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Betaball: How Silicon Valley and Science Built One of the Greatest Basketball Teams in History
"As lively, thorough, and engaging as the team it chronicles" (Nathaniel Friedman), Betaball is a compelling look at how the Golden State Warriors embraced savvy business practices, next generation science, and Silicon Valley's technocentric culture not only to produce one of the greatest basketball teams in history but also to revolutionize the NBA--perfect for fans of Moneyball and The Book of Basketball.
Betaball is the definitive, inside account of how the Golden State Warriors, under the ownership of venture capitalist Joe Lacob and Hollywood producer Peter Guber, quickly became one of the greatest success stories in both sports and business.
In just five years, they turned a declining franchise with no immediate hope into the NBA's dominant force--and facilitated the rise of All-Star point guard Stephen Curry. By operating in "beta," the Warriors morphed into a model organization for American professional sports, instituting the best workplace principles found inside the world's most successful corporations, and instilling a top-down organizational ethos that allows employees--from the front office to the free-throw line--to thrive.
With in-depth access and meticulous reporting on and off the court, acclaimed journalist Erik Malinowski recounts a gripping tale of a team's reinvention, of worlds colliding, of ordinary people being pushed to extraordinary heights, and the Golden State Warriors' chase for a second straight NBA championship during the 2015-'16 season. Betaball is "a book for fans of all sports and science, business and analytics, Silicon Valley and Wall Street, front offices and locker rooms, money and winning" (Don Van Natta Jr., ESPN reporter and New York Times bestselling author).
Betaball is the definitive, inside account of how the Golden State Warriors, under the ownership of venture capitalist Joe Lacob and Hollywood producer Peter Guber, quickly became one of the greatest success stories in both sports and business.
In just five years, they turned a declining franchise with no immediate hope into the NBA's dominant force--and facilitated the rise of All-Star point guard Stephen Curry. By operating in "beta," the Warriors morphed into a model organization for American professional sports, instituting the best workplace principles found inside the world's most successful corporations, and instilling a top-down organizational ethos that allows employees--from the front office to the free-throw line--to thrive.
With in-depth access and meticulous reporting on and off the court, acclaimed journalist Erik Malinowski recounts a gripping tale of a team's reinvention, of worlds colliding, of ordinary people being pushed to extraordinary heights, and the Golden State Warriors' chase for a second straight NBA championship during the 2015-'16 season. Betaball is "a book for fans of all sports and science, business and analytics, Silicon Valley and Wall Street, front offices and locker rooms, money and winning" (Don Van Natta Jr., ESPN reporter and New York Times bestselling author).
415 pages, Paperback
Published November 6, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
December 28, 2017
(3.5) Reading this reminded me of a scene from the movie Catch Me If You Can...
Tom Hanks: How did you get away?
Leonardo DiCaprio: Same reason the New York Yankees always win...the other team's looking at the pinstripes.
Tom Hanks: The Yankees win because they have Mickey Mantle.
The premise of this book is supposed to be how the Golden State Warriors turned their franchise into the basketball powerhouse and worldwide juggernaut it is thanks to the savvy of its tech venture capitalist owners and advanced front office. I've read enough Joe Lacob quotes the last few years to know how smart the thinks he is. The beginning of this book covers it a lot. There was some stuff that I learned about the growth of the Warriors that only a vet reporter like Malinowski would be able to contextualize.
But let's not kid ourselves. Steph Curry was on the team before Lacob bought them. They didn't even know what they had. And while you can give credit to them for picking Klay Thompson where and when they did, other draft picks like Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes fell into their lap. Personnel-wise, they drafted well but also got incredibly lucky, as is the case with many franchises.
What makes Moneyball so good is not the genius of Billy Beane but the Myth-of-the-Cave approach Beane applied to dupe his fellow GMs by finding undervalued assets for his cash poor team. There's none of that here. Yeah, Malinowski will reference some tech stuff the Warriors do (that other teams do as well) and yes, he'll talk about the relaxed atmosphere (which is cultivated by teams that expect to win and win often). But the book really doesn't follow its premise and once he gets to the seasons where the Warriors start making the playoffs, it's basically a season-by-season recap that concludes with the madcap chase for Kevin Durant, who went there more for the teammates and tech opportunities.
The Steve Kerr stuff was interesting. I learned a lot about the man and gained a new respect for him. But again, the rest of the book comes up short. Or at least it doesn't fully stick to its premise. Give it a read if you're a Warriors fan or an NBA fan but skip if you're looking for something revolutionary.
Tom Hanks: How did you get away?
Leonardo DiCaprio: Same reason the New York Yankees always win...the other team's looking at the pinstripes.
Tom Hanks: The Yankees win because they have Mickey Mantle.
The premise of this book is supposed to be how the Golden State Warriors turned their franchise into the basketball powerhouse and worldwide juggernaut it is thanks to the savvy of its tech venture capitalist owners and advanced front office. I've read enough Joe Lacob quotes the last few years to know how smart the thinks he is. The beginning of this book covers it a lot. There was some stuff that I learned about the growth of the Warriors that only a vet reporter like Malinowski would be able to contextualize.
But let's not kid ourselves. Steph Curry was on the team before Lacob bought them. They didn't even know what they had. And while you can give credit to them for picking Klay Thompson where and when they did, other draft picks like Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes fell into their lap. Personnel-wise, they drafted well but also got incredibly lucky, as is the case with many franchises.
What makes Moneyball so good is not the genius of Billy Beane but the Myth-of-the-Cave approach Beane applied to dupe his fellow GMs by finding undervalued assets for his cash poor team. There's none of that here. Yeah, Malinowski will reference some tech stuff the Warriors do (that other teams do as well) and yes, he'll talk about the relaxed atmosphere (which is cultivated by teams that expect to win and win often). But the book really doesn't follow its premise and once he gets to the seasons where the Warriors start making the playoffs, it's basically a season-by-season recap that concludes with the madcap chase for Kevin Durant, who went there more for the teammates and tech opportunities.
The Steve Kerr stuff was interesting. I learned a lot about the man and gained a new respect for him. But again, the rest of the book comes up short. Or at least it doesn't fully stick to its premise. Give it a read if you're a Warriors fan or an NBA fan but skip if you're looking for something revolutionary.
September 10, 2017
Wasn't very impressed. Made it to about 35% and there is very little science...more like a history of the team. Will give this one up and continue to a better looking book on this team.
June 6, 2021
Like a lot of other reviews, the problem with the book is not the writing or the way Mr. Malinowski tells the story, but in the premise of the book. I was very intrigued to read about this and see how sabermetrics can work in a sport like Basketball, where talent seems to overtake stats and other metrics that are used in baseball, for example. This book left me with the idea that, while using some advanced stats and a different way of running an organization can be helpful, the central premise of the Warriors rise was with incredibly talented players with two coaches who knew how to use their players the best way possible. While it did go against the grain of the NBA at the time, this strategy was already being used by other teams too, and Mr. Malinowski makes that clear when describing teams like the Houston Rockets or the Portland Trail Blazers. Again, great book, but the central thesis of the book does not show in the evidence provided.
October 27, 2017
Good book. It's a solid overview of the Golden State Warriors and how they assembled their dominant run. The main focus is from the start of the 2014 season to the signing of Kevin Durant. There's a brief epilogue on their championship with Durant.
One problem: while the title pitches that this was something brand new in the NBA, much of it reads like a standard story: new owner hires a really good management team, they make some great draft picks and get a great team, and fill it out with free agency. That's .... kinda how most great teams are built. Anything distinctive? Yeah, author Malinowski mentions some of their use of advanced stats and technology to help out. But that's hardly a main theme. Also, if you wanted to, you can make a big case of how different the Warriors's style of play was to previous champs. Oh, don't worry - the book surely notes how much the team uses three pointers. But the good frankly could push that angle further. I expected to read some of the quotes from old school guys like Phil Jackson who were dismissive of the Warriors's reliance on the outside game. (And frankly, Jackson's failures with the Knicks would make a good contrast).
Well, maybe that isn't the story the author wanted to tell. And he does do a good job telling the story of the Warriors. Yeah? Well, his book's title doesn't line up with the material in that case.
Look, this is a good book. I just don't have much to say about it's positives. Sometimes it's easier to spend time explaining the small parts that annoy than the large parts that work effectively. Well-told tale of how a basketball dynasty came to be. Good job. Good effort.
One problem: while the title pitches that this was something brand new in the NBA, much of it reads like a standard story: new owner hires a really good management team, they make some great draft picks and get a great team, and fill it out with free agency. That's .... kinda how most great teams are built. Anything distinctive? Yeah, author Malinowski mentions some of their use of advanced stats and technology to help out. But that's hardly a main theme. Also, if you wanted to, you can make a big case of how different the Warriors's style of play was to previous champs. Oh, don't worry - the book surely notes how much the team uses three pointers. But the good frankly could push that angle further. I expected to read some of the quotes from old school guys like Phil Jackson who were dismissive of the Warriors's reliance on the outside game. (And frankly, Jackson's failures with the Knicks would make a good contrast).
Well, maybe that isn't the story the author wanted to tell. And he does do a good job telling the story of the Warriors. Yeah? Well, his book's title doesn't line up with the material in that case.
Look, this is a good book. I just don't have much to say about it's positives. Sometimes it's easier to spend time explaining the small parts that annoy than the large parts that work effectively. Well-told tale of how a basketball dynasty came to be. Good job. Good effort.
January 22, 2018
Pretty much just a straightforward narrative: "here's what happened in the games and off-seasons leading to their championships." Not much insight at all into how or why their analytics helped them win. A perfectly adequate sports book.
August 10, 2019
I’ve always liked the NBA playoffs - even more so this year with the Toronto Raptors marching to the championship. My wife caught basketball fever too and forwarded me an article on Steve Kerr and his impact on the Golden State Warriors. The article referred to BetaBall, which attempts to explain how Silicon Valley thinking (and money) and advanced stats were used to create the Warrior dynasty. Advanced stats and sports are subjects very close to my heart, and unlike many, I don’t have a problem with Golden State’s success - although I didn’t like it when they signed Kevin Durant. But I’ve always liked Steve Kerr - he’s humble, gracious, and a thoughtful competitor, and an outspoken critic of Donald Trump - and his team reflects his personality. BetaBall only partially succeeds in what it sets out to do. It does an excellent job setting out the back drop: the many years of futility under the previous owner, Chris Cohan; the transition to new owner, Joe Lacob; and the many key personnel decisions that were made to affect change. Lacob was not afraid to think outside the box: he hired a former agent as GM, and a gay man as team president. I also liked learning how the team came together through the various drafts, and Steph Curry’s long rise to superstardom. Advanced stats are alluded to - the team was an early backer of all the key start-up ventures - but other than discussing the investment in cameras needed to generate the data, and the persons hired to analyze the data, very little was revealed as to how the data was used to better the team. Perhaps the team was unwilling to share its proprietary insights, but I found the book did not meet my expectations in this respect. I also did not need to read about the various Warrior playoff runs. I know the Warriors are good, and I didn’t need the added Epilogue and Afterword charting their 2017 and 2018 playoff success to prove it. In that way, the book is more about a journalist’s desire to tell the story of Golden State’s rags to riches success, than a deep analytical study of the making of professional sports dynasty.
August 27, 2024
love having the memory of a goldfish because I got to the 2017 finals chapter and was on the edge of my seat not remembering who won! how fun!
wish this had more analytics tho matt lied to me
wish this had more analytics tho matt lied to me
Read
April 27, 2018Love my dubs!
November 10, 2018
You already know the story
I expected a bit more analytics discussion, but talking basketball is good fun. If you've watched the Warriors for the last 5 years, you can't help but like the story (unless you've from Cleveland).
I expected a bit more analytics discussion, but talking basketball is good fun. If you've watched the Warriors for the last 5 years, you can't help but like the story (unless you've from Cleveland).
August 24, 2017
Betaball: How Silicon Valley and Science Built One of the Greatest Basketball Teams in History is a decent chronicle of the Golden State Warriors' recent run of success, though I was disappointed by its light treatment of the "how" in its subtitle. The reader doesn't gain much insight into how the team utilized cutting-edge analytics and technological platforms to forge its success, with the book instead focusing largely on season-by-season recaps with little additional analysis. At its worst it reads like a digest of game recaps with details the average Warriors fan is likely already familiar with. There are a few compelling passages when author Erik Malinowski covers some of the innovations and strategies leveraged by the Warriors' players and front office, but I can't recommend the book too strongly to the casual NBA fan. Warrior fans should get some enjoyment out of Betaball, though they should be forewarned that there may not be a ton of new material for them.
The book does start out strongly, outlining the storied history of the Warriors and how former owner Chris Cohan helped drive the team deep into the Western Conference doldrums, at one point going 19 seasons without reaching the playoffs. There are also detailed profiles of major actors in the team's turnaround, such as new owner Joe Lacob, a former Silicon Valley venture capitalist who attempted to apply his business philosophies to running the Warriors. The Warriors have their fair share of quirky and engaging characters, and when Malinowski describes how Lacob built his front office or covers coach Steve Kerr's cosmopolitan childhood Betaball at times feels like Michael Lewis' book chronicling another Bay Area professional sports franchise looking to gain competitive advantages through unorthodox means. Malinowski is the lead writer for the Warriors on Bleacher Report and has been published in Wired and Rolling Stone. He clearly has a lot of passion for his subject and to his credit the book is well-researched and comprehensive. There are brief mentions of how Lacob tried to change the company's culture and emphasize analytics and apply the business principles that served him so well in the VC world to basketball.
From time to time Malinowski will mention advanced new technologies utilized by the Warriors, though he is frustratingly light on details or analysis. The Warriors were early adopters of player-tracking software such as SportVU, developed proprietary performance metrics, and even tracked player psychographics to help manage cultural fits and personalities. They even gave Kevin Durant virtual reality goggles to simulate the experience of walking out onto the Oracle Arena as a Warrior when they were recruiting him, and while the technology fritzed out during their meeting it seems that it didn't turn off KD from the team. As someone who is fascinated by such technologies, I wish Malinowski spent more time outlining how the Warriors employed such tools. I understand that team officials might be tight-lipped about such matters, but Malinowski could try to reach out to the founders of such platforms and tools to speak in broad terms about how their stuff works (readers interested in learning more about such things should check out Brandon Sneed's Head in the Game, which features many company founders more than happy to tout their products). Many of the "season recap" books can quickly descend into monotony and read like box scores tied together with a tiny bit of prose, and Betaball succumbs to this at times. The Warriors' unorthodox approach to running a team offered Malinowski a compelling angle to enliven the rather staid recap genre and I feel like he could have done more with it.
The bulk of Betaball is season-by-season reviews of the Warriors' campaigns, beginning with Steph Curry's rookie season in 2009-2010. Malinowski highlights notable games and off-court happenings and draws heavily from primary sources. To my knowledge Malinowski didn't conduct any additional interviews for the book, so what you get is basically a series of game recaps without much additional insight. As someone who likes basketball but is not a Warriors fan, this format grew tiresome as I became bored by Malinowski reciting Curry's shooting performances, describing a few key plays, and noting controversial/incendiary/insightful comments uttered in press conferences. The book covers the 2009-2010 season through the 2015-2016 season (with a brief epilogue covering the Warriors' Finals win in 2017) and there is no real suspense or tension for any reader who paid one iota of attention to general basketball happenings over the last few years. Will the Warriors break the record for best regular season record? Will the Warriors blow their 3-1 Finals lead to the Cavs? Will Kevin Durant come to Oakland? Spoiler Alert: Yes, Yes, Yes. I realize that society's collective memory and attention span seems to get shorter and shorter, but the average reader is probably well aware what went down in the 2016 NBA Finals, and rehashing events without much additional analysis isn't going to be all that engaging.
While parts of this review can be rightly interpreted as harsh, Beta Ball is a fine entry in the "season recap" genre. My disappointment is a result of Malinowski devoting too many pages to the "what" (the Warriors winning a lot) and not enough to the "how" that helped them turn around the franchise. If you're a fan of the team you will probably enjoy rekindling these largely positive memories, but average fans may be left wanting more.
5.5 / 10
The book does start out strongly, outlining the storied history of the Warriors and how former owner Chris Cohan helped drive the team deep into the Western Conference doldrums, at one point going 19 seasons without reaching the playoffs. There are also detailed profiles of major actors in the team's turnaround, such as new owner Joe Lacob, a former Silicon Valley venture capitalist who attempted to apply his business philosophies to running the Warriors. The Warriors have their fair share of quirky and engaging characters, and when Malinowski describes how Lacob built his front office or covers coach Steve Kerr's cosmopolitan childhood Betaball at times feels like Michael Lewis' book chronicling another Bay Area professional sports franchise looking to gain competitive advantages through unorthodox means. Malinowski is the lead writer for the Warriors on Bleacher Report and has been published in Wired and Rolling Stone. He clearly has a lot of passion for his subject and to his credit the book is well-researched and comprehensive. There are brief mentions of how Lacob tried to change the company's culture and emphasize analytics and apply the business principles that served him so well in the VC world to basketball.
From time to time Malinowski will mention advanced new technologies utilized by the Warriors, though he is frustratingly light on details or analysis. The Warriors were early adopters of player-tracking software such as SportVU, developed proprietary performance metrics, and even tracked player psychographics to help manage cultural fits and personalities. They even gave Kevin Durant virtual reality goggles to simulate the experience of walking out onto the Oracle Arena as a Warrior when they were recruiting him, and while the technology fritzed out during their meeting it seems that it didn't turn off KD from the team. As someone who is fascinated by such technologies, I wish Malinowski spent more time outlining how the Warriors employed such tools. I understand that team officials might be tight-lipped about such matters, but Malinowski could try to reach out to the founders of such platforms and tools to speak in broad terms about how their stuff works (readers interested in learning more about such things should check out Brandon Sneed's Head in the Game, which features many company founders more than happy to tout their products). Many of the "season recap" books can quickly descend into monotony and read like box scores tied together with a tiny bit of prose, and Betaball succumbs to this at times. The Warriors' unorthodox approach to running a team offered Malinowski a compelling angle to enliven the rather staid recap genre and I feel like he could have done more with it.
The bulk of Betaball is season-by-season reviews of the Warriors' campaigns, beginning with Steph Curry's rookie season in 2009-2010. Malinowski highlights notable games and off-court happenings and draws heavily from primary sources. To my knowledge Malinowski didn't conduct any additional interviews for the book, so what you get is basically a series of game recaps without much additional insight. As someone who likes basketball but is not a Warriors fan, this format grew tiresome as I became bored by Malinowski reciting Curry's shooting performances, describing a few key plays, and noting controversial/incendiary/insightful comments uttered in press conferences. The book covers the 2009-2010 season through the 2015-2016 season (with a brief epilogue covering the Warriors' Finals win in 2017) and there is no real suspense or tension for any reader who paid one iota of attention to general basketball happenings over the last few years. Will the Warriors break the record for best regular season record? Will the Warriors blow their 3-1 Finals lead to the Cavs? Will Kevin Durant come to Oakland? Spoiler Alert: Yes, Yes, Yes. I realize that society's collective memory and attention span seems to get shorter and shorter, but the average reader is probably well aware what went down in the 2016 NBA Finals, and rehashing events without much additional analysis isn't going to be all that engaging.
While parts of this review can be rightly interpreted as harsh, Beta Ball is a fine entry in the "season recap" genre. My disappointment is a result of Malinowski devoting too many pages to the "what" (the Warriors winning a lot) and not enough to the "how" that helped them turn around the franchise. If you're a fan of the team you will probably enjoy rekindling these largely positive memories, but average fans may be left wanting more.
5.5 / 10
April 5, 2022
It was fine. Other than some details about the Hamptons Durant meeting and some of the pre -Lacob stuff, this feel a pretty shallow telling of the rise of the Warriors dynasty that most basketball fans would already know. Also, definitely does not speak enough on the "silicon valley" and 100% doesn't even touch on the "science" of Betaball
December 6, 2017
Great chronicle of the last 20 years of Warriors basketball but underdelivered on the "how." Thought I was getting basketball's version of Moneyball, ended up being more like an in-depth Wikipedia page.
April 27, 2020
An enjoyable read and well written, but I give it a poor rating because it doesn't come even close to delivering on the hook. A historical observational text rather than anything with data. Look elsewhere if you're looking for analysis.
September 2, 2020
Good book, but I still hate those MFs
March 3, 2018
I ran out and bought this book when I saw the premise and the title. Especially the sub-title: How Silicon Valley and Science Built One of the Greatest Basketball Teams in History.
The subject is the Golden State Warriors, and it promised to describe the method and thought process of how the franchise was built and nurtured by Lacob and Gruber.
Unfortunately, the book fell short of the promise made by the sub-title. In fact, the book didn’t even come close to fulfilling its promise, which is too bad because that would have made a much more interesting and much more unique sports book. The book, as I had imagined, would probably not make the amount of green that the publishers envisioned, but it would have been a more standout description of how to do the right things and being bold in accomplishing a goal purposefully.
It isn’t a bad book, in fact Malinowski does have great chops, and he has done copious amounts of interviews and research, and he has the ability to write an interesting story, His recitations of the Golden State history was better than the usual sports writing. In fact his prowess with the language is a redeeming feature of the book.
What is missing is the part about the business decisions, what made the new owners of the Warriors make the decisions they made and linking it to their successes in the Silicon Valley. To be fair, Malinowski did yeoman work in relaying the thinking regarding the personnel decisions: general manager, coach, players, and staff. What he did not do was go further into depth into the stories of the people involved. He didn’t completely breeze by their stories, he did spend some time on Bob Myers, Steve Kerr, Stephan Curry, and other well-known figures but he failed to delve into the roles of the other assistants and how they fit into the picture, others have done much deeper stories on them since the book came out. Kerr’s unique take on the role of the assistant is partially responsible for the successes of team the last few years and the interaction is of great interest and a salient topic that would have been very interesting: how to coach the team that coaches the team.
As to the claim of science’s role in the success, Malinowski glossed over the what’s of the technology, describing in the least interesting manner possible what the technology is and what it did, he all but ignored how the coaching staff and the players used the technology to improve their games as well as any new ideas that have been sparked by having the technology. In this era of Big Data, it would have been very interesting to delve into how the statistics staff dove into the data and determined which of the data is the noise and which of the data is the signal. It is disappointing since he seemed to have good access to the entire organization, but he chose not to go into deeper investigation of those topics.
Those topics would have clearly differentiated this book from all the other sports books reciting the successes of a winning team.
This book could have put some distance between it and any of the other sports books and truly be a groundbreaking reportage of what made the Golden State Warriors the Golden State Warriors. This book could have been a contender, but it settled for sales and a role as an also-ran.
The subject is the Golden State Warriors, and it promised to describe the method and thought process of how the franchise was built and nurtured by Lacob and Gruber.
Unfortunately, the book fell short of the promise made by the sub-title. In fact, the book didn’t even come close to fulfilling its promise, which is too bad because that would have made a much more interesting and much more unique sports book. The book, as I had imagined, would probably not make the amount of green that the publishers envisioned, but it would have been a more standout description of how to do the right things and being bold in accomplishing a goal purposefully.
It isn’t a bad book, in fact Malinowski does have great chops, and he has done copious amounts of interviews and research, and he has the ability to write an interesting story, His recitations of the Golden State history was better than the usual sports writing. In fact his prowess with the language is a redeeming feature of the book.
What is missing is the part about the business decisions, what made the new owners of the Warriors make the decisions they made and linking it to their successes in the Silicon Valley. To be fair, Malinowski did yeoman work in relaying the thinking regarding the personnel decisions: general manager, coach, players, and staff. What he did not do was go further into depth into the stories of the people involved. He didn’t completely breeze by their stories, he did spend some time on Bob Myers, Steve Kerr, Stephan Curry, and other well-known figures but he failed to delve into the roles of the other assistants and how they fit into the picture, others have done much deeper stories on them since the book came out. Kerr’s unique take on the role of the assistant is partially responsible for the successes of team the last few years and the interaction is of great interest and a salient topic that would have been very interesting: how to coach the team that coaches the team.
As to the claim of science’s role in the success, Malinowski glossed over the what’s of the technology, describing in the least interesting manner possible what the technology is and what it did, he all but ignored how the coaching staff and the players used the technology to improve their games as well as any new ideas that have been sparked by having the technology. In this era of Big Data, it would have been very interesting to delve into how the statistics staff dove into the data and determined which of the data is the noise and which of the data is the signal. It is disappointing since he seemed to have good access to the entire organization, but he chose not to go into deeper investigation of those topics.
Those topics would have clearly differentiated this book from all the other sports books reciting the successes of a winning team.
This book could have put some distance between it and any of the other sports books and truly be a groundbreaking reportage of what made the Golden State Warriors the Golden State Warriors. This book could have been a contender, but it settled for sales and a role as an also-ran.
November 13, 2019
Listened to this book after Raptors (my favorite team) won the championship against the Warriors. Seemed like it would be interesting to learn about how the Warriors not only reached their dominating position, but how they did it combining technology and Silicon Valley. Basketball and technology, two of my passions!
My biggest problem with the book was the lack of information on how stats were used and how it was like a startup. They mention the integration of the stats, and how it was invested in by venture capital, but only passing references to the stats being collected. Only a couple of times does it reference how the stats were actually used or how it was integrated into the Warriors system. If you're considering reading this book solely because of the tech/Silicon Valley industry, this book fails miserably. If you're not at all interested in the basketball aspect, don't even bother with this one.
Towards the middle, and especially towards the end of the book it moves away from personal stories that I really enjoyed to descriptions of games which were pretty boring and hard to follow. It turns almost into reading box score lines and really started to fall apart. I wish there had been more on personal struggles and stories.
It also seemed like it was too short. This book would have been much better if it made the personal stories much longer and reduced the game/playoff series descriptions or made them even more about the individual players or even the team story.
Was interesting to learn about Curry's injury history. He's currently out with a hand (I believe) injury, was surprised to hear it wasn't a leg injury! It made Durant much more likeable than I originally envisioned him.
This is obviously not a problem with the book itself, but the audiobook I listened to, there were a ton of names that weren't pronounced correctly. Big stars too, that just about any basketball fans would know, like Kawhi, Gasol, Kyrie, etc. Obviously whoever narrated the book was not a basketball fan. You would think that they would look up names that they weren't familiar with!
I'm not a Warriors fan, but I overall enjoyed this book. My biggest problem was the stat lines and playoff series descriptions that I mentioned early, and wish that had been replaced with personal stories. Also wish that they had dived more into the tech industry's influence on the team. Great book for basketball fans, especially Warrior fans, but not great for people looking more for the tech industry fans!
My biggest problem with the book was the lack of information on how stats were used and how it was like a startup. They mention the integration of the stats, and how it was invested in by venture capital, but only passing references to the stats being collected. Only a couple of times does it reference how the stats were actually used or how it was integrated into the Warriors system. If you're considering reading this book solely because of the tech/Silicon Valley industry, this book fails miserably. If you're not at all interested in the basketball aspect, don't even bother with this one.
Towards the middle, and especially towards the end of the book it moves away from personal stories that I really enjoyed to descriptions of games which were pretty boring and hard to follow. It turns almost into reading box score lines and really started to fall apart. I wish there had been more on personal struggles and stories.
It also seemed like it was too short. This book would have been much better if it made the personal stories much longer and reduced the game/playoff series descriptions or made them even more about the individual players or even the team story.
Was interesting to learn about Curry's injury history. He's currently out with a hand (I believe) injury, was surprised to hear it wasn't a leg injury! It made Durant much more likeable than I originally envisioned him.
This is obviously not a problem with the book itself, but the audiobook I listened to, there were a ton of names that weren't pronounced correctly. Big stars too, that just about any basketball fans would know, like Kawhi, Gasol, Kyrie, etc. Obviously whoever narrated the book was not a basketball fan. You would think that they would look up names that they weren't familiar with!
I'm not a Warriors fan, but I overall enjoyed this book. My biggest problem was the stat lines and playoff series descriptions that I mentioned early, and wish that had been replaced with personal stories. Also wish that they had dived more into the tech industry's influence on the team. Great book for basketball fans, especially Warrior fans, but not great for people looking more for the tech industry fans!
May 11, 2018
This book had a great deal of promise. The author is a talented writer and he had seemingly unfettered access to the entire Warriors' organization: players, coaches, front office staff and owners. That is what makes the final result so disappointing. Put simply, it fails to live up to the promise of its title and subtitle. Unfortunately for the readers, Malinowski barely scratches the surface of the deep changes the new owners brought to the organization in outlook, organization, operation and the use of anaytics.
What allowed Steve Kerr, a first year coach, to transform an underachieving team of disgruntled better than average NBA players into the NBA's most recent dynasty. Yes, the acquisition of Kevin Durant played a role but don't discount the impact Steve Kerr had on landing Durant, not to mention the restructuring of the roster behind Seth Curry before Durant's arrival. What new owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, of Silicon Valley and Hollywood respectively, brought to the Warriors was barely touched on in the book and htat was its major failing. Malinowski provided a very good history of the franchise and a well written chronicle of the Warriors' season from the time the new owners took over in 2010 to the first championship in 2015. What is was not however was more than a passing glance at how Lacob and Guber made the fundamental changes in Warrior culture and operations, the introduction and increasingly heavy use of analytics for both on court and front office concerns, the innovative coaching process implemented by Kerr and the evolution of the "new game" the Warriors introduced to the NBA reminiscent of the a NBA version of the Dutch "total football" of Ruud Nistleroy days - everybody touches the ball and the only shots we want come from 5 feet or less of 25 feet and more. It worked well. It led to championship series appearances int he last three years winning two out those three.
I received a copy of this book from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
What allowed Steve Kerr, a first year coach, to transform an underachieving team of disgruntled better than average NBA players into the NBA's most recent dynasty. Yes, the acquisition of Kevin Durant played a role but don't discount the impact Steve Kerr had on landing Durant, not to mention the restructuring of the roster behind Seth Curry before Durant's arrival. What new owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, of Silicon Valley and Hollywood respectively, brought to the Warriors was barely touched on in the book and htat was its major failing. Malinowski provided a very good history of the franchise and a well written chronicle of the Warriors' season from the time the new owners took over in 2010 to the first championship in 2015. What is was not however was more than a passing glance at how Lacob and Guber made the fundamental changes in Warrior culture and operations, the introduction and increasingly heavy use of analytics for both on court and front office concerns, the innovative coaching process implemented by Kerr and the evolution of the "new game" the Warriors introduced to the NBA reminiscent of the a NBA version of the Dutch "total football" of Ruud Nistleroy days - everybody touches the ball and the only shots we want come from 5 feet or less of 25 feet and more. It worked well. It led to championship series appearances int he last three years winning two out those three.
I received a copy of this book from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
September 4, 2017
The Golden State Warriors have brought an amazing amount of interest to the NBA over the past few years, especially because their franchise was such a disaster before in the span of 5 years, they've gone from happy underdogs to fan favorites to possibly the greatest team of all time to villains. This book captures all of that era and helps the reader to understand just what it was like with the Warriors before.
The author makes no secret of his lifelong fanhood of the team, which made me concerned for the writing, but it turned out to be much better written than I would have expected, especially because I seem to have some unexplained prejudice against Bleacher Report. I thought that the books was extremely readable and engrossing, though the game reviews would sometimes cause me to glaze over.
My main problem with the book was that it was marketed around the "betaball" concept, and I never felt like I got a clear definition of this, or what the Warriors were doing differently. The were several instances of different techniques or technologies being mentioned as being in use, but I never felt like I actually learned how the Warriors had adapted themselves or their franchise. On that hand, the book was a bit of a disappointment, because it was clearly going for a "Moneyball" in basketball type of vibe.
I did really enjoy the book, especially as a way to see how the Warriors changed over the years, but it was lacking in the analysis section (which I felt is what it was presented as), and ended up being a good reporting on the results book.
I received a free digital galley of this book in exchange for a review from Netgalley.
The author makes no secret of his lifelong fanhood of the team, which made me concerned for the writing, but it turned out to be much better written than I would have expected, especially because I seem to have some unexplained prejudice against Bleacher Report. I thought that the books was extremely readable and engrossing, though the game reviews would sometimes cause me to glaze over.
My main problem with the book was that it was marketed around the "betaball" concept, and I never felt like I got a clear definition of this, or what the Warriors were doing differently. The were several instances of different techniques or technologies being mentioned as being in use, but I never felt like I actually learned how the Warriors had adapted themselves or their franchise. On that hand, the book was a bit of a disappointment, because it was clearly going for a "Moneyball" in basketball type of vibe.
I did really enjoy the book, especially as a way to see how the Warriors changed over the years, but it was lacking in the analysis section (which I felt is what it was presented as), and ended up being a good reporting on the results book.
I received a free digital galley of this book in exchange for a review from Netgalley.
June 3, 2020
"We want to enjoy this and see how far we can take it."
This book was given to me back in December 2017, but only had the interest to read it now--a year after the Golden State Warriors lost to the Toronto Raptors and therafter losing prized recruit Kevin Durant. The book focused on GSW's transformation from the Chris Cohan era to the Joe Lacob era--two of the most different owners of an NBA franchise. It highlights how #TheSiliconValleyWay, and reliance on science and technology in game analysis and player development helped build one of the best (and you can fight me on this haha) dynasties in the NBA.
Having read Return of the King by Brian Windhorst and Golden by Marcus Thompson II (each focused on LeBron James and Stephen Curry, respectively), this book completes the narrative of *that* historic 3-1 comeback in the 2016 Finals, and then some.
Obviously, you'll enjoy this book immensely if you are a basketball fan. Jury's still out if this will be enjoyed by non-basketball fans as well.
Eric Malinowski masterfully identified and highlighted how Lacob and company's tech background influenced and shaped the way Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber ran the Warriors front office. Taking calculated risks, making smart decisions, and being never afraid to innovate. That's the #BetaBall for you.
But for me one of the book's underappreciated strengths is Malinowski’s ability to tell the stories (of Lacob, of Kerr and of Curry) with such heart that makes us appreciate them more, and makes this book a compelling read for me.
This book was given to me back in December 2017, but only had the interest to read it now--a year after the Golden State Warriors lost to the Toronto Raptors and therafter losing prized recruit Kevin Durant. The book focused on GSW's transformation from the Chris Cohan era to the Joe Lacob era--two of the most different owners of an NBA franchise. It highlights how #TheSiliconValleyWay, and reliance on science and technology in game analysis and player development helped build one of the best (and you can fight me on this haha) dynasties in the NBA.
Having read Return of the King by Brian Windhorst and Golden by Marcus Thompson II (each focused on LeBron James and Stephen Curry, respectively), this book completes the narrative of *that* historic 3-1 comeback in the 2016 Finals, and then some.
Obviously, you'll enjoy this book immensely if you are a basketball fan. Jury's still out if this will be enjoyed by non-basketball fans as well.
Eric Malinowski masterfully identified and highlighted how Lacob and company's tech background influenced and shaped the way Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber ran the Warriors front office. Taking calculated risks, making smart decisions, and being never afraid to innovate. That's the #BetaBall for you.
But for me one of the book's underappreciated strengths is Malinowski’s ability to tell the stories (of Lacob, of Kerr and of Curry) with such heart that makes us appreciate them more, and makes this book a compelling read for me.
September 9, 2023
It is a good read, but I don’t really see the correlation into “analytics or some high end use of data or algorithms” to build a dynasty. Basically in short and summing this book up quickly:
Some rich tech investor, teams up with another rich guy who is a producer, and they buy a downtrodden, sorry excuse of a franchise for pennies on the dollar. They were so bad for so long, I mean it was at least going to get a little better right? New TV media rights deals, an easy decision to move from Oakland to San Francisco, and getting lucky with drafting Steph Curry & Klay Thompson…oh, and hiring some guy named Steve Kerr to coach.
Now, I still give the ownership group credit, 4 championships is amazing and they have been the talk of the NBA for 8+ years now. But that was again from drafting, and getting very lucky with signing Kevin Durant. They hit on Curry, Klay & Draymond, and that will help any franchise. I just don’t see how they differ from the other 29 teams using AI, data analytics, or any other high tech to improve their roster or play on the court. They just seem to have hit the lottery with draft picks and free agents (Iggy the main one), who want to win a title. Teaming up with that core three is a good way to make the playoffs every year and have a shot.
I love reading about sports though, so I did enjoy the book. Just hold your expectations and don’t expect some great insight into some magical use of technology to build a basketball dynasty.
Some rich tech investor, teams up with another rich guy who is a producer, and they buy a downtrodden, sorry excuse of a franchise for pennies on the dollar. They were so bad for so long, I mean it was at least going to get a little better right? New TV media rights deals, an easy decision to move from Oakland to San Francisco, and getting lucky with drafting Steph Curry & Klay Thompson…oh, and hiring some guy named Steve Kerr to coach.
Now, I still give the ownership group credit, 4 championships is amazing and they have been the talk of the NBA for 8+ years now. But that was again from drafting, and getting very lucky with signing Kevin Durant. They hit on Curry, Klay & Draymond, and that will help any franchise. I just don’t see how they differ from the other 29 teams using AI, data analytics, or any other high tech to improve their roster or play on the court. They just seem to have hit the lottery with draft picks and free agents (Iggy the main one), who want to win a title. Teaming up with that core three is a good way to make the playoffs every year and have a shot.
I love reading about sports though, so I did enjoy the book. Just hold your expectations and don’t expect some great insight into some magical use of technology to build a basketball dynasty.
May 26, 2018
Good summary of how the Warriors built a modern NBA team
This book does good job collecting the key events in the last decades that eventually led to the formation of the modern day Warriors. All the key changes including owners, execs, coaches, and players are pretty well documented in this book. Most of the events are fairly known to the public with the exception of a handful of behind-the-scenes stories.
I enjoyed the sections in the book that discuss how data and analtics were introduced to the culture of the Warriors organization. It was interesting to learn about how much innovation is happening in the sports science world. It was also interesting to read about the hesitation around the league to adopt this data driven mindset instead of eye-test or intuition.
I would have enjoyed this book even more if it was focused on more details around how data was used on a daily basis, instead of narrating publicly known events. While the author does provide some of those examples, it was too brief and sparse across the book. I was interested to learn more about how data was used to make play-by-play decisions, trade decisions, college drafting, etc... That said, I can also understand why the Warriors may not want to disclose a lot of their secret sauce.
This book does good job collecting the key events in the last decades that eventually led to the formation of the modern day Warriors. All the key changes including owners, execs, coaches, and players are pretty well documented in this book. Most of the events are fairly known to the public with the exception of a handful of behind-the-scenes stories.
I enjoyed the sections in the book that discuss how data and analtics were introduced to the culture of the Warriors organization. It was interesting to learn about how much innovation is happening in the sports science world. It was also interesting to read about the hesitation around the league to adopt this data driven mindset instead of eye-test or intuition.
I would have enjoyed this book even more if it was focused on more details around how data was used on a daily basis, instead of narrating publicly known events. While the author does provide some of those examples, it was too brief and sparse across the book. I was interested to learn more about how data was used to make play-by-play decisions, trade decisions, college drafting, etc... That said, I can also understand why the Warriors may not want to disclose a lot of their secret sauce.
June 3, 2019
This was a diverting read especially since the Golden State Warriors are at it again in the NBA Finals. While it's enjoyable about how the modern Warriors came to be (if not a little tedious during the many play-by-play game summaries), it never fully delivered on the promise of its subtitle (which may have been a marketing tactic to pitch it as the Moneyball for the NBA). I also think there's a more interesting book about the coaches Mark Jackson and Steve Kerr. I had no idea, for example, that Steve Kerr's father was assassinated by terrorists while he was the president of the American University of Beirut. All this happened while Steve Kerr was playing college ball for the University of Arizona.
Kerr's leadership style is something to be admired and emulated by business leaders today. I still remember how he took criticism for handing over his clipboard and letting his players draw up a play in one time out at the end of a game. How dare he "disrespect" the game, some critics said. He is, rather, an intelligent and sharp basketball mind who doesn't take himself too seriously as most other NBA coaches do.
Kerr's leadership style is something to be admired and emulated by business leaders today. I still remember how he took criticism for handing over his clipboard and letting his players draw up a play in one time out at the end of a game. How dare he "disrespect" the game, some critics said. He is, rather, an intelligent and sharp basketball mind who doesn't take himself too seriously as most other NBA coaches do.
October 10, 2017
Should've been titled "Dubs: A History," Betaball doesn't prove out the whole SV and science bit in the title unless you count referencing the use advanced analytics but not saying very much about how it played a role in the building of the team. Basically, a tech VC bought a team, hired a smart guy as GM, and got out of his way. Draft Steph and signing him to a team-friendly deal, lucking out with Klay, *really* lucking out with Draymond, and giving Steve Kerr a chance to coach pretty much made the Warriors what they are, not some BS they tried to spin with tech and supposed start-up mentality.
I thought I was getting a sort of basketball version of the many great baseball books I've ready about innovative team-building (e.g. Moneyball, The Extra 2%, Big Data Baseball, etc.), but what I got was a history of the Warriors franchise with some spin (plus the KD season was only talked out in the epilogue). This is a pass, unless you're a huge Warriors fan, or a new Warriors fan who wants to know a little about your new favourite team.
I thought I was getting a sort of basketball version of the many great baseball books I've ready about innovative team-building (e.g. Moneyball, The Extra 2%, Big Data Baseball, etc.), but what I got was a history of the Warriors franchise with some spin (plus the KD season was only talked out in the epilogue). This is a pass, unless you're a huge Warriors fan, or a new Warriors fan who wants to know a little about your new favourite team.
July 4, 2018
reads as though he sold one concept to the publisher but then wrote an entirely different book. I thought it was going to be about how embracing analytics made a big difference to the franchise, but there is hardly any of that. As an example, I'd forgotten that at one point they were thinking of signing Dwight Howard and only got Andre Iguodala as a fallback option. If you're thinking about roster construction based on analytics, those are two very different visions of how you're going to play.
beyond that, he mentions from time to time that they were early adopters of SportVU camera work, but there's pretty much nothing re how they used the data, aside from the very well-known point embraced by all modern teams that the long-2 is inefficient, whereas you should be shooting from the paint or from 3.
so it ends up boiling down pretty much to a narrative of several seasons of the Warriors as they became great. Love the team and the way they play and Kevin Durant from the DMV, but this is all recent and well-covered stuff so no real need for a chrono recap.
beyond that, he mentions from time to time that they were early adopters of SportVU camera work, but there's pretty much nothing re how they used the data, aside from the very well-known point embraced by all modern teams that the long-2 is inefficient, whereas you should be shooting from the paint or from 3.
so it ends up boiling down pretty much to a narrative of several seasons of the Warriors as they became great. Love the team and the way they play and Kevin Durant from the DMV, but this is all recent and well-covered stuff so no real need for a chrono recap.
September 27, 2018
This book clearly attempts to be a Moneyball for the basketball team that plays a few hundred yards away from the A's, but Erik Malinowski does not have Michael Lewis's writing chops or access to the front office, and this book really struggles as a result. We get some hints at the underlying strategies utilized by Bob Myers and the Dubs' front office, but they are not particularly insightful - they use motion-capture sensors and video, they encourage their players to sleep a lot, they embrace position-less basketball. These revelations are not surprising and are nowhere near as interesting as the revolution that took place at the Coliseum. Key figure Joe Lacob comes across just as egotistical and unlikeable as he seems in real life.
So what you are left with is basically a recounting of the Warriors seasons from 2009 through 2017, which is fine, but not particularly interesting for anyone who was actually watching. And, inexplicably, some significant storylines, like the Warriors' temporary blood rivalry with the Clippers, are left on the cutting room floor.
Unless you have not been paying attention to basketball for the last 5 years, skip this one.
So what you are left with is basically a recounting of the Warriors seasons from 2009 through 2017, which is fine, but not particularly interesting for anyone who was actually watching. And, inexplicably, some significant storylines, like the Warriors' temporary blood rivalry with the Clippers, are left on the cutting room floor.
Unless you have not been paying attention to basketball for the last 5 years, skip this one.
August 31, 2021
A title like “Betaball” is a miss on many counts. The notion of “beta” is common in Silicon Valley and is short for “beta test” which refers to the trial of a product before it is ready for general consumption. I think the author chose the name to somehow signify that they were always innovating, much like a technology company. Even for someone like myself, for whom technology is a day job and Basketball is relaxation, I felt the title was rather off.
The book is really a history of the Warriors franchise. I am a relatively recent fan of the Warriors and was happy to learn about the early days and how the band came together. The fact that the owners are venture capitalists and had a more egalitarian approach to managing the team, definitely helped make them who they are. This book tells you about the science behind their journey and you will learn that the Warriors franchise was not always the smooth operation that you see today. It makes for a great read, especially if you are a Warriors fan.
Go Warriors!
The book is really a history of the Warriors franchise. I am a relatively recent fan of the Warriors and was happy to learn about the early days and how the band came together. The fact that the owners are venture capitalists and had a more egalitarian approach to managing the team, definitely helped make them who they are. This book tells you about the science behind their journey and you will learn that the Warriors franchise was not always the smooth operation that you see today. It makes for a great read, especially if you are a Warriors fan.
Go Warriors!
January 16, 2018
I struggled with a rating for this one. It's an interesting and engaging recent history of the Golden State Warriors, that is definitely an entertaining read.
My only complaint is that there is barely any discussion of science at all - despite the book's title. 95% of the content is player and personnel biographies, discussion of draft strategies and trade negotiations, and blow-by-blow accounts of their championship seasons and important games. All of which is interesting, but there is only occasional mention that analytics and advanced data gathering and science-based training and conditioning techniques were used - maybe 5-10 pages total, out of over 300 for the book. I was hoping for more along these lines.
That complaint aside however, the book is a fascinating inside look at a very successful franchise.
My only complaint is that there is barely any discussion of science at all - despite the book's title. 95% of the content is player and personnel biographies, discussion of draft strategies and trade negotiations, and blow-by-blow accounts of their championship seasons and important games. All of which is interesting, but there is only occasional mention that analytics and advanced data gathering and science-based training and conditioning techniques were used - maybe 5-10 pages total, out of over 300 for the book. I was hoping for more along these lines.
That complaint aside however, the book is a fascinating inside look at a very successful franchise.
June 26, 2019
Money-Basketball, this ain't: perhaps about 5% of this book pays lip service to the Moneyball ethos of using analytics to discover heretofore undervalued assets. I say "lip service" because the author mentions a new method of gathering analytical information, but then never describes how this allowed the Warriors to go on such a dynastic tear.
Much like the recent "Astroball," "Betaball" wants to describe the latest surprise-Champions with an appeal to the new, the progressive, and the technical; but the real story is adherence to the tired-and-true principle of "draft, trade for, or buy good players who work well together."
Sometimes you stumble on a revolutionary advantage, and sometimes you win just because you're the better team. And there's nothing less interesting than the predictable.
Much like the recent "Astroball," "Betaball" wants to describe the latest surprise-Champions with an appeal to the new, the progressive, and the technical; but the real story is adherence to the tired-and-true principle of "draft, trade for, or buy good players who work well together."
Sometimes you stumble on a revolutionary advantage, and sometimes you win just because you're the better team. And there's nothing less interesting than the predictable.
December 29, 2022
The premise of this book was overrated. It spent very little time talking about the analytics behind the Warriors, and other than the general 'shoot threes and dunks', there were minimal insights about how analytics shaped the team.
Instead, the big learning was reinforcing the importance of cohesiveness and character in building a championship culture. They exited a bunch of bad apples, drafted based on character, and took a long term approach to building the team. Tech may have been a help along the way, but it was the culture building (and building a team around a philosophy - in this case motion offense and the long ball) that was the reason for their success.
The one note that Kerr truly cared about opp. FG %, assists and turnovers as his leading indicators of success reinforces your views around key metrics.
Instead, the big learning was reinforcing the importance of cohesiveness and character in building a championship culture. They exited a bunch of bad apples, drafted based on character, and took a long term approach to building the team. Tech may have been a help along the way, but it was the culture building (and building a team around a philosophy - in this case motion offense and the long ball) that was the reason for their success.
The one note that Kerr truly cared about opp. FG %, assists and turnovers as his leading indicators of success reinforces your views around key metrics.
June 6, 2024
As fast and as loaded as a Warriors offense. Eric Malinowski delivers a very readable and detailed account of the Warriors rise from league laggards to the most revolutionary basketball franchise of this generation.
The title may be a bit misleading and feels like an angle pitched to the publisher to make it unique among other books that covers the rise of Golden State among the NBA elite. The angle of how science and Silicon Valley shaped the team is valid but not unique to Golden State, as stated in the book, other teams were already doing the analytics, tech enhancement and have techpreneur owners - specifically Houston, Boston, Miami, San Antonio, among others. But it just so happens only one team is in Silicon Valley itself, which is Golden State.
Overall, a great book for Warriors and NBA fans. Still holds up as the Warriors reign is closing in 2024.
The title may be a bit misleading and feels like an angle pitched to the publisher to make it unique among other books that covers the rise of Golden State among the NBA elite. The angle of how science and Silicon Valley shaped the team is valid but not unique to Golden State, as stated in the book, other teams were already doing the analytics, tech enhancement and have techpreneur owners - specifically Houston, Boston, Miami, San Antonio, among others. But it just so happens only one team is in Silicon Valley itself, which is Golden State.
Overall, a great book for Warriors and NBA fans. Still holds up as the Warriors reign is closing in 2024.
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