GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS FRANCHISE HISTORY
Previous Franchise Names: San Francisco Warriors, Philadelphia Warriors
Co-Executive Chairman: Joe Lacob, Peter Guber
COO: Rick Welts
General Manager: Bob Myers
Head Coach: Steve Kerr
Best Season: 2014-15 (67-15, .817)
Playoff Appearances: 32
NBA Championships: 4 (1946-47, 1955-56, 1974-75, 2014-15)
(Original Caption) Boston: Celtics’ Bill Russell (rear) pins Warriors’ Wilt Chamberlain‘s right arm, and holds him, during wild 4th quarter in which both sides fought. Boston won game, 119-104, Boston Garden, to take a 3-2 game advantage over Warriors in their series.
One of three franchises still in existence from the debut of the Basketball Association of America, the Golden State Warriors have a history marked by brief periods of excellence and some extended spans of futility.
The Warriors, originally in Philadelphia, won the BAA’s first championship, beating the Chicago Stags in the Finals in 1947. Philadelphia, led by the league’s first big scoring star in Joe Fulks, returned to the Finals in 1947-48, but was upset by the Baltimore Bullets for the crown.
After bottoming out at 12-57 in 1952-53, the Warriors returned to the top of the NBA in 1956, beating the Fort Wayne Pistons for the franchise’s second championship.
In 1959, Philadelphia drafted hometown star Wilt Chamberlain, who had spent a season with the Harlem Globetrotters after leaving the University of Kansas, and Chamberlain put up scoring and rebounding totals that have never been matched. In 1961-62, Chamberlain averaged more than 50 points per game, highlighted by the NBA’s only 100-point individual scoring performance on March 8, 1962.
But the club moved to San Francisco in the summer of 1962 and Chamberlain was traded away to Philadelphia’s new team, the 76ers, during the 1964-65 campaign, less than a year after San Francisco lost to the Boston Celtics in the 1964 NBA Finals.
Led by new star Rick Barry, the Warriors were back in the finals in 1967, losing this time to the 76ers … and Chamberlain.
Barry returned from a four-year stint in the ABA in 1972 and in 1974-75, the now-Golden State club pulled off a major upset, sweeping the Washington Bullets (owners of the league’s best record with 60 wins) in the Finals.
Golden State missed the playoffs for 12 consecutive seasons from 1995-2006, but the Dubs’ return to postseason play was marked by the biggest first-round upset of all-time, a six-game triumph over the 67-15 Dallas Mavericks in 2007.
The Warriors returned to the winner’s circle in 2015, capturing the franchise’s fourth championship after a team-record 67-win regular season by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in a six-game NBA Finals.
Al Attles, who coached the team for the last 30 games of the 1969-70 through 61 games in 1979-80 and resumed coaching duties again from 1980-81 through 1982-83, is the franchise’s leading winner with a record of 558-518 and a playoff mark of 31-30.
Golden State Warriors Career Leaders (as of 3/9/2016)
- Games, Chris Mullin, 807
- Points, Wilt Chamberlain, 17783
- Rebounds, Nate Thurmond, 12771
- Assists, Guy Rodgers, 4855
- Steals, Chris Mullin, 1360
- Blocks, Adonal Foyle, 1140
OAKLAND, CA – 1970’s: Nate Thurmond #42 of the Golden State Warriors grabs a rebound against the Los Angeles Lakers during an NBA game at The Arena at Oakland circa 1970’s in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1970 NBAE (Photo by Walter Iooss Jr./NBAE via Getty Images)
Golden State Warriors Retired Numbers
- 13, Wilt Chamberlain
- 14, Tom Meschery
- 16, Al Attles
- 17, Chris Mullin
- 24, Rick Barry
- 42, Nate Thurmond
Golden State Warriors Official Links
Official Team Site: nba.com/warriors
Official Twitter Handle: @warriors
Official Facebook Page: Golden State Warriors
Official Instagram Page: Golden State Warriors
Official Arena Page: Oracle Arena
Golden State Warriors Beat Writers
Rusty Simmons, San Francisco Chronicle, @rusty_sfchron
Diamond Leung, Bay Area News Group, @diamond83
Monte Poole, Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area, @montepoolecsn
Related Golden State Warriors Blogs and Links
Golden State Warriors Logo History, courtesy of Chris Creamer’s Sportslogos.net
Salary Page: Golden State Warriors Salaries at Spotrac
FanSided Golden State Warriors: Blue Man Hoop
SB Nation Golden State Warriors: Golden State of Mind
ESPN TrueHoop Golden State Warriors: Warriors World
HoopsHabit Golden State Warriors Archive: Golden State Warriors
Bleacher Report Golden State Warriors Team Stream: Golden State Warriors
RealGM Golden State Warriors Page: Golden State Warriors
Stats and retired number information courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com
