When teams like the Warriors win a title the focus is always put on the stars like Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and even Andre Iguodala. This leaves the rest of the organization forgotten about whether it's role players, the coaching staff, executives or former players.
Fear not, the often forgotten will now receive the spotlight they deserve. Sadly, not everybody that has been part of the Golden State organization could get the spotlight, but here are a few of the more interesting ones:
David West
West has been chasing a ring for over 10 years. Always a defensive force and one of the toughest dudes in the NBA. It started to feel like he would never get his chance at one. Then he signed with Golden State on a minimum contract. His individual numbers might have decreased, but that was all worth it for the chance to finally get a chance at a title.
West was finally able to experience the Finals thanks to the Warriors and now he's going to get a ring out of it. For a player that has been around as long as he has it's pretty cool to see him finally get a reward for the years of works he's put in. He's the kind of player that everybody cheers for and quickly turns into a fan favorite no matter where he goes. Players like that deserve a ring.
Zaza Pachulia
Pachulia had two claims to fame before joining the Warriors. He's part of one of the greatest player hyping up crowd moments ever. He also forced the NBA to completely change the All-Star Game format, because the entire country of Georgia was voting for him to play in the All-Star Game every year. Had they not changed it he probably would have played in the most recent game.
A bit of a bruiser, Pachulia has always had a likable personality that made fans of the teams he played for love him. He's a classic hate-to-play-against-but-love-to-cheer-for type of player. That was never on display more than these playoffs when he twice got into controversy involving Kawhi Leonard's ankle and Iman Shumpert's groin.
That said, he's a likable guy who wore his country's flag when the Warriors were celebrating. That's pretty cool and it's hard to not enjoy seeing a guy like that succeed.
Matt Barnes
Talk about a stroke of good luck. When Kevin Durant got injured the Warriors were in need of depth on the wing. Barnes had just recently been waived by the Kings following the DeMarcus Cousins trade. The two sides needed each other so Golden State gave Barnes a contract and he got to be part of a championship.
The swing between quality of franchises Barnes went through is enough to give someone whiplash. He went from arguably the NBA's most dysfunctional franchise to one of the best teams ever within the span of a month. That isn't something that players typically get to experience. Especially someone like Barnes.
JaVale McGee
There is no explanation needed as to why he's on the list.
Mike Brown
Brown acted as interim coach of the Warriors for most of the playoffs so him getting a ring isn't particularly surprising or interesting -- this isn't the first championship ring he's won as an assistant, after all. That said, the way he's earned it has to be one of the best payback stories ever.
The Cavaliers fired Brown not once, but twice, and now he gets to be a part of eliminating them from the playoffs. Brown doesn't seem like the vengeance type so he's probably just happy to win a title and couldn't care less about who it was against. However, it's endlessly funny that Brown won a title against a team that is currently still paying him for the contract they fired him from. Cleveland paid Mike Brown to beat them.
Jarron Collins
Remember Jarron Colllins? He's now more known as Jason Collins' brother, but he was a serviceable NBA player for over a decade before retiring. He's spent some time with the Clippers as a scout before joining the Warriors with Steve Kerr. He has been a part of the Golden State organization since 2014 and now he has his second ring with the franchise.
Steve Nash
Yep! Arguably the best player to never play in the NBA Finals is likely to receive a ring from the Warriors organization. Nash was hired by them as a player development coach and since he's part of the staff there's a good chance he'll get a ring for being a part of the organization.
Nash was a two-time MVP as a player, but his struggles to make it to the Finals left fans of his wanting so much more. He tried the superteam route with the Lakers, but it was a complete disaster due to injuries and bad team chemistry. Nash retired without even getting a chance at his goal. Now, while he didn't get to do it as a player, he will at least own a ring for being a part of a championship.
Anderson Varejao
Good old Anderson Varejao. After being traded by the Cavaliers and waived by the Trail Blazers last season, he tried to go help out the 73-win Warriors, but they fell short of earning him a ring. This season, Golden State wins the title but they cut Varejao from the team back in February to make room on the roster.
Could he get a ring? Possibly. He was on the roster and played with the team in some capacity the past two seasons. Let's hope he does. To end up being cut/traded from the championship team two years in a row has to hurt.
Jose Calderon
Never forget the five seconds Jose Calderon was on the Warriors. He even had a jersey (and $415,000) to prove it.