Meet your NBA Western Conference Champions: Golden State Warriors

The two-time MVP has had another sensational postseason. Averaging 28.6 points and 5.6 assists per game, Curry has also managed to choose attacking the rim a bit more than recent postseasons and shave almost a full turnover per game, which is great for a player still haunted by his absurd behind-the-back turnover in Game 7 of last year’s NBA Finals.

New uniform, same excellence. Durant makes his second trip to the NBA Finals and while his scoring average of 25.2 points are his lowest since 2009, his efficiency has been lethal as he’s shooting a career playoff high of 55.6 percent from the field. After recently saying that he made the right move in signing with the Warriors, it seems that only a Finals win will validate his decision in the eyes of some detractors.

The Warriors shooting guard lost more of his buckets to Kevin Durant than anyone else when the forward joined the team in the offseason. Yet, Thompson has flat out struggled to find his form in several playoff games, including a 1-for-9 game against Utah and a 2-for-11 performance against San Antonio. He’s remains engaged defensively, and is liable to light up a team at any given moment, as his six 30+ point games in last year’s playoffs have shown.

We’ve seen more ‘Good Draymond’ than ‘Bad Draymond’ in this postseason, which may be his best yet. Averaging 13.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game are declines from the past two seasons, but Green has nearly two blocks and over two steals per game along with superb interior defense. Of course in this rivalry with the Cavaliers, we may have to take a look at those technical and flagrant foul totals once he gets up close and personal with someone.

It was an eventful Western Conference Finals for the 14-year center for all the wrong reasons – from his responsibility for the injury to San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard to his own heel injury being seen as some sort of karmic justice by anyone who hates the Warriors. Expected to suit up for the Finals, Pachulia is going to be responsible for keeping Tristan Thompson off the boards and be a deterrent for anyone coming into the paint. As long as no one gets hurt, right?

People thought it was insane that McGee volunteered himself to Golden State after the team signed Kevin Durant, but it was a shrewd move for both the Warriors and the reserve center, who has thrived in a well-executed offense. In his first Finals, he may be called upon more if Pachulia’s heel continues to be a bother, but he has answered quite a few questions about the Dubs’ big man depth all year long.

On the surface, you aren’t supposed to expect a lot from the rookie guard out of UNLV, as he averaged just four points per game in the regular season. Yet in his 12-15 minutes per game in the playoffs, he’s given the Warriors a solid spot-up shooter off the bench (and two starts when Durant was hurt against Portland). McCaw can get to the lane, which is an asset for the Warriors, who want the perimeter stacked with shooters.

The fifth-year guard is having a career year off the bench with Golden State. Clark averages 7.5 points per game in the playoffs in a shade under 15 minutes of play, but he’s had four games of double figure scoring, including a strong Game 4 to help eliminate San Antonio in the West finals with 12 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals. A free agent this offseason, the Finals could be a good showcase to get the attention of teams looking to improve their guard play.

The 2015 Finals MVP had a diminished role for these Warriors, but he still gives the team quality minutes as the first forward off the bench. With fewer minutes, Golden State wanted to maximize his effectiveness as both a facilitator and defender, especially knowing that he would be asked at times to defend an opposing starter late in games. Do we see some sort of revival this time around?

Livingston has also seen a bit of a diminished role in the playoffs this time around with the Warriors. The 31-year-old has split time with Clark and McCaw, but has been a wealth of knowledge for the young guards. If either Clark or McCaw prove ineffective against the Cavaliers’ bench, it’ll be hard to imagine that he won’t be pressed for duty more in these Finals.

It’s easy to think that West was foolish in leaving millions on the table to stay in Indiana and sign with San Antonio last year because the Spurs were bounced from the 2016 playoffs by his now-teammate Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Yet, that risk may have finally paid off, though another season and another team later. The Warriors hope that coming off the bench, West can provide the size and aggression that the so-called finesse team lacked in Games 5-7 of last year’s Finals.

Being the former coach of both LeBron James and Kyrie Irving will not directly translate to another Warriors championship. However, the interim head coach inherited quite the collection of talent in his own right when taking over in steed of Steve Kerr, whose health issues will keep him out of some, if not all of the Finals. Brown’s defensive callouts will be of great interest when considering that when it comes to shot selection, LeBron may be having his best-ever postseason.

Mike Brown may roam the sidelines in his place, but Kerr’s guidance of both the players and the coaches will be a unique circumstance in these NBA Finals. The personnel has changed with both rosters in these three seasons as rivals, but Kerr’s imprint on how the Warriors’ offense runs has not. His lineup adjustments helped the Dubs win the 2015 title, but not reigning in the bad tendencies of the team doomed them last year. By not being on the floor, how Kerr aids Brown in getting the better of the Cavs from the locker room will speak volumes on which team wins Round 3.

Team owners in sports fall into one of three buckets: highly opinionated fans that happen to sign the checks, beloved patriarchs or faceless corporations. You could probably guess which category the Silicon Valley venture capitalist fits into, with a confidence that's considered arrogance by the Warriors detractors. He made it clear that he wanted this rematch with Cleveland, and if there already aren’t enough competitive juices flowing between the players themselves, Lacob would probably paint a bright blue and yellow target on the roof of Oracle Arena if he could.

The Finals are the place where celebrities are begging to be seen and possibly heard. Yet, no matter which ones show up to the games to be entertained, the Bay Area rap legend isn’t giving up his seat for anyone. The Vallejo native is a lifelong fan and despite the growth of the Warriors fan base, especially with the moneyed presence of Silicon Valley, no one has reflected the passion of the team’s East Bay faithful more than E-40.