Before the NBA’s two most recent champions clashed for the first time of the 2023-24 season, Klay Thompson paid his respects to the team that dethroned his Warriors.
The four-time champion Golden State guard, asked if he was surprised by the Nuggets’ 16-4 playoff record last season, marveled, “that’s pretty dominant.”
Thompson would know a thing or two about dominant championship runs. The Warriors set an all-time standard by going 16-1 in 2016-17, then they went 16-5 in the playoffs to repeat the next season. Even the 2021-22 Golden State team, regarded as far weaker than the franchise’s other title-winning rosters, went 16-6 and never played an elimination game.