They’d danced this celebratory dance before, the steps familiar, the rhythm ever-changing: first, with an innocent joyfulness, later with a chest-thumping exuberance. And this time, with tears and defiance and a renewed appreciation for the journey.
The Warriors of Golden State reclaimed their preeminence Thursday night, dispatching the Celtics in a six-game NBA Finals, earning their fourth championship in eight years and cementing them among the greatest dynasties of all time. It bore all the familiar features—all the Stephen Curry threes (and shimmies), all the Klay Thompson shooting flourishes, all the Draymond Green bravado and defensive brilliance that carried this team to glory in 2015 and ’17 and ’18.
And yet it was ultimately like none of them, and perhaps a little sweeter. Not more significant, but maybe more gratifying. Because the Warriors of 2022 don’t have the youthful legs they did in ’15, or the sheer, overwhelming firepower they did in ’17 and ’18. They’ve shed some high-powered talent along the way, said farewell to friends along the way, shredded ligaments and fractured bones along the way, and were forced to consider, more than once, whether they could ever do this again.
