Less than three years removed from their last NBA title, the Warriors were no longer considered among the class of the West as title contenders. One simple trend suggests that they should be.
One month into the season, Golden State sits atop the Western Conference standings, but this trend is not directly related to on-court dominance — at least not on the front end. Instead, the Warriors can look to the history of a rapper from Southern California for encouragement.
Since the Warriors' dynastic run began a decade ago, their championships have coincided with album releases from Compton, Calif.'s Kendrick Lamar. After K.Dot's massive summer in 2024, many in the know suggested he would ride the momentum into the new year with an album in 2025. Lamar did them one better with the surprise release of "GNX" on Nov. 22, 2024.
Here's what the surprise release could mean for Stephen Curry and the Warriors.
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Warriors-Kendrick Lamar trend, explained
Following the Warriors' impressive title run in 2022, many quickly noticed that the franchise added another championship in a year that Lamar released an album.
After falling into a 2-1 series deficit, Golden State won three consecutive games to win its fourth NBA title in eight seasons. The Warriors ended things in Game 6 on the TD Garden floor on June 16, 2022, one month after the release of "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers," Lamar's fifth solo studio album.
It was Golden State's first title since 2018, the same year that Lamar curated and performed on the soundtrack to the "Black Panther" feature film. From there, the trend was identified.
| Year | Lamar | Warriors |
| 2015 | Releases "To Pimp a Butterfly" | Win NBA Finals, 4-2 |
| 2017 | Releases "DAMN." | Win NBA Finals, 4-1 |
| 2018 | Releases "Black Panther: The Album" | Win NBA Finals, 4-0 |
| 2022 | Releases "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" | Win NBA Finals, 4-2 |
| 2024 | Releases "GNX" | TBD |
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While surely coincidental, the correlation does suggest that there is some merit to the trend. It's important to note that the Warriors were not winners during the release of Lamar's first two studio albums: "Section.80" (2011) and his major-label debut, "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" (2012).
Some holes have been poked into the theory, including Lamar's 2016 release of "Untitled: Unmastered," though that is technically a compilation album of tracks recorded around the time Lamar worked on "To Pimp a Butterfly." One could argue that the outcome of the 2016 NBA Finals — Cleveland's historic comeback over Golden State — was an extension of the 2015 series and an alternate ending, so to speak.
"Black Panther: The Album" is not one of Lamar's solo releases but he did curate the album and perform on several tracks. Perhaps that is a parallel to Kevin Durant joining the Warriors' dynasty for three seasons before moving on in 2019.
As for Lamar's latest album, the surprise release comes during the 2024-25 season but before the calendar flips to a new year. The theory will be put to the test as each of Golden State's titles came during the same calendar year as Lamar's releases.
Considering "To Pimp a Butterfly," "DAMN," "Black Panther: The Album" and "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" were all released ahead of the NBA Finals, Warriors fans should hope the release year is simply a formality with respect to the trend.
