The Golden State Warriors won the 2015 NBA Finals.
They did it. After a 40-year drought that felt more like a century to the fans in Oakland, a skinny kid with "glass ankles" and a rookie coach named Steve Kerr hoisted the Larry O'Brien Trophy. It wasn't just a win. It was a total system shock to the league. Before the Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers four games to two, the NBA was still obsessed with size. You needed a dominant big man. You needed "grit and grind." Then, Stephen Curry happened.
Honestly, looking back at that series, it’s wild how much was stacked against Cleveland. LeBron James was playing like a man possessed, but he was essentially alone. Kyrie Irving broke his kneecap in Game 1. Kevin Love was already out with a dislocated shoulder from the previous round. It was LeBron versus the world, and for a second there—when the Cavs went up 2-1—it actually looked like the world might lose.
The Small-Ball Revolution and the Death of the Traditional Center
If you want to know who won the nba finals 2015, you have to talk about Andre Iguodala. He didn't start a single game all season. Not one. Then, with the Warriors trailing 2-1 in the series, Steve Kerr listened to a suggestion from a special assistant named Nick U'Ren. He decided to bench Andrew Bogut—his starting center—and move Iguodala into the starting lineup.
This birthed the "Death Lineup."
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It was risky. Basketball purists thought it was suicidal to play without a rim protector against LeBron. But it worked because it forced the Cavs to play at Golden State's pace. Timofey Mozgov, Cleveland's giant center, suddenly had no one to guard. He was out there chasing shadows on the perimeter while Draymond Green operated as a "point center." It was beautiful and chaotic. The Warriors didn't just win; they proved that "jump-shooting teams" could actually win championships, debunking years of Charles Barkley's grumpy predictions.
LeBron’s Herculean Effort in a Losing Cause
We have to be real about the 2015 Cavs. They were a skeleton crew. By the end of the series, LeBron was playing with Matthew Dellavedova, Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert, and J.R. Smith. Dellavedova became a cult hero for about 72 hours because of how hard he dove for loose balls, but he literally ended up in the hospital with dehydration after Game 3 because he had to exert so much energy just to stay in Curry’s jersey.
LeBron’s stat line for the series was something out of a video game: 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists per game.
He accounted for nearly the entire Cleveland offense. There were legitimate arguments that he should have won Finals MVP despite being on the losing team. That hasn't happened since Jerry West in 1969. But the voters went with Iguodala. Why? Because Andre was the only person on the planet who could even slightly bother LeBron. He didn't "stop" him—nobody stops LeBron James—but he made him work for every single inch of hardwood.
Key Turning Points That Nobody Talks About
Everyone remembers the Curry threes and the Iguodala dunks. But the series turned on some really subtle stuff.
In Game 1, the Cavs were actually in a position to win. Iman Shumpert had a putback attempt at the buzzer that just rimmed out. If that goes in, Cleveland is up 1-0, Kyrie Irving maybe doesn't get injured in overtime, and the entire history of the NBA looks different.
Then there was the emergence of Draymond Green as a playmaker. In the first three games, he looked rattled. He was hesitant. By Game 6, he recorded a triple-double. That growth happened in real-time. You could see the confidence transferring from the veterans to the young core. It’s also worth noting that Steve Kerr was a rookie coach. People forget that. He was making these massive tactical adjustments on the biggest stage without any prior head coaching experience.
Why the 2015 Finals Still Matter in 2026
The reason we still obsess over who won the nba finals 2015 is because it set the blueprint for the next decade of basketball. Before this, the three-point shot was a weapon; after this, it became the entire arsenal.
- The Rise of the "Tweeners": Players like Draymond Green, once considered "too small" for power forward and "too slow" for small forward, became the most coveted assets in the draft.
- The Bench is King: Golden State’s depth was their greatest strength. Shaun Livingston’s mid-range game and Leandro Barbosa’s speed kept the pressure on when Curry sat.
- The Health Factor: This series started the long, exhausting debate about "asterisks." Cavs fans still say they would have won if Kyrie and Love were healthy. Warriors fans point to their 67 wins and say they were the better team regardless.
The truth is usually somewhere in the middle. The Warriors were healthier, sure. But they were also revolutionizing the way space was used on a court. They weren't just lucky; they were better prepared for the future.
Breaking Down the Game 6 Clincher
The final game in Cleveland was a masterclass in poise. The crowd was deafening, desperate for the city’s first title in any sport since 1964. But Golden State just kept moving the ball.
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They finished with 28 assists on 37 made field goals.
Curry and Iguodala both dropped 25 points. Every time Cleveland made a run, someone—usually a guy you wouldn't expect, like Festus Ezeli—would make a winning play. When the final whistle blew, the score was 105-97. The image of Steph Curry throwing the ball into the rafters is burned into the memory of every Dubs fan. It was the end of the "Old NBA."
Actionable Insights for Basketball Historians and Fans
If you're looking to dive deeper into why this specific championship changed the trajectory of the sport, don't just watch the highlights of Curry’s circus shots.
Study the fourth quarter of Game 4. That is where the Warriors' coaching staff committed fully to the small-ball lineup that sidelined their traditional bigs. It was the moment the league realized that a center who can’t guard the perimeter is a liability, no matter how many rebounds they get.
To truly understand the impact of the 2015 Finals, look at the shooting stats of the 2014 season compared to 2016. The volume of three-point attempts across the league skyrocketed. This wasn't just a trophy win; it was a total cultural shift. If you're analyzing team building today, the 2015 Warriors remain the primary case study in drafting well, finding a coach who fits the roster's "vibe," and having the guts to bench your starters for the sake of a tactical advantage.
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The 2015 Finals proved that joy and chemistry could win at the highest level. They weren't the biggest, they weren't the strongest, but they were the fastest and the smartest. That’s a lesson that still holds up, whether you’re playing on a court in Oakland or a driveway anywhere else in the world.