For five years the Golden State Warriors dominated the NBA like no team had done before. Behind a flurry of 3-pointers and ball screens, the Dubs shot from a 51-31 record and a first round loss in 2013-14 to 67 wins and an NBA title the following year and never looked back, winning a total of 322 games in that year and the years that followed for an average of an unprecedented 64 wins per year, reaching 5 straight Finals and winning 3 along the way. And then everything fell apart. Even after a comeback win Friday night against the lowly Pelicans, the Warriors sit dead last in the association with a 6-24 record, on pace for a measly 16 wins. Through the first 30 games of the season over the past 5 years, their records have been:

2014-15: 25-5 (finished 67-15)

2015-16: 29-1 (finished 73-9)

2016-17: 26-4 (finished 67-15)

2017-18: 24-6 (finished 58-24)

2018-19: 20-10 (finished 57-25)

All 5 years they have reached at least 20 wins through at least 30 games. Now, they are on pace for just 16 through all 82. What could’ve gone so terribly, horribly, mortifyingly wrong? There is no one moment at which the dynasty collapsed, but rather a series of unfortunate events. We start our journey on Father’s Day, 2016, the day the Warriors lost Game 7 of the Finals to Cleveland, marking a disastrous end to a historic season.

June 19, 2016: Game 7

Golden State infamously becomes the first team to ever blow a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. It is rumored that following the defeat, a tearful Draymond Green called his friend Kevin Durant, whose OKC Thunder blew a 3-1 lead of their own against the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals that year. While both players denied the legitimacy of the rumor, what happened next was very much real…

July 4, 2016: Decision Durant

Durant signed with the Dubs in the most shocking free agent move since the original Decision by James in 2010. Adding a consensus top 3 player to a 73-win team seemed almost unfair, and it turned out to be.

June 12, 2017: Championship No.2

Behind 39 points from Durant, the Warriors reclaimed their throne by defeating the Cavaliers 129-120 despite a 41/13/8 performance from James.

June 8,2018: B2B:

The Warriors go back to back behind 37 points and 7 threes from Steph Curry and a triple double from Durant in a 108-85 win over the Cavs.

May 8, 2019: Durant goes down

During a key win in the WCSF against the Houston Rockets, Durant goes down with a calf injury. Not wanting to aggravate it, Golden State rests him through the rest of the series and a 4-game sweep of the Blazers in the WCF.

June 10, 2019: Beginning of the end

Down 3-1 in the Finals against Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors, Durant forces himself into the game despite being told to rest his calf. Early on in the second quarter with Golden State holding a 39-34 lead, Durant brings the ball up and goes to work against Serge Ibaka. He loses the ball and begins hopping on one leg.

Kevin Durant has torn his right Achilles.

Golden State went on to win the game and cut the series deficit to 3-2 as the series heads back to Oakland, but the damage had been done.

June 13, 2019: Beginning of the end

Not only do the Warriors lose the final game in Oracle Arena and the NBA Finals against Toronto, but they lose star guard Klay Thompson to an ACL tear as well. They head into the offseason faced with the impending free agencies of both Durant and Thompson at hand.

June 30, 2019: KD leaves

Durant announces his decision to sign with the Brooklyn Nets in free agency in a sign-and trade deal for DeAngelo Russell. The acquisitions of Leonard and Paul George to the Clippers and the duo of Anthony Davis and LeBron make it almost certain that Golden State would lose their Western Conference title, but most still expected a high playoff seed from a team similar to the one that won 73 games just 3 years prior.

October 30, 2019: The final piece

During a loss to the Phoenix Suns which drops the Dubs to 1-3 on the season, Aron Baynes falls and lands on the left wrist of Steph Curry, breaking it. Green and Russell suffer less significant injuries later in the year, and the Warriors’ collapse is well on its way.

December 11, 2019: The Peak of Purgatory

Golden State loses at home to the Knicks in overtime, arguably the sorriest franchise of the decade and previously the worst team in the league. The Knicks ascend to 5-20 as the Warriors fall to 5-21, officially the worst record in the association just 3 years after having the best record of all time.

There is hope in the bay, as Golden State has their sights set on a high draft pick to select a player like James Wiseman, and that coupled with the hopeful returns of Steph and Klay gives the Warriors a fearsome lineup yet again. For now though, the rest of the NBA revels in their plight, having been tormented by them for five long years. Golden State will almost certainly be back, but for now, we enjoy one of the greatest falls from grace in the history of the sport, if not the world.