In 2013, the Warriors upset the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
In 2014, the Warriors lost Game 7 of their opening-round series to the LA Clippers.
It was the first time the franchise appeared in the playoffs in back-to-back years since 1991 and 1992.
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But Golden State elected to fire coach Mark Jackson, and hired Steve Kerr as the replacement.
"That was the first thing that we tried to do as a coaching staff was go in there and tell the guys, 'We respect what you've already done. You've already built this foundation. We're here to just try to help you to take the next step,' " Kerr explained to Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll on a recent podcast the two co-hosted through The Ringer. "I think our players appreciated that because they were proud of what they had accomplished already.
"So they were already really good, and I think it was important for our staff to connect on that level."
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The strategy worked, as the Warriors went on to win 67 games in the regular season, and captured their first NBA title in 40 years.
The mantra "Strength In Numbers" prevailed.
[RELATED: Look back at Warriors' wild 73rd win, four years ago today]
"I had such great mentors -- Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich, Lenny Wilkens, Cotton Fitzsimmons -- I felt their influence when I played for them," Kerr explained. "I felt that authenticity. The one thing that I felt from all of them was you have to find a way to bind the whole group together.
Golden State Warriors
"And so what's gonna be the common theme? What's gonna be that bond? We had such a deep team. The thing that I talked about from Day 1 is we are gonna overwhelm people. We're gonna play everybody. We're gonna play a deep second unit.
"That means one night it's gonna be your night, the next night it's gonna be somebody else's night. But if you let it happen, we're gonna roll people.
"We had really, really unselfish leadership. We had a really well structured team. You can't have all young guys, and you can't have all old guys. We had a really good balanced roster."