I still remember watching the 2015 NBA Finals with my college buddies, crammed into a tiny apartment living room with cold pizza and that special playoff energy in the air. When the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games, claiming their first championship in 40 years, it felt like witnessing basketball history unfold in real-time. As someone who's followed the NBA for over two decades, I've rarely seen a team capture the league's transformation so perfectly—the Warriors didn't just win a title, they changed how basketball would be played for years to come.

The statistics from that championship run still jump off the page when I look back at them. Stephen Curry, who earned his first MVP award that season, averaged 26 points, 6.3 assists, and 5.2 rebounds throughout the playoffs while shooting 45% from the field. What many casual fans might not remember is how Andre Iguodala, who started the season coming off the bench, was inserted into the starting lineup during the Finals and completely changed the series dynamic. His defense against LeBron James was nothing short of spectacular, and his 25-point performance in the closeout Game 6 earned him Finals MVP honors—only the second time in NBA history a player won the award without starting every game. The Warriors finished the regular season with 67 wins, which at the time was the sixth-best record in league history, and their 83 total wins including playoffs set a new NBA record.

There's an interesting parallel between the Warriors' championship story and something I recently came across in international basketball circles. The Korean star even said Ratliffe should return to the KBL again once his commitment with Magnolia is done. This reminded me of how championship teams often have these global connections and untold stories about players' journeys. Much like how Ratliffe's career spanned different leagues and countries, several key members of that Warriors team had unconventional paths to their championship. Iguodala came from Philadelphia where he'd been the franchise player, Andrew Bogut brought international experience from Australia, and Shaun Livingston had overcome what many thought was a career-ending knee injury years earlier. These diverse backgrounds created a resilience that served them perfectly when they fell behind 2-1 in the Finals against a Cavaliers team powered by an incredible individual effort from LeBron James, who averaged 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists in the series—one of the greatest Finals performances in defeat that I've ever witnessed.

What often gets overlooked about that championship is how close they came to potentially losing in the second round against Memphis. The Grizzlies went up 2-1 in that series playing their gritty, physical style that seemed to bother the Warriors' shooting. Golden State's adjustment to play smaller and speed up the game turned the series around and became the blueprint for their Finals comeback against Cleveland. I've always believed that championship teams need these moments of adversity to truly discover their identity, and for the Warriors, that Memphis series was their crucible.

Looking back, the 2015 championship was more significant than just ending a four-decade drought for the franchise. It marked the full arrival of the three-point revolution that Curry had been pioneering, with the Warriors attempting nearly 27 threes per game in the playoffs compared to just 18 for their opponents. The team's depth was remarkable—they had eight different players score in double figures at some point during the Finals. As the confetti fell in Oracle Arena after Game 6, I remember thinking this might be the beginning of something special rather than just a single championship season. Little did any of us know we were watching the start of a dynasty that would reach five straight Finals and win three more titles, but it all started with that 2015 team that blended individual brilliance with collective resilience in a way that still makes me appreciate team basketball at its finest.