2015 launched two dynasties in professional sports.
Well, re-launched one and launched another, if we’re going to be technical about it.
That year, just 135 days apart, the New England Patriots and Golden State Warriors won championships. Those titles kick-started reigns of dominance that their respective leagues are still coming to terms with.
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SIGN UP HERE Sunday marks the Patriots’ fourth Super Bowl appearance since 2015, and they’ve already won twice. Since 2015, the Warriors have appeared in four consecutive NBA Finals and won three of them.
31 NFL teams are asking themselves, “How much longer can Tom Brady play, anyway?” And 29 NBA teams are asking themselves, “How much longer can the Warriors stay together without tiring of each other, anyway?”
On opposite coasts, in vastly different sports, the Patriots and Warriors are what each other sees when looking in a funhouse mirror.
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If you include the postseason, New England and Golden State’s winning percentage are within 1.1 percentage points of one another. Ahead of Super Bowl LIII, the Patriots had won 78.5 percent of their games, while the Warriors had won 79.6 percent of theirs entering Saturday.
They’re both led by once-overlooked stars who will retire after raising the bar at their respective positions. The Patriots have Brady, a three-time MVP, at quarterback. The Warriors, meanwhile have two-time MVP Stephen Curry.
Both Brady and Curry have won as many (in Brady’s case) or more (in Curry’s case) MVP awards than any other player in their respective leagues since the start of the 2014 season, but they’re surrounded by plenty of talent.
A Patriots player has made the Pro Bowl 21 times during that span, and an All-Pro team 14 times. Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Kevin Durant have 16 All-Star appearances and 10 All-NBA nods between them as Warriors.
And, on a seemingly weekly basis, both teams are accused of ruining their sport and their fans of being spoiled.
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It’s still only a funhouse reflection, as there are just enough differences to warp one’s view. The Patriots re-launched a dynasty because they shed their reputation as lovable losers when Brady led them to their first title in 2002, and they incinerated it after the third in 2005.
The Warriors’ 2015 title was their first in four decades. Two consecutive playoff appearances in the preceding years bought them credibility, but there’s a big gulf between “NBA League Pass Favorite” and “Odds-on Favorite.”
Bill Belichick and Steve Kerr aren’t gonna be confused for another any time soon, either. The former is a hands-on disciplinarian who literally chanted “No Days Off” at a Super Bowl parade. The latter gave his players a day off on Friday.
The current Patriots lack the championship foil that the Warriors had with LeBron James, and the star whose recruitment upset everyone else. The old Patriots did have Eli Manning and Randy Moss, though.
In other words, they’re less two Spider-Men pointing at one another, more one Spider-Man wearing a party hat pointing at another who isn’t. But we’d imagine that’s still close enough for the comparison to draw groans from just about everyone outside of the Bay Area and Boston.