The 2007 Warriors, though not as impactful as their later versions, were important to the Bay Area for one main reason. For starters, they were the first 8-seed in NBA history to defeat a 1-seed in their first appearance in a playoff series in more than one and a quarter decades.
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That prompted the team to adopt the ‘We Believe’ tagline throughout the remaining postseason, which has since become something of an an urban legend up in NorCal.
The Denver Nuggets have dusted off that legendary slogan and co-opted the ‘We Believe’ motto for the playoffs this season. And Baron Davis and Draymond Green aren’t at all happy about it. Green may not have been part of the 06-07 GSW team, but Davis was, and he isn’t pleased with the Nuggets’ usage of their motto.
“So unoriginal,” he said on Green’s podcast, before going further to criticize the Nuggets’ marketing team.
“Man, come on, Denver, just call me, I’ll give you a slogan. This ain’t gonna work.” Green then chimed in with, “Somebody should be fired.”
Part of the reason Green and Davis are upset with Denver co-opting of the slogan is the circumstances. The Warriors were without a playoff appearance in 13 years before making it to the postseason in the 06-07 season. They were matched up against the Dallas Mavericks, who were coming off a Finals loss and had the reigning MVP in Dirk Nowitzki.
To say the Dubs were the underdogs would be an understatement. But they persevered, and when they defeated the Mavs 4-2, they shocked the world. The ‘We Believe’ motto was made for the underdogs, which the current Nuggets are not. Sure, they’re the 4-seed, but they have the reigning MVP, and they have won 50 games so far this season.
Which is why the Nuggets trying to pull the underdog gimmick, especially when they have the home-court advantage, isn’t sitting well with the two Warriors legends.
Baron Davis once claimed the ‘We Believe’ Warriors would take the 2017 Warriors to 7 games
The 2017 version of the Warriors, with Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry leading the line, is widely considered as the best team to ever grace the NBA. With two of the world’s three best players in their starting 5, it’s hard to see anyone else give them much competition, and their playoff record showed as much. They went 16-1 in the postseason, sweeping all three teams in the West and dropping just one game to the Cavs in the Finals.
Davis, however, firmly believes that his 2007 Warriors side would have forced the 2017 team team into a Game 7 scenario. He didn’t mention anything about winning the series, but his logic was that the 2007 Warriors were scrappy and full of hustle, something that KD’s Warriors didn’t necessarily have.
“I think we were more athletic, scrappier, and we could actually match up with them,” Davis said to Dorrell Wright in an interview in 2021.
“Like I said, they had a great team defense. So we would have some issues figuring out where the mismatches were, but we were more pick-and-roll and iso-oriented.”
What BD said is definitely debatable. Interestingly, Steph Curry responded to Davis’ claim back then.
“I expect nothing less from BD … BD was nice. Don’t get me wrong. BD was nice. But he probably wouldn’t be a good GM if he thinks that,” Curry had said.
But hey, nobody really knows what would have happened, so Davis really has the right to talk as much as he wants.
