Famous FC Barcelona Tactic Influenced Warriors, Says Steph Curry
The Golden State Warriors have established themselves as a modern dynasty under the leadership of Stephen Curry. They won NBA championships in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022, becoming nearly unbeatable when playing at their peak.
Steve Kerr's Coaching Inspired by FC Barcelona
Much of the Warriors' success began with the arrival of head coach Steve Kerr in 2014. Kerr introduced subtle changes to their offensive approach, inspired by Pep Guardiola’s FC Barcelona football team. This style focuses on quick ball movement and fluid positioning.
"He was like, 'I just wanna make a couple of tweaks to the way that we're creating shots,'" Curry said in the Mind the Game podcast with LeBron James and Steve Nash.
During training camp, Kerr showed the team a clip of Barcelona's tiki-taka style. He explained that this philosophy would guide how they create shots, keeping things simple while forcing the defense to make multiple decisions on each possession, ultimately helping the team find the best shot.
"So, once we got in training camp, he showed a clip of Barcelona tiki-taka, and he was talking about that as a philosophy of how we're gonna create shots, how we're gonna keep things simple, make the defense have to make a million decisions in a possession, so that you can find the right shot," Curry added.
Adapting to this system took time, especially getting comfortable with not calling specific plays and allowing the ball to dictate player movement and positioning.
"It took a minute to be comfortable with not calling a play and just letting the ball kind of dictate where you're supposed to be."
Summary
Steph Curry highlights how Steve Kerr’s adaptation of FC Barcelona’s tiki-taka philosophy shaped the Warriors’ offensive identity, emphasizing fluid ball movement and creating effective shot opportunities.