The Golden State Warriors are known as one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history, winning four championships in seven years from 2015 to 2022.
The backbone of that success was Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and longtime head coach Steve Kerr, who many believed was the architect of the team’s incredible offense.
But in the middle of their run, the Warriors needed some advice from the greats of the sports world. Then, tennis great Roger Federer came.
Roger Federer’s Advice To The Golden State Warriors
According to Kerr, Federer gave key advice to the Warriors when the team and Federer were on a getaway in China in 2017.
“I’ll tell you a great story about Roger Federer. We were playing in China with the Warriors in 2017. Roger was in Shanghai for the Masters tournament, so we invited him to come speak to the team,” Kerr said in his appearance in the Empowering Leaders forum.
“Draymond Green asked him, ‘How do you sustain success? How have you managed to win majors 20 years after you first won one?’ Everyone was expecting him to say, ‘I work harder than everybody,’ the will, all the clichés.”
Stacking great days is what Federer answered.
“Roger Federer says, ‘I get up every morning and I make breakfast for my kids. Then I take them to school and drop them off. Then I go practice tennis for about two hours, and I’ve figured out a really good routine where I don’t destroy my body, but I can get all the work in I need,” Kerr said.
“‘Then I go have lunch with my wife. In the evening, we cook dinner together. The kids are all home from school. We ask them about school. There’s so much joy in the house. We put them to bed, and then I put my head on the pillow and go, “Man, that was just a great day.”
“And I’ve been doing that for 20 years. And it was like, yes. That’s it. That’s the formula. That’s what leads to sustained success. He loves tennis. He loves his family. He loves life. It’s not outworking everybody and banging your head against the wall, ‘I’m going to be better than everybody.’ It’s allowing your natural talent to shine through with a work ethic, with a great family life, with perspective, with peace, with mindfulness.”
Kerr finished his story by reflecting on what the Warriors achieved during the team’s highest points, including being in the NBA Finals for five straight seasons.
“It’s perspective. It’s joy. It’s passion. It’s mindfulness. It’s an awareness that we are truly lucky. To get the most out of ourselves, it’s our daily rituals and experiences and love and joy,” Kerr said.
Warriors’ Decade-Long NBA Dynasty
After their breakthrough championship in 2015, the Warriors broke the regular-season record with 73 wins in 2016, though they lost a 3-1 lead to Cleveland in the Finals.
Kevin Durant joined the core, leading to back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018, beating the Cavaliers led by LeBron James.
Injuries piled up in 2019 as the Toronto Raptors won the Finals, and Durant departed in the offseason.
In 2022, Curry, Thompson, Green, and Andrew Wiggins then captured a surprise fourth ring against the Boston Celtics. Here, Curry picked up his first NBA Finals MVP award.
As of 2026, pundits note that the core dynasty has effectively ended, transitioning into a new phase for the franchise.
The Warriors still have Curry and Green on the roster, while Kerr is still calling the shots for the team. The franchise is looking to find the next star that would propel them to another title run.
Steve Kerr Reveals What Roger Federer Told Warriors About Sustained Success