In the past few years fans and media alike have declared that Stephen Curry is one of the most unselfish superstars in the NBA. This was put on full display in 2016-17 when Kevin Durant joined the team and Curry along with his splash brother both took an offensive dip in production. In doing so, it allowed the team to basically say, we have three guys who can score at any time but they all are willing to defer to one another.

The outcome of the season was winning yet another Larry O’Brien trophy for loyal fans in the Bay Area. That mentality has carried over to this postseason where fans are finally able to watch a healthy Warriors team make a championship run after two and a half years of forgettable seasons. Aside from the Curry ankle injury but this is where the true unselfishness lies. Due to Curry tweaking his ankle, he has come off of the bench every game this postseason.

This allows Jordan Poole to start where he has produced a 30-, 29-, and 27-point game in each of his first three playoff games. So, for each game the starters have been- Poole, Thompson, Wiggins, Green, and Looney and then depending on how well they do, someone, in most cases Looney, is subbed out for Steph and Green moves to center. Curry had this to say about coming off the bench before game three, “Hopefully I’ve demonstrated at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter.” Showing his truly humble morals and leaving room for Kerr to adjust the rotations as he sees fit.

The Warriors have shown their extreme depth and maturity when it comes to key playoff minutes as in game three Kerr went to a ten-man rotation. This rotation included guys like Otto Porter Jr, Gary Payton II, Nemanja Bjelica, and Andre Iguodala. All of these guys mentioned took a pay cut or lesser role to come play with the Warriors and have thrived. In turn, the Warriors needed all of their minutes and production off the bench and they provided, as they all seemed to make the right play at the right time. Reggie Miller who was broadcasting alongside Kevin Harlan made a remark along the lines of, “Do they teach a back cutting class at Golden State? All of these guys make perfect back cuts and V cuts which lead to wide open baskets.” Miller’s comment is just another example of the teams’ willingness to make the right pass and right basketball play especially down the stretch of games.

Another under looked aspect is Draymond’s leadership and his unselfish passing. His in-depth knowledge of the game and ability to make quick reads is what keeps the ball moving in most cases. While also being able to defend positions 1-5 including Jokic, which Draymond commented on after the game.

He knows his role and plays it well just like the rest of the guys on the squad which leads to a pure display of high-level basketball. Their play propelled them to a 3-0 lead against the former MVP, Nikola Jokic as even he isn’t enough to stop the well-oiled machine that is the Golden State Warriors.

The next man up mentality seems to be present in not only the Warriors but a few other successful teams in the league. Teams like the Grizzlies, Suns, Timberwolves, Celtics, and Mavs all have made some noise in the playoffs thanks to their depth. Stop me if I am wrong, but I cannot remember the last playoff team that was able to allow their superstar player to come off the bench and not have to worry about how well the starters will fair without him. Many teams have great depth as I mentioned but that depth is built around the superstar player and without him the team usually takes a hit in scoring or defending. Not the Warriors though, as one of the NBA’s most unselfish superstars in Steph Curry, continues to come off the bench as the Warriors look for a 4-0 sweep on the Nuggets.

(Photo credit: Jeff Chiu / AP Photo)