Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are a professional basketball team based in San Francisco, California, competing in the NBA's Western Conference. Founded in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors, they were one of the league's original teams and won the first championship in 1947. After relocating to the West Coast in the early 1960s, the team rebranded as the Golden State Warriors in 1971 to reflect a statewide identity. The Warriors enjoyed success in the mid-20th century but faced a long period of struggle until a resurgence beginning in the 2012-2013 season. Under the leadership of star player Stephen Curry, the team reached five consecutive NBA Finals from 2015 to 2019, securing three championships and adding a fourth in 2022.
Throughout their history, many notable players have contributed to the franchise's legacy, including basketball legends like Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry, and Chris Mullin. The Warriors' signature playing style, particularly their emphasis on three-point shooting, has made a significant impact on modern basketball. The team's home arena is the Chase Center, which they moved into in 2019 after previously playing in Oakland. The franchise has a rich history intertwined with the evolution of the NBA, marked by both triumphs and challenges that resonate with fans and players alike.
Golden State Warriors
Team information
- Inaugural season: 1946
- Home arena: Chase Center, San Francisco, California
- Owners: Joe Lacob and Peter Guber
- Team colors: Royal blue and yellow
Overview
The Golden State Warriors are a professional basketball team that plays in the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Western Conference. The team is one of three surviving founding members of the NBA and won the league’s first championship in 1947. Back then, the team was based in Philadelphia but eventually moved to the West Coast in the early 1960s. The Warriors have been based in the San Francisco area since heading west but rebranded themselves Golden State in 1971 to appeal to other parts of California. After some early success, the team struggled for several decades before experiencing a resurgence in the mid-2010s and early 2020s. Led by star Stephen Curry, Golden State made five consecutive NBA Finals from 2015 to 2019 and won three titles. They added a fourth championship in 2022. Of the numerous Warriors named to the Basketball Hall of Fame, several were innovators who changed the way basketball is played, and one, Wilt Chamberlain, was arguably the most dominant player to ever take the court.
History
The Warriors franchise was founded in 1946 as part of the newly formed Basketball Association of America (BAA), one of several competing leagues in the United States at the time. The team was based in Philadelphia and named after a Philadelphia team from the 1920s that had been called the Warriors. The Philadelphia Warriors won the first BAA championship in 1947 and made it back to the finals a year later, but lost. In 1949, the BAA merged with the rival National Basketball League (NBL) to form the National Basketball Association (NBA). The NBA continued to recognize BAA statistics and championships as part of its history. The Warriors, along with the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, are one of three teams from the BAA that are still part of the modern NBA.
Although the Warriors finished with a winning record just once in their first six NBA seasons, the team still made the playoffs three times. During the 1955–1956 season, the Warriors posted the league’s best record and won their first NBA title. In 1959, the team changed basketball history when it drafted Philadelphia native Wilt Chamberlain, an imposing center who stood 7-feet 2-inches tall and weighed 275 pounds. Chamberlain made such an impact on the game that the NBA instituted several rule changes to minimize his advantage. In 1962, he scored 100 points in a game, an NBA record that still stands and is likely to never be duplicated.
After the 1961–1962 season, a group of California investors purchased the team and moved it to San Francisco, where it became the San Francisco Warriors. The Warriors made two NBA Finals appearances in the 1960s, but lost both times. The second loss in 1967 was especially tough because it came to the Philadelphia 76ers, the team to which the Warriors had traded Chamberlain two years earlier. In 1971, the team moved across the bay to Oakland and changed its name to the Golden State Warriors. The name was a reference to California’s nickname and an effort to brand the team as representing the entire state.
Golden State began the 1970s as one of the NBA’s elite teams, making the playoffs seven times in eight seasons and winning the 1975 NBA championship. However, starting with the 1977–1978 season, the team began a streak of futility that stretched over most of the next four decades. From 1979 to 1994, the Warriors posted only five winning seasons. They had a brief taste of success in the late 1980s and early 1990s with a fast-paced offense dubbed “Run TMC,” after their top three players: Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin. The Warriors made five playoff appearances during this time but never advanced past the second round. During an 18-season period from 1995 to 2012, the Warriors missed the playoffs seventeen times, the lone exception being 2006–2007 when they finished 42–40. From 1997 to 2013, the Warriors set an NBA record for going the longest time without a player earning a spot on the NBA All-Star team.
The team’s fortunes began to turn around in the 2012–2013 season. Led by sharpshooting guard Stephen Curry, Golden State won 47 games and made the playoffs. After a first-round playoff exit in 2014, the team hired head coach Steve Kerr who had won five NBA titles as a player with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs. The Warriors posted a league-high 67 wins in 2014–2015 and won the NBA title for the first time in thirty years. In 2015–2016, Golden State won 73 games, the most in NBA regular season history but lost the NBA Finals 4–3 to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Upset by the loss, Golden State signed All-Star Kevin Durant in 2016 and proceeded to win the next two NBA championships. The Warriors made their fifth consecutive Finals appearance after the 2018–2019 season, but, hampered by injuries, lost the series to the Toronto Raptors.
The Warriors finished the 2010s and began the next decade as a struggling franchise, mostly due to injuries. They missed the playoffs in both the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons. Also in 2019–20, they finished the season with the worst record in the NBA, with 15 wins and 50 losses. However, the 2021–22 season saw the Warriors regain their health and their status as one of the NBA's most dominant teams. They defeated the Dallas Mavericks to win the Western Conference Finals and subsequently defeated the Celtics in a six-game series to win the NBA Championship.
The Warriors played in Oakland from 1971 to 2018, but in 2019, they moved back across the bay to San Francisco and a new arena—the Chase Center. In the franchise’s early days, the team logos incorporated Native American imagery, but in 1969 it changed the logo to a yellow circle with a blue outline of the Golden Gate Bridge. After several further changes, the Warriors reimagined the bridge design in 2010, featuring a blue circle with a modernized yellow outline of the bay area landmark.
Notable players
Eighteen players who have spent at least some time with the Warriors have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The first was Joe Fulks who led the BAA in scoring during its inaugural season and was one of the key pieces in the Warriors’ championship run. In the 1950s, a trio of future Hall-of-Famers, Paul Arizin, Neil Johnston, and Tom Gola, led the Warriors to the 1956 NBA title. Arizin, a Philadelphia native, was a ten-time All-Star despite missing two seasons because of military services. He is considered to be one of the players to popularize the jump shot in NBA history. Johnston was a three-time scoring champion and six-time All-Star, while Gola made three of his five All-Star appearances with the Warriors.
With his arrival in 1959, Wilt Chamberlain revolutionized basketball and cemented his place in history as perhaps the game’s greatest player. Chamberlain played five-and-a-half seasons with the Warriors and, as of 2020, still holds the franchise record for points scored with 17,783 and average points per game with 41.5. Over his fifteen-year career, Chamberlain won seven scoring titles—five with the Warriors—and was named to thirteen All-Star teams. He holds the all-time NBA mark for most career rebounds and was seventh all-time in points scored with 3,1419. His 1961–1962 scoring average of 50.4 points per game is another NBA record, as is his 1960–1961 mark of 27.2 rebounds per game. In addition, Chamberlain won his first of four NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards with the Warriors in the 1959–1960 season. He won three more with the 76ers.
In 1965, the Warriors drafted Rick Barry, who played eight of his sixteen seasons with the team and led it to the 1967 and 1975 NBA titles. Barry was a twelve-time All-Star and won the NBA scoring title in 1966–1967. He was joined on the 1967 championship squad by seven-time All-Star Nate Thurmond, who holds the franchise mark for career rebounds. One of the bright spots for the Warriors during the 1980s and 1990s was Chris Mullin, who was drafted by the team in 1985. Mullin was a five-time All-Star who still holds team marks for games played and steals as of 2020. From 1988 to 1995, Mullin and the Warriors were coached by Don Nelson, who would go on to set the all-time NBA record for coaching victories with 1,335. Nelson won 443 games with the Warriors in two stints with the team—he returned from 2006 to 2010. The all-time franchise leader in wins is Al Attles, a former player who won 557 games and was coach of the 1975 championship team.
Fulks, Arizin, Johnston, Gola, Chamberlain, Barry, and Mullin all earned Hall of Fame honors while playing a significant portion of their carriers with the Warriors. Other Hall of Famers, such as Jerry Lucas (1969–1971), Jamaal Wilkes (1974–1977), Bernard King (1980–1982), Robert Parish (1976–1980), Ralph Sampson (1987–1989), and Mitch Richmond (1988–1991), had their best seasons with other teams. As of 2020, the Warriors have retired six jersey numbers, including Chamberlain’s 13, Mullin’s 17, and Barry’s 24. Tom Meschery, Al Attles, and Nate Thurmond have also had their numbers retired.
Much of the Warriors’ success in the 2010s can be attributed to Stephen Curry, a ten-time All-Star who won back-to-back league MVP Awards in 2015 and 2016. Known for his accurate long-distance shooting, Curry set the record for three-pointers in a season in 2012–2013 and surpassed his own mark twice more in 2014–2015 and 2015–2016. He and teammate Klay Thompson, a fellow three-point specialist, were known by the nickname the “Splash Brothers.” Thompson five All-Star teams and set an NBA record in 2015 by scoring 37 points in a single quarter. Draymond Green was a standout on the defensive side of the ball, winning the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2017. After ten-time All-Star Kevin Durant joined the Warriors in 2016, the team had one of the most potent lineups in NBA history. Durant helped Golden State win two championships and was named Finals MVP both times but left after the 2018–2019 season to sign a free-agent deal with the New Jersey Nets.
When the Warriors won the NBA championships in 2022, it marked the fourth time Curry, Green, and Thompson had won a championship together.
Bibliography
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