A Former Star’s Contribution to the 2015 Championship
Early in the 2014-2015 season, a perennial starter and former All-Star was asked by first-year Warriors head coach Steve Kerr to accept a bench role so that an up-and-coming young player could shift into the starting lineup permanently. Although he certainly couldn’t have been thrilled with it at first, he saw that doing so was in the team’s best interest. He complied and contributed in his new spot. His selfless act helped to set the tone for a season very much about team chemistry which in turn led to an NBA title.
No, this article isn’t about Andre Iguodala. The 2015 Finals MVP did make such a move, and his doing so has been mentioned time and time again. But people forget that David Lee did something very similar — and like Iguodala, he was rewarded at the end with a championship ring.
Lee’s willingness in his new position was all the more incredible considering his journey in Golden State. He joined the team via sign-and-trade in the 2010 offseason, coming off an All-Star season with the New York Knicks. He was given a six-year deal, and the Warriors’ plan was clear: make him a centerpiece of the franchise. Along with Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis at the guard spots, Lee was going to be the big man to lead the team into the future and bring them the success rarely seen in their previous 15 years.
His first two years in the Bay Area were much like the Warriors as a whole: great scoring, not much defense. He averaged nearly 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, but both he and the team posted poor defensive numbers as they finished a total of 30 games under .500 across those two seasons, one of which was shortened by lockout.
In the 2012-2013 season, things began to change. Lee continued his offense and rebounding but improved defensively. The team started to win games. That year is known for a few reasons: the first full season without Ellis, Curry’s breakout season and the first of seven straight playoff appearances. However, Lee made less-remembered history, leading the NBA in double-doubles and becoming the first Warriors All-Star since 1997. For a team defined for so long by a lack of success, Lee’s trip to Houston to take part in the festivities was symbolic of the steps the team was taking in the right direction.
For the first time in his career, Lee would play in the playoffs. That excitement lasted a disappointingly short amount of time. In the first game of the first-round series against the Denver Nuggets, he tore his right hip flexor. He was ruled out for the remainder of the postseason. Suddenly, the Warriors were without their starting power forward.
Or so it seemed. Against all odds, he came off the bench in game six for his own personal Willis Reed moment. He played less than two minutes, missed his only field goal attempt and grabbed a single rebound. But that’s not what mattered. His attempt to play through a brutal injury gave the team the energy and inspiration to close out the Nuggets for just their second playoff series victory in 22 years.
After another strong season as a starter in 2013-2014, Lee entered 2014 training camp ready to do more of the same. But he suffered a minor left hamstring strain before the first game of the regular season. He returned in the fourth game only to re-aggravate the injury. He proceeded to miss the next 21 contests. In that time, Draymond Green, a far superior passer and defender, took Lee’s spot in the lineup. Green established himself as “the heartbeat of the Warriors” as Golden State began the season with a record of 22-3. He helped set a tone of aggression, ball movement and defense leading into offense that simply wouldn’t have been the same with Lee on the court. By the time Lee was ready to return, not only was he no longer a starter, it turned out he was no longer a major part of the Warriors’ rotation.
In his first four seasons in Oakland, Lee had never received fewer than 33.2 minutes per game or appeared in less than 84% of Golden State’s games in a season. In his fifth season, those numbers dropped to 18.4 and roughly 60%. He had come off the bench just twice prior to the start of the season, but did so in 45 of his 49 appearances that year. Nonetheless, he did so gracefully. He never once complained publicly about his playing time and was a positive presence even when he wasn’t playing. He cheered on his teammates and clearly enjoyed the high level of team success that, like most of his teammates, he was experiencing for the first time in his career.
In the playoffs, the trend continued. He took the floor in just nine of the Warriors’ first 17 playoff games, but appeared optimistic all the same. In game five of the Western Conference Finals, which the Warriors won to make their first NBA Finals trip in 40 years, Lee played for only 19 seconds. No one would have known by watching his body language. In the final minute, when it was clear that the Warriors were going to win, he jumped around with a grin on his face, showing the joy that had defined the team’s season.
No matter how much or how little he saw action, Lee remained a team player. He was engaged, professional and ready when needed. Eventually, he was needed.
In the first two games of the Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lee had zero court time. But in game three, as Cleveland’s grinding slow-paced style hampered the Warrior offense and the Cavs led by as much as 20, Kerr needed a spark. He called on Lee and the veteran came through by scoring 11 points in 13 minutes as the Warriors crawled back into the game and cut their deficit to as little as one. They lost, but the momentum was on their side, and Lee had contributed heavily.
Lee played in each of the remaining three games in the series, all Warriors wins. His plus-minus across the four games was +16. With him on the floor, the team just tended to play better basketball. While there are a number of factors as to why the Warriors won that championship, David Lee is a largely overlooked one.
After the season, the Warriors aimed to unload his huge salary and find him a place where he might play a larger role. He was sent to the Boston Celtics, and spent the remaining two seasons of his career as a role player with them and two other teams before retiring in November 2017. Of course, those seasons aren’t what he’ll be remembered for. Instead, he’ll be remembered as someone whose play reflected the bad teams he played for (very good offense, little defense) — and carried himself in a manner that defined the good teams he played for (good offense, improved defense, classy to the end). In the final analysis, the positive side won out, and his actions paid off in the form of an NBA title that he helped make happen.