The Golden State Warriors broke the basketball world with their unprecedented run of five straight Finals appearances from 2015-2019, debunking the unscientific narrative that a jump-shooting team — more specifically a 3-point shooting team — couldn’t be relied upon to win at the highest level.
They played a style unto their own. They bombed 3s with reckless abandon. Their unprecedented depth made the slogan, “Strength in Numbers” a familiar refrain.
But here’s the thing. They didn’t actually shoot that many 3s. And they weren’t actually that deep.
If you’re looking for a team that truly ticks those boxes — a team that embodies everything we think about when we think of Warriors basketball — the 2024-25 version stacks up even better those the dynastic iterations. Let’s be clear, in no way does this year’s squad compare to the greatness of arguably the best basketball team ever assembled. But it certainly aligns with our perception of the way those teams played.
Take, for example, the trademark 3-point shooting. Yes, Golden State was always at the top of the league in accuracy thanks to the legendary marksmanship of the Splash Brothers — Steph Curry and Klay Thompson — and later Kevin Durant. But in terms of volume, it wasn’t exactly the all-out blitz our brains may trick us into remembering.
During that five-year Finals run, the Warriors never led the league in 3-point attempts per 100 possessions. They finished second in their record-breaking 73-win season of 2015-16, but outside of that, sixth was the highest they finished, and they landed 17th in long-distance attempts in 2017-18. The dirty little secret with those Warriors teams was that they didn’t actually have great shooting depth — they just had three of the best to ever do it leading the charge.
Compare that to this year’s team, which is fourth in 3-point attempts per game overall, but closer to second in the four games that Curry has played. They have six players averaging at least four 3-point attempts per game, led by nine apiece from Curry and offseason…
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