It wasn't just a championship. When people ask who won the nba 2015 finals, they usually expect a simple answer: the Golden State Warriors. But that four-to-two series victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers did something much bigger than just put a trophy in a case in Oakland. It broke the NBA. It fundamentally altered how the game is played, scouted, and coached.
The Warriors won. They beat LeBron James.
Honestly, looking back at it now, the series feels like a fever dream. You had Stephen Curry, a guy many thought was too fragile for the league, leading a bunch of "jump shooters" against the greatest individual force the sport had seen since Jordan. People said you couldn't win a title shooting threes. Charles Barkley famously bet against it. He was wrong.
The Collision of Two Dynasties (One Rising, One Rebuilding)
Steve Kerr was a rookie coach. Think about that. He took over a 51-win team from Mark Jackson and decided to play "positionless" basketball before that was even a buzzword. On the other side, LeBron James had just returned to Cleveland. He had Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. It was supposed to be a fair fight.
Then the injuries hit.
Kevin Love’s shoulder was wrecked in the first round against Boston. Kyrie Irving’s kneecap basically exploded in Game 1 of the Finals. Suddenly, it was LeBron versus the world. Or, more accurately, LeBron versus a 67-win juggernaut that didn't know how to lose.
The Cavs actually led the series 2-1. It was gritty. It was ugly. Matthew Dellavedova, an undrafted guard from Australia, played so hard defending Steph Curry that he literally ended up in the hospital on an IV drip after Game 3. That’s the level of desperation Cleveland was playing with. They tried to slow the game down to a crawl. It almost worked.
Why the 2015 Finals Was Won on a Bench Move
The series flipped in Game 4.
Andre Iguodala. That’s the name you need to remember. Steve Kerr, nudged by a young staffer named Nick U'Ren, decided to bench his starting center, Andrew Bogut. He put Iguodala in the starting lineup. This birthed the "Death Lineup."
By going small, the Warriors forced Cleveland to play at a pace they couldn't sustain with a depleted roster. Timofey Mozgov, the Cavs' giant center, became a liability. He couldn't chase Draymond Green around the perimeter. The Warriors started raining threes, moving the ball like it was a hot potato, and the Cavs just ran out of gas.
Iguodala didn't just play well; he made LeBron work for every single inch. LeBron averaged 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists. Those are video game numbers. He was so dominant that some people argued he should have won the Finals MVP even though his team lost. But the voters went with Iguodala. He was the first player to win the award without starting a single game during the regular season.
The Stats That Don't Make Sense
Numbers usually lie, but in the 2015 Finals, they tell a pretty clear story of exhaustion versus efficiency.
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The Warriors shot 38% from three-point range during the regular season. In the Finals, they "only" hit about 36%, but it was the volume that killed Cleveland. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson—the Splash Brothers—demanded so much attention that guys like Shaun Livingston and Leandro Barbosa were getting wide-open layups.
Cleveland's supporting cast was... rough. James Jones and Mike Miller were vet minimum guys. Iman Shumpert was playing through a groin injury. J.R. Smith was incredibly streaky, going 0-for-9 in some stretches and then hitting three straight bombs. You can't beat a 67-win team with that kind of inconsistency.
By Game 6, the vibe in Cleveland was heavy. The Warriors closed it out on the Cavs' home floor with a 105-97 win. Steph Curry and Iguodala both dropped 25. Draymond Green had a triple-double. It was a clinic in modern basketball.
The Controversy: Was it a "Fluke"?
If you talk to Cavs fans today, they’ll tell you that if Kyrie and Love were healthy, Golden State loses.
Maybe.
But sports don't work on "ifs." The Warriors were the best defensive team in the league that year. They weren't just a bunch of guys shooting long balls; they were a switching nightmare. Andrew Bogut (before he was benched) and Draymond Green anchored a defense that was top-tier.
The 2015 Finals proved that the "small ball" revolution wasn't a gimmick. It was the future. It led to the 73-9 season the following year, and eventually, the signing of Kevin Durant. If the Warriors don't win in 2015, the entire trajectory of the NBA looks different. We probably don't see every 7-footer in the league today trying to shoot threes if Kerr hadn't proven it could win at the highest level.
What You Should Take Away From This Championship
Knowing who won the nba 2015 finals is about understanding the shift from "iso-ball" to "flow-ball."
If you're looking to apply the lessons from that Warriors run to how you view the game (or even how you lead a team), look at the depth. The Warriors "Strength in Numbers" slogan wasn't just marketing. They had a bench that could have started for ten other teams in the league.
Key Actionable Insights:
- Adaptability wins: Steve Kerr’s willingness to bench his starting center in the middle of the Finals is one of the balliest coaching moves in history. Don't stick to a plan just because it worked in the past.
- Defense fuels offense: The Warriors' transition game only worked because they were elite at forcing contested shots and rebounding.
- Efficiency over volume: LeBron had the volume, but the Warriors had the efficiency. In the modern era, 3 is greater than 2, and the 2015 Finals was the first time that math was used to win a ring.
The 2015 NBA Finals ended the Cleveland championship drought... wait, no, it extended it. That didn't end until 2016. In 2015, the night belonged to the Bay Area. It was the first title for the Warriors in 40 years. It was the start of a dynasty that would define the next decade of professional basketball.
If you want to understand why the NBA looks the way it does today—the endless threes, the lack of traditional centers, the constant switching—you have to look at those six games in June 2015. It wasn't just a series; it was an eviction notice for the old way of playing basketball.
To truly grasp the impact, go back and watch the highlights of Game 4. Watch how the floor opens up when Draymond Green plays the five. That’s the moment the league changed. You can see the confusion on the faces of the Cleveland defenders. They didn't have an answer. Most of the league still doesn't.