2017 Golden State Warriors

Golden State lost the 2016 Finals after leading three games to one, then signed Kevin Durant in July. He came from the Thunder, the same team that had taken the Warriors to seven games in the conference finals months earlier. Adding a top-three scorer to a 73-win core made the result close to inevitable. They went 67-15 and led the league in offense.

Durant and Stephen Curry split the load without much friction. Draymond Green ran the defense and finished near the top of the Defensive Player of the Year voting. The bench leaned on Shaun Livingston's midrange and David West's passing from the elbow, two veterans chasing a first ring late in long careers.

The run was a procession. They swept Portland, Utah, and San Antonio to reach the Finals at 12-0. Cleveland took Game 4 in a 137-point shootout, the highest-scoring Finals game to that point, but the Warriors closed it out in five.

Durant averaged 35.2 points in the series and hit the dagger three over LeBron James in Game 3. The 16-1 playoff record was the best winning percentage in league history. For Durant it answered the one question left about his career.