Zaza Pachulia Calls Warriors 'Greatest Team Ever Assembled,' Reflects on Dynasty

Zaza Pachulia, a member of the Golden State Warriors during their championship run, called the group that dominated from 2015 to 2022 "the greatest team ever assembled," citing a blend of star talent, veteran experience and a high basketball IQ that established the franchise as a modern NBA dynasty.

Pachulia, who retired from the NBA after the 2019 season and now serves as a Warriors basketball operations consultant, spoke to Fox News Digital on behalf of Shoot 360, a company that uses AI-driven shot analytics at several NBA training facilities. He credited head coach Steve Kerr, former general manager Bob Myers and franchise cornerstone Stephen Curry for setting the tone that sustained the club through multiple title runs.

"That was special," Pachulia said, describing his first practice with the Warriors and the mix of elite scorers and experienced role players in the locker room. "All of these guys, Steph, Klay, KD, Draymond in the best years of their careers. It's also worth mentioning the other guys we had in the locker room, Andre Iguodala, David West, Shaun Livingston, had been starters for different teams. It was such a great combination, a mix of superstars, veteran players… such a high IQ in the locker room."

The Warriors captured four NBA titles between 2015 and 2022, with contributions from Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Kevin Durant and several key role players including Pachulia, Kevon Looney and Andrew Wiggins. Golden State’s tenure atop the league followed a prolonged period of uneven results for the franchise before Curry settled in and Kerr became head coach in 2014.

The team’s trajectory included a memorable 2007 first-round upset of the Dallas Mavericks, a regular-season record 73 wins in 2015-16 and a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a seven-game 2016 NBA Finals. That defeat preceded Golden State’s signing of Durant in the 2016 offseason; Durant subsequently won Finals MVP in both title seasons he spent with the Warriors (2017, 2018).

Pachulia singled out personnel decisions made by Myers and others as pivotal in assembling the roster and establishing shared expectations. "Obviously, Steve Kerr and Bob Myers and everyone did a great job of having initial conversations of what the expectations were, that way there were no surprises," he said. "Everybody's talked about Warriors culture and I give the credit to Steve, Bob and Steph. Those three guys definitely set the tone. That was the greatest team ever assembled in my opinion."

Pachulia left the Warriors roster in 2018 and played his final NBA season with the Detroit Pistons before retiring. He remains connected to the organization through his consultant role and through business investments: he is an investor and ambassador for Shoot 360, which lists NBA and WNBA players among its backers.

Team composition has evolved since Golden State’s championship core reached its peak. Thompson departed the Warriors after the 2023-24 season and signed with the Dallas Mavericks, while Curry and Green remain with Golden State. After the Warriors missed the 2023-24 postseason and were eliminated from contention in May 2025 by the Minnesota Timberwolves, debate intensified about whether the franchise’s title window had closed.

Curry pushed back against that notion in an interview with ESPN, noting the durability of the Warriors’ competitiveness across more than a decade. "I mean obviously defining a dynasty can take a lot of different looks," Curry said in July. "People thought this was over in 2019 ... but 2022 was an amazing championship because we defied the odds ... That's 11 years of almost 12 years of championship relevancy built around a certain core."

Pachulia said the cultural imprint created by that core would persist while Curry remained the face of the franchise. "As far as Steph is in the locker room, is on the court, is the face of this franchise, no one can, no one will [change it]," he said. "Because he has so much respect, not only from his teammates, but also from his opponents. It's so deep, it's so strong nobody can break it (or) will even try to break it."

Pachulia’s comments come as the Warriors prepare for the 2025-26 season, which opens Oct. 21 in Los Angeles against the Lakers. He emphasized that clear communication about roles and expectations, along with an experienced mix of talent, underpinned the team’s sustained success and that those structural elements were as important as on-court skill.

Pachulia’s post-playing career touches coaching, consulting and technology investment, and he said he welcomed opportunities to help younger players and to promote tools that enhance player development. His assessment of the Warriors’ run places the franchise alongside historical dynasties in terms of assembly and impact, while he also acknowledged the difficulty of replicating such sustained cohesion in an era of increased player movement.

The Warriors organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Pachulia’s remarks.