DeMarcus Cousins played one season with the Golden State Warriors. He knows exactly how terrifying that Kevin Durant-era roster was. And when he sat down to rank NBA champions from the last 11 years, he didn’t hesitate.
Cousins appeared on Run It Back, FanDuel’s NBA show, and placed the 2015, 2017, and 2018 Warriors in the S-tier — the same elite category as the 2014 San Antonio Spurs. The conversation started with a simple premise: which title teams since the Spurs’ last championship actually belong in the same conversation?
His answer was blunt: “You could pick any of those Warriors teams.”
That carries weight because Cousins saw that machine from the inside during the 2018-19 season. He watched Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson operate within a system that warped how defenses even thought about spacing. The 2017 and 2018 squads, in particular, are still used as the gold standard for modern offensive ceilings — a roster that overwhelmed opponents before the opening tip.
How the rankings broke down
The segment published on June 13, 2026, had Cousins sorting every champion from 2014 through 2024 into tiers. He gave the 2014 Spurs their flowers — a team that dismantled the Heat with ball movement and defensive discipline. Then he stacked the Warriors’ dynasty teams right next to them.
The 2015 group gets credit for launching the run, even if that team didn’t have Durant. The 2017 and 2018 versions are the ones that made opponents look helpless. Cousins didn’t rank the 2022 Warriors the same way, drawing a clear line between the peak Durant-era teams and the later iteration that won without him.
Fans online noted the absence of any LeBron James-led Cavaliers or Lakers teams from the S-tier — a detail that sparked debate in the replies. The show leaned into it, posting a clip that asked: “Do you agree with how Boogie ranks the NBA Champions since San Antonio last won it all?”
What this says about Golden State’s legacy
Cousins’ ranking isn’t just barbershop talk. It reflects how the league still measures itself against those Warriors teams. The 2014 Spurs represent the ideal of system basketball, while the Durant-era Warriors represent raw dominance — two different kinds of S-tier.
The Warriors are no longer simply judged by how many rings they won. They’re now the yardstick. Every modern contender gets asked the same question: Could this team hang with the 2017 Warriors? Most of the time, the answer is no.
Cousins lived that reality. His endorsement only cements it further.
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