil
Speaker 1: for these Warriors, given that he could defend anyone on
Speaker 1: Gordon State, but was also becoming an efficient offensive threat.
Speaker 1: In essence, Kawhi was just as devastating as Lebron had
Speaker 1: been the previous two finals, and in the opener of
Speaker 1: the Western Conference Finals, Leonard was giving the Warriors PTSD.
Speaker 1: Danny Green had beaten the Warriors in the playoffs before
Speaker 1: he knew that team was questioning itself, maybe for the
Speaker 1: first time since coming together.
Speaker 10: We were hooping first half, who were killing LaMarcus was
Speaker 10: playing well, like there's some games like we weren't sure
Speaker 10: how well he's gonna be offensively, defensively, like if.
Speaker 5: He's gonna get rhythm.
Speaker 10: He's trying to find his rhythm, and him and Kawhi
Speaker 10: were trying to figure it out. He was bawlin him
Speaker 10: and Kawhi were in attend I'm going to like two
Speaker 10: man game was working well and they were in good rhythm.
Speaker 10: I didn't wasn't scoring a bunch, but I hit two
Speaker 10: shot like we were up good at half. It was
Speaker 10: like okay.
Speaker 3: You could see it in their face.
Speaker 10: You could see it in Katie's face, like damn, I
Speaker 10: came here and I don't know if this is gonna
Speaker 10: work out the way I expected it to.
Speaker 1: Adding to the sense of satisfaction coursing through the Spurs
Speaker 1: was the fact that San Antonio was one of those
Speaker 1: teams in the Hamptons trying to court Kevin Durant. Had
Speaker 1: Durant chose to sign with the Spurs, players like Danny
Speaker 1: Green would have to be moved to make room. Green
Speaker 1: was told as much during the previous offseason, so throwing
Speaker 1: a Kawhi Leonard sized wrench to the Warriors plans was
Speaker 1: quite satisfying for Green and a few of his first teammates.
Speaker 10: We had David West the year before and I think
Speaker 10: he just left him got to go State the year after,
Speaker 10: so he went from us to them, and this is
Speaker 10: the year he was there and Katie were there and
Speaker 10: we could see the face like, Yo, this might be
Speaker 10: this might be it for reality, and he's like, damn,
Speaker 10: I can't believe. I can't you know, like damn, I
Speaker 10: came here and I'm about to get my.
Speaker 8: Ass busting.
Speaker 1: On the next dumb dynastic.
Speaker 8: He was playing. May I don't even mind. I hear
Speaker 8: that we bet and cool, like, I really give him
Speaker 8: so much credit, but we down first games.
Speaker 12: This was an Alzheim's greatest a peak of his powers,
Speaker 12: succeeding and being told that, like, you know, who cares.
Speaker 13: I think if he's been able to connect with fans
Speaker 13: on that level and made that effort to do that,
Speaker 13: I think it not only would have changed the way
Speaker 13: people felt in subsequent years about the Warriors winning titles.
Speaker 13: I think that Kevin Durant was still will be in
Speaker 13: Golden State right now.
Speaker 5: I'm gonna go with hell you who is going to
Speaker 5: win that series?
Speaker 8: If?
Speaker 1: Garrett dub Dynasty is a production of iHeartMedia and the NBA.
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