The Warriors are perfectly built for today, yesterday and tomorrow

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OAKLAND -- From the depths of the NBA, the Warriors have emerged to assemble a historic run, laying claim to the first unanimous MVP, the most wins over a four-year period and four consecutive trips to The Finals, with three championships.

This doesn’t happen every decade in American sports, or even every century.

“It’s awesome,” says Klay Thompson, who has set a couple individual scoring records along this journey.

The Warriors have four All-Stars, and each is in what should be his prime years. Stephen Curry, the old guy, is 30. Kevin Durant turns 30 on Saturday. Draymond Green is 28, as is Thompson.

“It’s crazy,” Thompson says. “We’re back-to-back champs. But at the same time, I feel like we’re all relatively young and can still get to another level and keep winning -- not just this year, but (also) the years beyond. Not a lot of guys can say that with confidence on their team. I love coming to work every day because it’s such a special group and a special time to be a Warrior.”

While nothing is assured, the end is not clearly in sight. The Warriors are favored to win another title this season, and it’s risky to dismiss them in 2020 -- and maybe beyond.

“We know we have a bigger window than most teams do in this position,” coach Steve Kerr concedes. “Winning in 2015 with a very young team, gaining that experience, then obviously adding Kevin. This has been an incredible run. It’s going to be very difficult to match, but we want to keep it going as long as we can.”

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How have they done it? It began with the presence of Curry, who arrived in 2009, when the Warriors had gone 15 seasons with one playoff appearance. Then there is the vision of irrepressible CEO Joe Lacob and co-owner Peter Guber, who in 2010 swooped in and swept away a nest of pettiness, penny-pinching and dysfunction. They made a series of early power moves -- bringing in the legendary Jerry West, hiring a big-name coach in Mark Jackson to boost their profile and then, after a whiff of success, replacing him with Steve Kerr, a superior tactician committed to a synergistic culture.

And, of course, there was the influx of talent, with general manager Bob Myers and West navigating the draft and free agency to acquire, in order, Thompson, Green, veterans Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston and, in July 2016, Durant.

Many outsiders cried foul, as if the Warriors were somehow skirting the rules in their naked pursuit of brilliance.

There was a hearty round of howling when Durant signed on two years ago, and it resurfaced last July, when All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins, a free agent rehabilitating from an Achilles’ tendon rupture, came aboard on a “damaged-goods” discount of $5.3 million.

The Warriors are built for yesterday, today and tomorrow. They are the oldest team in the league, averaging a little over 28 years, yet the blend is still young enough to run competitors into the dust.

“It makes you want to win now, that’s for sure,” Thompson says. “It makes you want to make the most of it. I think we have over the last two years.”

They fairly strolled through the title in 2017, sweeping the first three rounds of the postseason and dispatching Cleveland in five games to become the first and only team to post a 16-1 record.

So, naturally, when they went 16-5 in the 2018 postseason, punctuated by a sweep of Cleveland in The Finals, the Warriors, to a man, talked about how challenging and difficult it was.

The Warriors are back for another season, insisting this one is about fun, fully aware they’re going to be stalked by a batch of contenders, recovering and rebuilt, most notably the Celtics and Rockets.

“When you have some success in the NBA, it’s always a great time,” Durant says. “Stuff comes and goes so fast. Me and Steph were talking about how you look up and you’re in double-digit seasons in the NBA after feeling like we just got drafted.

“Things happen so fast. We’re all just enjoying the moment and not really thinking about anything else. It’s good that we’re all young and experiencing this. It’s only going to make us better in the future.”

The Warriors don’t know how much future they have with the current group. Durant and Thompson are eligible for free agency next season. With a potentially exploding luxury tax bill, which Lacob fears not at all, there is an modest trace of uncertainty about these next seven, eight or nine months.

The smart bet, with this bunch, is nine.

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