5 Reasons why the Golden State Warriors are so successful 

The Golden State Warriors are the most popular team in basketball today. They have won 3 of the last 4 NBA championships and are on course to win more. A team filled with talented players, the Warriors have transcended the game of basketball itself.

Always playing in front of sell-out crowds, home or away, the Warriors are the most successful team in the NBA in the last 4-5 years and only got better this off-season by adding All-Star Center DeMarcus Cousins.

This article is dedicated to their Basketball greatness as we look at five reasons why the Warriors are so successful as a team.

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#1 Defense

Warriors' players always look to get better on defense

The Warriors have the best offense and the stats speak for itself as they are the leaders of the offensive-rating list for the past 3 years. They were second on the list in 2014-15 and third on the list in 2013-14. Stephen Curry can drop 25 points in his sleep, Kevin Durant can score 25 like its nothing and the other offensive players also can get the ball in the hoop without any difficulty.

The key to the Warriors is not just their offensive outburst, but staying on top in defense as well. Barring this recently concluded 2017-18 season in which the Warriors finished 9th on the offensive rating list, they have always stayed top 5. In 2014-15, when they won their first title in the modern era, they were ranked 1st in the defensive rating and always stayed consistent with their defense since then.

Their associate head coach Mike Brown is one of the greatest defensive minds of all-time. Draymond Green is a 3-time consecutive All-Defensive First Team member and also won the Defensive Player of the Year trophy in 2017 for his defensive greatness. Stephen Curry averages 1.8 steals per game and is very sharp on the court. After coming to Oakland, Kevin Durant's defense also improved which was evident last season when he had career-high 119 blocks and carried the bulk of defensive-load when Draymond missed games.

Thompson is known for sticking to the opposition's PG causing serious problems. Andre Iguodala was named Finals MVP in 2015 for stopping LeBron James. They also have a lot of other players who are known for their defensive abilities and when the game gets tougher on the offensive end, their defense definitely bails them out.

#2 Bench depth

Warriors have the most talented bench

When the Warriors won their first title of this era in 2015, it was the bench that chipped in, contributed in many ways and kept the team going. Marreese Speights averaged double-digits in points that season coming off the bench. Players like Shaun Livingston, David Lee, Barbosa came up big and played a key role to bring home the championship.

The Warriors only went on to increase the depth in the bench adding some key role players in the off-seasons hence. They brought in players like JaVale McGee, Ian Clark, Jordan Bell, Matt Barnes, David West to the most-decorated franchise in order to bolster their bench.

The bench which is a mix of rookies, upcoming-stars and veterans made it a habit of not losing the lead whenever they are on the court. Sometimes, the bench even extends the lead to a wider margin and are definitely not scared to take-on against some of the best opposition talent, even if it is the starters of the rival team.

#3 Three-Point shooting

Warriors changed the league with their 3-point shooting

The Warriors changed the league with their red-hot 3-point shooting. Guard Stephen Curry is a ridiculous shooter who shoots at 43.6 percentage from the 3-point line. Klay Thompson, the other half of the 'Splash Brothers' shoots at an equally ridiculous 42.2 percentage from the distance.

With their 3-point shooting skills, they changed the other teams' perception of what makes for winning NBA titles. In the 2015-16 regular-season, Stephen Curry went on to make 402 three-pointers breaking his own record of 286 made three-pointers, established the season before this one. In the same 2015-16 regular-season, Klay Thompson was second on the list with 276 three-pointers which talks about the fire-power in their 3-point shooting.

Not just the Curry-Thompson duo, Kevin Durant in the 2017-18 season shot 41.9 percentage from the 3-point line and sank 173 three-pointers. With shooting machines everywhere on the court, this team's success transcended to the next level.

#4 Front office and the coaching staff

The GM Bob Myers keeps making moves to make them a better team

The league turned upside down this off-season when DeMarcus Cousins decided to join the Golden State Warriors. No one ever saw it coming but the GM Bob Myers is well-known for quite some time to make moves no would expect him to. He did it by signing Kevin Durant in 2016 and he did it this off-season again.

Coach Steve Kerr is another added reason why the Warriors are so successful. After taking over the reigns from Mark Jackson in 2014, Kerr took this team to a whole another level. The Warriors always won above 55 regular-season games since he took over. Their record-breaking 73-9 season happened during his tenure as coach.

Also, the interim coaches that usually take over in Kerr's absence also make sure the Warriors stay strong and play to their true potential. In 2016, with Kerr recovering from back surgeries, Luke Walton got them to a 39-4 start. Mike Brown, a defensive specialist, who is also the current associate head coach of the Warriors is 12-0. These records only show how fortunate the Warriors have been to get the kind of coaching staff that they got.

#5 Selfless basketball

They are willing to sacrifice their personal goals for the team to flourish

This is probably the most significant one. The reason why the Golden State Warriors are enjoying the kind of success they are is because of the fact that the players are willing to make sacrifices at their personal level for the team to flourish. Their PG Stephen Curry led the way by being a true leader when he accepted Kevin Durant, a 4-time scoring champion into the team.

A back-to-back MVP with already a championship ring on his resume, Curry didn't really need to make that sacrifice of allowing another elite-player to come steal the limelight. After dropping career-high 30.1 points per game and winning the unanimous MVP, Curry decided to sacrifice minutes, touches per game and reputation to create room for another superstar.

Not just Curry, after winning his first NBA ring, Kevin Durant decided to take a pay cut of nearly $10 million dollars, just to allow Golden State Warriors to bring back Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. This helped the team in a huge way and the Warriors went on to win their third title in four years.

With two of the biggest stars of this league making sacrifices no would even dream of making, the team built a strong bond and became the team that it is today, dominating the league like nobody has ever done before.