Revealed: How Lionel Messi & Barcelona inspired NBA dynasty enjoyed by Steph Curry & the Golden State Warriors

Steve Kerr has spent 12 years in charge of the Warriors. Having savoured five NBA Finals wins as a player - working alongside Michael Jordan at the Chicago Bulls - he has captured a further four crowns as a head coach.

The first of those was in 2015, a year after his arrival in San Francisco. He inherited a star-studded group of players, but needed a new system in order to turn potential into something more tangible.

Kerr looked to another ball sport for inspiration, with Guardiola considered to be the perfect role model for other bosses to follow. He enjoyed domestic and continental success when having Messi and Co at his disposal.

The Warriors sought to implement a similar tactical blueprint under the guidance of Kerr, with Curry and Thompson among those who were asked to play with added intensity - allowing the ball to be turned over quicker and moved into attacking areas where points become easier to come by.

They were shown videos of legendary Barcelona teams following Kerr’s appointment, with Thompson telling Mundo Deportivo of how Messi and superstars of soccer helped to bring the best out of an ambitious outfit in the United States.

The 36-year-old shooting guard, who is now with the Dallas Mavericks, said when asked if he remembers any specific video tutorial: “No, but obviously Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi, when they were there, and Neymar, had a super team for a long time, and Steve used them as an example of how we wanted to play in terms of moving the ball, quick touches, and how contagious that is for teamwork and ultimately leads to the goal of winning. Barcelona did that at the highest level, so congratulations to Steve Kerr for setting a great example.”

All-time great Curry, who helped the Warriors to four NBA Finals wins between 2015 and 2022, has previously told ‘Mind the Game’ podcast of Kerr looking to Messi and Barcelona for guidance on how to dominate opponents: "He was like, ‘I just wanna make a couple of tweaks to the way that we're creating shots’.

“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 going to create shots, how we're going to keep things simple, make the defense have to make a million decisions in a possession, so that you can find the right shot.

“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.”

That approach paid immediate dividends, as the Warriors quickly became the team to beat on NBA courts. Barcelona enjoyed Messi’s presence through to 2021, before he left for Paris Saint-Germain, and are still hoping to welcome him back to Catalunya at some point - either in an exhibition match or as a director once record-shattering boots have been hung up by the evergreen 38-year-old, who is still chasing down trophies with MLS Cup winners Inter Miami.