The Victory Machine by Ethan Sherwood Strauss was released in April of 2020 and tells the story of how the Golden State Warriors built one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history and how that dynasty ultimately ended.

The Warriors have been the team to beat in the NBA for the better part of a decade and have seen their success, popularity, and profits soar to levels previously unimaginable. The purchase of the team by Joe Lacob started them on this journey and during his ownership tenure, the team has won more championships and sold more merchandise than any other NBA team.

This book tells the complete story of the Warriors’ rise from someone who was there for the whole thing. Sherwood Strauss is entrenched in the franchise and manages to reveal the team culture, the ownership’s financial ambitions, and the struggles of everyone involved in the process. The team reached unprecedented heights of success, but that success comes with a price that the players and managers of this team have each paid in their own ways.

The story takes us from the beginnings of the franchise’s rise with Joe Lacob’s unlikely acquisition of the team, that was killed at the time, to the championships to the acquisition of Kevin Durant to the end of the era with Durant’s leaving. This book is not only a story of the Warriors’ success, it is also a deep dive into how the business of pro basketball works and just how relentless this business can be on the people involved in it.

About the Golden State Warriors

Starting in the 2014-2015 season, the Warriors started one of the most dominant runs in sports history. The team finished 67-15 that season, a new franchise record for wins in a season, and had a home record of 39-2 which was the second best home record in NBA history. Stephen Curry was named the NBA MVP that season and the team won the NBA Championship that season in six games against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The following season, the Warriors were in more impressive in the regular season when they set the NBA record for wins in a season with a 73-9 record. They started the season winning their first 15 games and never really looked back. Stephen Curry was once again named MVP, but the team ultimately faltered in the Finals. The Warriors had a 3-1 lead against the Cleveland Cavaliers before the wheels fell off for them. Draymond Green ended up being suspended for Game Five, something many point to as the key reason they lost this series, and Stephen Curry was ejected from Game Six. The teams met in Golden State for Game 7 where the Cavaliers got the win. The Warriors became the first team to blow a 3-1 lead in the Finals.

That loss would lead into a wild off-season that saw the Warriors add one of the best players in the game to the team in Kevin Durant. The Warriors went 67-15 that season and were the top seeded team heading into the playoffs. The team swept their way into the Finals and then defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-1 in the Finals. The 16-1 record was the best winning percentage in NBA Playoffs history and this team is considered to be one of the greatest of all-time.

The team knew how good it was at this point and played like it. They knew they could seemingly “turn it on” at any time and their regular season record ended up at 58-24 in 2018. They were the second seed team in the West behind the Rockets, but no one doubted that this was still the best team in the NBA. They proved that after falling behind 3-2 to the Rockets before winning two straight to return to the Finals. They matched up with the Cavaliers for a record fourth straight year. The Warriors got the sweep in four games to win their third NBA Championship in four years and second in a row.

The 2018-2019 season saw the core four return, but there was trouble from the early going of the season. Kevin Durant was due to be a free agent at the end of the season and there was a very public blow-up between Durant and Draymond Green early in the season. The shadow of Durant leaving was there all season, but the team was still great and finished with the best record in the Western Conference. The team returned to the Finals, but they had an insane amount of injuries during this run. DeMarcus Cousins, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala, Klay Thompson, and Kevon Looney all combined to miss a total of 26 games.

The big loss was Durant who went out in the Western Conference Finals, but managed to return for Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Raptors. He had 11 points in the first quarter, but two minutes into the second quarter he went down with an Achilles injury that will keep him for the rest of the series and all of the 2019-2020 season. The Warriors lost to the Raptors 4-2. Kevin Durant signed with the Nets in the offseason.

About the Author

Ethan Sherwood Strauss graduated from Cal University and then went to work for the NBA in public relations. He soon realized that was not for him and begin writing for the WarriorsWorld blog. He parlayed his success there into a job at ESPN before leaving to join The Athletic. The Victory Machine is his first book.

Other Books You May Like

Seven Seconds or Less by Jack McCallum: This book about the Mike D’Antoni/Steve Nash Phoenix Suns is a good read for fans of The Victory Machine because a lot of the things that made the Warriors successful were put in place by the Phoenix Suns of this era.

The Breaks of the Game by David Halberstram: This classic NBA book sees David Halberstram following the 1979-80 Portland Trail Blazers. The book covers what it is like for this team that once seemed like they were going to be the next dynasty in the NBA, but ended up being wholly unremarkable this season after the loss of Bill Walton to injury.

The Victory Machine Podcasts

No Dunks 1-on-1 Podcast: No Dunks is a daily NBA podcast hosted by Skeets, Tas, Trey, Leigh, and JD — formerly known as The Starters. Ethan joins the show to discuss The Victory Machine and more.

The HoopsHype Podcast: Alex Kennedy welcomes Ethan Sherwood Strauss as a guest. Ethan discusses the writing process for The Victory Machine, how the Warriors became a juggernaut, his unique relationship with Kevin Durant, where the team goes from here and more.