How a Single Tweet 10 Years Ago Defined the Warriors Dynasty

Last week marked the 10th anniversary of this tweet, sent by then-rookie Stephen Curry on November 11, 2009 following a 108-94 loss to the Indiana Pacers which dropped them to 2-5 early in the 2009-2010 season. They would finish the season 26-56 and miss the playoffs for the third straight year and for the 15th time in 16 seasons. Warrior fans still had fresh memories of the “We Believe” team of 2006-2007 and a 48-win season in 2007-2008. Such a drop-off in less than two seasons was disappointing, but not shocking. To many fans, it reinforced what had defined the Warriors ever since the 1975 championship season: an inability to sustain a winning culture over an extended period of time.

Even though he sent the tweet just seven games into his NBA career, Curry could already sense that the fanbase was getting impatient. Wondering when “the team” and “the year” were finally going to come. When an extended period of success would finally show up after being promised for so many years that it was just barely down the road.

Fast forward 10 years, and the current team’s struggles notwithstanding, look at how far the Warriors have come.

Obviously, the success did not happen immediately. The next few seasons were largely defined by poor play, thin rosters and more waiting around. Curry himself battled ankle injuries that required surgery and caused him to miss the majority of the 2011-2012 season. At the same time, things were starting to change. The front office was making the right moves and drafting the right players. It felt like, just maybe, if the guy who had tweeted that promise could stay healthy, the Warriors would have a shot at greatness.

In 2012-2013, a breakthrough finally came. With Monta Ellis out of the picture, Curry became the unquestioned leader on offense. He set career-best marks in scoring and assists while breaking the NBA record for three-pointers made in a season. Although he was snubbed from the All-Star Game that year, he was the unquestioned best and most important player for a team that won 47 games and reached the second round of the playoffs.

Curry and the Warriors had proved they could win. But could they sustain it over several seasons?

That offseason, they were determined to show that they wanted to. The front office didn’t stay complacent with the result from 2013. Throughout the offseason, they made moves that suggested they would do everything in their power to figure it out. They made an unsuccessful run at Dwight Howard, then added Andre Iguodala and Marreese Speights, among others. Curry continued to lead the way as the Warriors won 51 games for their first 50-win season since 1993-1994. But a first-round exit left many wondering what needed to be done to get the team to the next level.

The ownership group decided a huge gamble was necessary. Despite taking the Warriors to a then-unheard-of two consecutive playoff appearances, head coach Mark Jackson was let go. When a team is as determined to figure things out as the Warriors were, risks have to be taken.

Firing Jackson and hiring Steve Kerr proved to be a massive success. Coupled with other moves made in the 2014 offseason, Kerr took over and by the halfway point in the season had turned the Warriors into the clear best team in the NBA. They eventually finished with 67 regular-season wins. The subsequent playoff run and championship almost didn’t feel real. Had the Warriors really, truly figured it out?

It felt like that 2015 title could be the peak of Curry’s Warriors. Incredibly, it wasn’t. Not even close. From that point on, the team kept making moves. They wanted to stay on top of the league.

After so many years of waiting for the franchise to figure things out, the Warrior fanbase finally witnessed greatness. The best regular season record in NBA history in 2016. The acquisition of Kevin Durant the following offseason. A 16-1 playoff run capping a 67-15 regular season in 2017 to be regarded as one of the all-time great individual teams. Another title the year after that, and an NBA Finals appearance the year after that. It was almost too good to be true. For all the fans that had waited so loyally and so patiently for the Warriors to break through, the light at the end of the tunnel couldn’t have shone brighter.

At the moment, the Warriors’ dynasty is either finished or on hiatus. That remains to be seen. But one constant remains: Curry. He may be injured right now, but he’s still around and basically the only person from the 2009 team still in the organization. That could not be more fitting. When so many of his teammates and coaches probably weren’t thinking about the future of the franchise, he was. The instant he sent that tweet, he committed himself to working as hard as he possibly could to giving Warriors fans the team that they deserved.

10 years later, and he’s done that and a whole lot more. In a moment of despair for the franchise, he did everything he could to create hope. Now he’s made it all come true.

Safe to say Stephen Curry and the Warriors figured it out.

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