Ranking the 5 Best Warriors Teams This Century

It's easy to guess which five Golden State Warriors teams will make the cut for the best teams this century.

After all, the Warriors have won four titles since 2000, and they came one game away from winning a fifth after having a 73-9 regular season.

What's difficult is putting those teams in the correct order.

The criteria for this ranking are as follows:

- Playoff performance: This was weighted the most. The Warriors' playoff record mattered, as did the strength of their playoff opponents.
- Peak dominance: How dominant was the team when everyone was healthy?
- Regular-season record: This was given the least weight.

5. 2021-22: Curry's Finals MVP

Playoff performance: Fourth place
Peak dominance: Fifth place
Regular-season record: Fifth place

Perhaps the most beloved team on this list, the 2021-22 Warriors went just 53-29 in the regular season before a surprising NBA title run.

The two arguments to move it up are a) an 18-2 start to the regular season showed that this team was better than its final record indicated and b) the Celtics were a formidable and full-strength Finals opponent.

What hurt this team's case was how close the series were against the Grizzlies and Celtics.

It should also be noted that the 2014-15 team started 21-2 with a 16-game winning streak, and the 2017-18 team was 51-14 before coasting to the finish. Those teams were more dominant at their peaks.

4. 2015-16: 73-9 with No Title

Playoff performance: Fifth place
Peak dominance: Second place
Regular-season record: First place

This was the hardest team to rank. Its peak dominance was second-best of the five due to its 24-game winning streak to start the year. But its playoff performance was the worst considering it didn't win the title and went 7-7 in the last two rounds.

Had Stephen Curry never suffered an MCL sprain in the playoffs, the Warriors win the title and get a better ranking here.

But based on what actually happened and not what-ifs, the 2015-16 Dubs didn't deserve to be higher than fourth.

3. 2014-15: First Title in 40 Years

Playoff performance: Third
Peak dominance: Tied for third
Regular-season record: Tied for second

The 2015-16 Warriors leaned more into the three-point line, and it paid off, as they were a better offensive team than the 2014-15 Dubs. But the 2014-15 Warriors were better defensively, making these teams virtually identical in regular-season scoring differential stats.

The 2014-15 Warriors had a pretty dominant 16-5 playoff run, which put them ahead of the 2015-16 team. But the 2014-15 Dubs were docked for falling behind 2-1 to the short-handed Cavaliers in the Finals.

I couldn't decide whether the 2014-15 team or the 2017-18 team was more dominant as its peak, which is why they are listed as having tied in that category. The 2014-15 team had more sustained great play in the regular season, while the 2017-18 team hit higher highs in the playoffs.

2. 2017-18: Repeat Champs

Playoff performance: Second
Peak dominance: Tied for third
Regular-season record: Fourth

After the Warriors had won an average of 69 regular-season games over the previous three years, this team won 58, partially because Curry missed 31 games with injuries.

Many will say this team is overrated because it benefitted from a Chris Paul injury to beat the Rockets in seven games in the conference finals.

Here are some reasons I placed it at No. 2 anyway:

- I believe the 2017-18 Rockets were the best team the Warriors faced in any Curry-era playoff series
- The Warriors won Game 3 126-85 with Andre Iguodala in the lineup but then lost the next two games (by a combined seven points) with Iguodala injured. The Warriors had a severe drop-off from their top six to anyone else on their roster, so losing Iguodala forced lesser players to play, and the Rockets took advantage of the weaker links.
- When the Warriors had Iguodala active that playoff run, they went 12-3 with a plus-150 scoring differential.

Kevin Durant wasn't as dominant this playoff run as he was in 2016-17, and he certainly didn't look as engaged. But still, you have to believe that if the 2017-18 Warriors played the 2014-15 Warriors, the Durant team would win the series.

1. 2016-17: Pure Dominance

Playoff performance: First
Peak performance: First
Regular-season record: Tied for second

This is arguably the greatest team in NBA history, making it the easy choice for No. 1 in Warriors history, this century or otherwise.

The 2016-17 Dubs are the only NBA team ever to win 15 consecutive playoff games. They have the best winning percentage in a single postseason (.941).

Curry, Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Iguodala formed the greatest five-man lineup in NBA history. They had a plus-20.3 net rating in the postseason, per Cleaning the Glass.

They were hungry coming off losing in last year's playoffs, dominating the NBA from wire to wire.