Asked once upon a time why the A's seemed so resistant inviting their illustrious alumni back to Oakland to celebrate history while promoting the franchise and the game of baseball, Oakland general manager Billy Beane began his reply with five words I'll never forget.
"I'm really not into nostalgia ..."
Though Beane's focus in the early 2000s was on the current product, as it should have been, his neglect of the team's hallowed history seemed short-sighted, a missed opportunity to remind folks that the A's had royal blood in their baseball genes, reaching six World Series in 19 seasons, winning four. The Giants, by contrast, were 0-for-1 during that span but practically perfected the art of peddling their history.
The Warriors, thankfully, won't be following the blueprint the A's have since shredded.
They are going to wave their greatness at every turn, spotlighting banners, retiring numbers, building statues and perhaps, if co-chairmen Joe Lacob and Peter Guber have their way, maybe even hiring a choir to stand outside Chase Center singing hymns of glory.
As well they should, for the Warriors spent five seasons looking down upon a landscape of NBA teams in various stages of futility. Some surrendered. Some pursued with valor but were vanquished just the same. A few couldn't keep themselves from spitting invective reeking of envy.
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When they were atrocious, as they were for most of the 35 years between 1978 and 2013, the Warriors were clobbered with criticism. Now that the resurgent group we've come to know is breaking apart – while the rest of the suddenly emancipated NBA rearranged itself in stunning, spectacular fashion – it seems only fair that the recent past gets recognized.
The Warriors were 322-88 over the past five seasons, the best record and most wins over a five-year stretch in NBA history. That's the knockout rebuttal to any argument coming from fans of the Jordan Bulls, the Shaq-Kobe Lakers, the Showtime Lakers or the Celtics of Larry Almighty Bird.
The Warriors won 73 games in 2015-16, wiping away the 72 wins of the 1995-96 Bulls and setting an NBA record that dares challenge.
The Warriors won 54 consecutive home games, also posting a 78-4 regular-season record in games at Oracle Arena over a two-year span
Most 3-pointers in a game? Stephen Curry, with 13 in 2016, broken by Klay Thompson's 14 in 2018.
Most 3-pointers in a season? Curry, with 402 in 2015-16.
Only unanimous MVP in league history? Curry, same season.
Their response to losing the 2016 NBA Finals was to snag Kevin Durant and win back-to-back championships – blistering the league with a 16-1 postseason in 2017.
Most points in a quarter? Thompson, with 37 in 2015.
First teammates with 50-point games in a single week? Curry and Thompson last season.
Best plus-minus in a single season? Draymond Green, at plus-1,072 during the season of 73.
The 24 wins (2015) to open a season, the 34 road wins (2016) and the 16 consecutive home playoff victories, all records, as are the 114.8 offensive rating in 2016-17 and the 56.9 effective field goal percentage the very next season.
There are more individual and team records, of course, but to list them all is more a matter of accounting than appreciation. Besides, it would provide merely a glimpse of what made these seasons so special for the Warriors.
Led by Curry on one end and Green on the other, the Warriors changed the way the game is played. Under coach Steve Kerr, they combined the passing of the Gregg Popovich Spurs, the defense of the Jordan Bulls and the 3-point shooting accuracy of lab robots and turned it into a force so fierce the rest of the league wanted to emulate.
They went, in a ridiculously short period, from being the team few in the Bay Area cared to claim to one many locals claimed to love.
Not an arena in the league is without the presence of Warriors fans, sometimes loud enough to unnerve the local supporters. Not a block can be walked in the Bay Area without seeing folks in Warriors gear, mostly T-shirts and hoodies and caps – and that doesn't count the tattoos.
Gone are such stars as Andre Iguodala and Durant. Going soon is Shaun Livingston. Gone, too, are JaVale McGee and Marreese Speights and Leandro Barbosa and Ian Clark and David West and Harrison Barnes and Zaza Pachulia and Festus Ezeli. Gone again are Matt Barnes and Andrew Bogut.
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The Warriors of 2019-20 will be dramatically different, closer to the 2012-13 bunch except with more established veterans and likely fewer future All-Stars.
For five years, though, the Warriors went higher than anybody could have imagined. They won't let anyone forget. Nor should they.
