The Whiteboard: The Golden State Warriors are even more unlikely than they seem

It’s obvious that a team like the Golden State Warriors coming together is unlikely, but it’s even rarer than it may seem for this to be happening.

A team like the Golden State Warriors coming together with three — and then four — truly elite players is obviously pretty improbable. Just assembling that level of talent took an exactly perfect set of circumstances including Stephen Curry being the third point guard drafted in 2009 (the Minnesota Timberwolves took TWO OF THEM with Steph on the board), and Draymond Green falling to the second round of his draft.

Then the cap spike in the summer of 2016, combined with the most dramatic and unexpected NBA Finals in some time, if not ever, all came together to lead to Kevin Durant joining a team that had just won 73 games. All of that, of course, is rare. One in a million times does that all happen.

Golden State having everything work out perfectly doesn’t stop there. Having four top players all on the same team is unlikely enough, but the Warriors have just about the perfect four stars possible. That’s got to be like one in a billion.

Curry, despite being a unanimous MVP two straight years, was accepting enough of KD arriving in town for the arrangement to work out. KD, used to even less after playing with Russell Westbrook for years, is fine not getting the lion’s share of touches every game.

Draymond is one of the best defenders ever, but he doesn’t seem to mind not getting that many shots on offense. He’s far from useless on that end, as Draymond is a good enough passer to allow Steph, KD, and Klay Thompson to move off ball.

Klay is the ideal fourth guy on a super team, as he is vastly more interested in playing winning basketball and hanging out with his dog, Rocco, than he is in griping about touches or trying to be the lead star somewhere else. Plus, the whole shebang is held together by Steve Kerr, who has a very Gregg Popovich-ian way of getting players to see the big picture.

The Warriors didn’t just get four great players, they got pretty much the best four players possible when team dynamics are all considered. Golden State is truly lightyears ahead.

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