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.

The starting five was Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, and Zaza Pachulia. Steve Kerr coached the group with Andre Iguodala as the primary bench scorer.

This was title number 3 in a Golden State Warriors run that stretched across consecutive or near-consecutive seasons. Repeat winners carried continuity from one year to the next.

The full roster ran deeper than the headline names. Role players who mattered included Shaun Livingston (veteran backup point guard); David West (passing big off the bench); Patrick McCaw (rookie wing).

The 2017 title came in the modern era of load management, threes, and switch-heavy defense. The Golden State Warriors still had to win four series, usually against teams built to contend rather than tank.

The Golden State Warriors share a lineage with other banners from 1947, 1956, 1975, 2015, 2018, 2022. Compare those seasons on the franchise hub to see how the roster and style changed between title runs.

Looking back, the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors won 67 games and then nearly went undefeated in the playoffs, finishing 16-1 on the way to the title. Kevin Durant signed that summer, left the Thunder team that had just pushed Golden State to seven games, and poured in 35.2 a night against Cleveland to win Finals MVP. Their only postseason loss came in Game 4 of the Finals, the closest the rest of the league got all spring.

For the full roster beyond the featured starters, see the table on this page. For other Golden State Warriors titles, use the franchise hub linked below.