Before the rings, the 73 wins, and the Kevin Durant era that basically broke the league, there was just a team from Oakland that nobody really saw coming. Most people remember the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors as the start of a dynasty, but at the time? They were a massive gamble. They fired Mark Jackson, a guy the players actually liked, and replaced him with Steve Kerr, a guy who had exactly zero minutes of coaching experience at any level. It sounded like a recipe for a mid-tier playoff exit.
Instead, they changed how basketball is played.
The Steve Kerr Gamble and the Death of "Hero Ball"
You have to remember what the NBA looked like in 2014. The San Antonio Spurs had just dismantled the Heat with "The Beautiful Game" passing, but most of the league was still obsessed with isolation. When Steve Kerr walked into that gym, he didn't just want to tweak the offense. He wanted to blow it up. He saw a roster with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and realized that the traditional "inside-out" game was a waste of their specific gravity.
Honestly, the chemistry wasn't instant. Andrew Bogut, who was the defensive anchor and a massive part of their identity, had to buy into being a high-post playmaker rather than just a rim protector. Kerr brought in Alvin Gentry and Ron Adams—the offensive and defensive gurus—to build a system where the ball never stopped moving. It was chaotic. It was fast. And for the first twenty games or so, people were still waiting for the "jump shooting teams don't win titles" curse to kick in. Charles Barkley was the loudest voice in that room, constantly reminding everyone that you can't live and die by the three.
He was wrong.
Breaking the Math: Why the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors Worked
It wasn't just that they took threes. It was who was taking them and how they were created. Steph Curry didn't just have a good year; he had a "shift the tectonic plates of the sport" year. He won his first MVP by averaging 23.8 points and 7.7 assists, which actually seems low by today's standards. But he sat out so many fourth quarters because they were blowing teams out by thirty.
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The real magic was the "Lineup of Death."
Midway through the season, and most famously in the Finals, the Warriors realized that if they put Draymond Green at center, nobody could guard them. Draymond was 6'6" on a good day, but he played like he was 7 feet tall with the wingspan of a pterodactyl. When they went small, they didn't get weaker defensively—they got faster. They could switch every screen. This was revolutionary. Usually, if you go small, you get bullied on the boards. But with Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, Klay, and Steph all flying around, they turned defense into instant offense.
It was basically a math problem the rest of the NBA couldn't solve. If the Warriors are shooting 40% from three and you're shooting 45% from two, you're losing. Every single time.
The Turning Point Nobody Talks About
Everyone points to the Finals against Cleveland as the big moment. But real ones know the season nearly swung on a series against the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round. The Grizzlies were the "Grit and Grind" kings. Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol were physically punishing the Warriors. Golden State fell behind 2-1 in that series. The "soft" narrative was peaking.
That's when the coaching staff made the legendary adjustment to put Andrew Bogut on Tony Allen. Not to guard him, but to ignore him. Bogut literally stood in the paint and let Allen shoot. It wrecked the Grizzlies' spacing. It was disrespectful, brilliant, and it proved that this Warriors team had a mean streak. They weren't just a bunch of kids in the East Bay shooting long-range jumpers; they were tactical assassins.
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The Stats That Actually Mattered
Look at the net rating. They finished the regular season with an 11.4 net rating. To put that in perspective, that's historically dominant territory—up there with the '96 Bulls. They led the league in pace AND defensive efficiency. That almost never happens. Usually, if you play fast, your defense suffers because you're tired or out of position. But the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors were conditioned like marathon runners.
- Regular Season Record: 67-15
- Home Record: 39-2 (Oracle Arena was a fortress)
- Klay’s 37-point quarter: January 23, 2015, against the Kings. If you haven't rewatched that recently, do it. He didn't miss. It wasn't even human.
- Stephen Curry's 286 threes: A new record at the time, which seems cute now that he's pushed it so much higher, but back then, it was mind-boggling.
Dealing with the "Luck" Narrative
We have to address the elephant in the room. Critics love to say the Warriors got lucky in 2015. "Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were injured in the Finals!" "They didn't have to face the Spurs!"
Look, injuries are part of the game. You can only play who is in front of you. And what the Warriors did to a LeBron James-led Cavs team was still impressive. LeBron was a one-man army, averaging 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists in that series. He was terrifying. The Warriors trailed 2-1 in the Finals before Steve Kerr (prompted by a suggestion from a 28-year-old video coordinator named Nick U'Ren) decided to start Andre Iguodala over Bogut.
Iguodala hadn't started a single game all season. Not one. Then he starts Game 4 of the NBA Finals and ends up winning Finals MVP. Think about how insane that is. It's the ultimate "strength in numbers" story.
Why This Specific Season Still Matters Today
If you watch a random Tuesday night game between the Magic and the Pacers today, you're seeing the DNA of the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors. The high-post splits, the constant screening, the "positionless" basketball—it all started here. They didn't just win a trophy; they killed the traditional center position for a decade.
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They also proved that a superstar doesn't have to be a ball-hog. Steph Curry’s willingness to run off-ball and set screens for others created a culture that allowed the team to stay together for years. It wasn't about ego. It was about finding the best shot, whether that was a Steph 30-footer or a Shaun Livingston turnaround jumper from the elbow.
How to Study the 2014-15 Warriors Legacy
If you're a basketball junkie or a coach, don't just watch the highlights. The highlights are just Steph dancing on people. To really understand why they were special, you need to look at the "boring" stuff.
Analyze the Defensive Rotations
Watch how Draymond Green directs traffic. He’s the quarterback. In 2014-15, his ability to show on a pick-and-roll and then recover to the rim was unprecedented for a guy his size. He redefined the "tweener" from a draft bust label to a defensive superstar.
The "Gravity" Effect
Notice how many wide-open layups Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala got. Why? Because defenders were so terrified of leaving Steph or Klay that they would literally stay glued to them at the perimeter while a guy dunks right behind them. That’s "gravity."
The Bench Impact
That team was deep. Shaun Livingston, Leandro Barbosa ("Blur"), Marreese Speights (and his midrange jumper), and Festus Ezeli. They didn't just hold the lead when the starters sat; they often extended it.
To truly appreciate the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors, you have to separate them from what they became later. They weren't the "villains" yet. They were the underdog story from the Oracle Arena days, playing a style of basketball that many experts thought was impossible to win with. They didn't just win; they broke the sport and rebuilt it in their image.
Actionable Takeaways for Basketball Enthusiasts
- Watch the "Mic'd Up" segments from the 2015 Finals: Listen to Steve Kerr's communication. He treats the players like partners, which was a huge shift from the "dictator" style of coaching.
- Study the 0-1-2-3-4 Passing Drills: The Warriors used these to emphasize that the ball moves faster than the player. This is the foundation of their 27.4 assists per game that season.
- Compare Shot Charts: Look at the 2013-14 Warriors shot chart versus the 2014-15 one. The elimination of long twos in favor of corner threes and rim attempts is a masterclass in modern analytics.
- Evaluate the "Step Up" Screen: One of their favorite plays was the transition screen for Steph at the logo. It forces the defense to make a decision at 35 feet, which usually leads to a breakdown.
The 2014-15 season wasn't a fluke. It was the blueprint. It was the moment the league realized that the old rules didn't apply anymore. If you have the shooters, the IQ, and a guy like Draymond Green to hold the defensive line, you don't need a traditional post-up big man to dominate the world. You just need to change the math.