Golden State Warriors Stats

Golden State Warriors

Golden State Warriors Summary

The Warriors are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA, but their greatest years as a team have been recently. Golden State has won the NBA title five times in franchise history, with three of those championships coming in the 2010s.

The team is still considered a title threat, with the three holdovers from the championship seasons, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson, leading the team’s quest to return to the postseason in 2021-22. Coach Steve Kerr is also on hand to steer the Golden State ship, which should be in the playoff waters again very soon.

Golden State Warriors History

The Warriors franchise was founded in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors, winning the inaugural Basketball Association of America championship in its first season. The team became a part of the NBA when the BAA merged with the National Basketball League in 1950. The franchise’s first major success in the NBA was in 1955-56, when it advanced to the NBA Finals and defeated the Fort Wayne Pistons for the league title.

Wilt Chamberlain joined the team for the 1959-60 season and won the league MVP and Rookie of the Year honors, helping the Warriors back to the postseason after a one-season absence. It began a three-year string of postseason appearances, but in 1962, the team relocated to San Francisco.

The Warriors advanced to the NBA Finals in 1964, falling to the Boston Celtics, but Chamberlain wasn’t happy and the team was having financial trouble, so the superstar was dealt to the Philadelphia 76ers during the 1964-95 campaign. The Warriors, led by Rick Barry and Nate Thurmond, advanced to the NBA Finals in 1967, losing to Chamberlain and the 76ers in six games.

The team continued to be a playoff contender but couldn’t get past the conference finals until 1975, when Barry and rookie Jamaal Wilkes led the now-Golden State Warriors to the NBA Finals and a surprising championship series sweep of the favored Washington Bullets, with Barry winning Finals MVP honors.

Lean years came after the championship, with two playoff appearances followed by nine years of finishing outside of the postseason field. A team in 1986-87 ended that string, with Sleepy Floyd leading the team to the conference semifinals before falling to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Don Nelson became the team’s head coach prior to the 1988-89 season, beginning a solid era that saw the team acquire Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin, who became known as Run-TMC. The team was uptempo and exciting, making the playoffs in three of Nelson’s first four seasons, with Nelson winning Coach of the Year honors in 1991-92.

The team traded the rights to No. 3 pick Anfernee Hardaway and three future first-round picks to the Orlando Magic for the rights to No. 1 pick Chris Webber in the 1993 NBA Draft, and Webber was Rookie of the Year after helping the team to the playoffs. But Webber was unhappy with his contract and was dealt away after one season, and the team began a 12-year run of non-playoff seasons in 1994-95.

In the middle of that, the darkest part of the franchise’s history came about, as guard Latrell Sprewell choked head coach P.J. Carlesimo at a team practice in December 1997. Sprewell was suspended for 10 games and the Warriors voided the All-Star’s contract, setting the franchise back.

The 2009 NBA Draft was a monumental day for the franchise, as the Warriors selected Davidson guard Stephen Curry with the No. 7 pick. Curry and 2011 first-round pick Klay Thompson formed one of the best shooting backcourts in the league, and the Warriors drafted forward Draymond Green in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft, helping to form the nucleus of a playoff team in 2012-13.

After a pair of playoff appearances ended quickly, the team brought on Steve Kerr as the head coach, and the effect was immediate. Curry became the league MVP in 2014-15 and the team won a then-franchise-record 67 regular-season games. Golden State advanced to the NBA Finals and won the title, defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games.

The 2015-16 squad was even better in the regular season, setting an NBA record by going 73-9, with Curry again earning league MVP honors. A rematch with the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals looked to be in hand with a 3-1 series lead, but Cleveland rallied to win the series in seven games, ending the Warriors’ hopes of winning back-to-back titles.

The summer of 2016 brought free-agent forward Kevin Durant to the team, and the team continued to roll, advancing to the NBA Finals by sweeping three series to win the Western Conference to face the Cavaliers yet again. This time, it was Durant leading the way for Golden State, earning Finals MVP honors as the Warriors won the title in five games.

The two teams met again in the 2018 NBA Finals, with Durant leading the Warriors to a four-game sweep of the Cavaliers, giving Golden State three titles in four seasons. A fifth straight Finals appearance came in 2019, but with injuries to Durant and Thompson in the championship series, the Warriors lost in six games to the Toronto Raptors.

Durant left in the 2019 offseason as a free agent, and Thompson was sidelined by injuries for the next two seasons. Curry missed much of the 2019-20 campaign with injury as well. He returned and was a finalist for NBA MVP in 2020-21, but the team lost in the Western Conference play-in tournament, failing to make the playoffs for the second straight season.

2021-22 Key Stats

The Warriors are looking to avoid a third straight season outside of the playoffs after making the postseason seven straight times. Stephen Curry enters the season with the top spot in NBA history for three-pointers within reach, while the team is hoping his shooting partner, Klay Thompson, is ready to come back from the torn Achilles that sidelined him for the 2020-21 campaign.

Championships Won by the Golden State Warriors

The Warriors have had lots of success in the NBA, especially in recent seasons, winning five NBA titles and appearing in the NBA Finals nine times. The team also won the inaugural Basketball Association of American championship in 1946-47, defeating the Chicago Stags in the finals.

The team’s first NBA title came in 1955-56, as the team defeated the Fort Wayne Pistons in five games. Nineteen seasons later, the Warriors won again, this time sweeping the heavily-favored Washington Bullets in the 1975 Finals to win the championship.

It took another 30 seasons, but the championship drought ended in the 2015 NBA Finals, with the Warriors defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games to win the title, with Andre Iguodala earning Finals MVP honors.

Two seasons later, the Warriors and Cavaliers squared off again, with Golden State winning in five games to earn another NBA title. Kevin Durant was named the Finals MVP. The two teams squared off the next season as well in the 2018 NBA Finals, with Durant again winning MVP after Golden State swept Cleveland in four games.

The Warriors have won 12 division titles in their history, including an Eastern Division title in the BAA in 1947-48. The team won Eastern Division titles in the NBA while still in Philadelphia in 1950-51 and 1955-56.

After moving to San Francisco, the Warriors were placed in the Western Division, winning the title in 1963-64 and 1966-67. Once the league expanded, Golden State was placed in its current division, the Pacific, and won back-to-back division crowns in 1974-75 and 1975-76.

The team didn’t win a division title again until the 2014-15 campaign, beginning a string of five straight titles.

Important Team Events

The team’s acquisition of Wilt Chamberlain in the 1959 NBA Draft as a territorial pick made the Warriors a perennial playoff team and title contender. Though Chamberlain was never able to bring the team a league title, he averaged 41.5 points and 25.1 rebounds in his six five-plus seasons with the franchise.

The decision to take Stephen Curry with the No. 7 pick of the 2007 NBA Draft proved to be a franchise-changing selection. Playing out of little Davidson, there was some question how well Curry’s game would translate to the NBA, but he was an immediate success as a shooter and scorer, helping the team to three NBA titles and currently on his way to becoming one of the greatest players in league history.

Top Players

His career isn’t over, but it’s hard to argue with Stephen Curry being considered the best player in Golden State Warriors history already. The two-time league MVP is already the leading scorer in franchise history and has led the team to three NBA titles and five NBA Finals appearances in his first 12 NBA seasons. Curry has seven All-Star Game appearances and seven All-NBA selections, including four first-team nods.

Wilt Chamberlain was completely dominant while playing for the Warriors, averaging an astounding 41.5 points and 25.1 rebounds per game during his five-plus seasons with the team. He also set the all-time single-game scoring record in the NBA, going for 100 points in a win over the New York Knicks in March 1962 while with the Warriors. His greatest team successes came elsewhere, but it’s hard to argue with his individual play while with the franchise.

Forward Rick Barry is a bit underrated when it comes to his career, but he was a standout performer for the Warriors over two stints with the franchise. Barry was NBA Rookie of the Year in 1965-66 after averaging a double-double of 25.7 points and 10.6 rebounds. He played one more season with the Warriors before moving to the ABA for five seasons. Barry returned to the Warriors in 1972-73 and helped the team to the 1975 NBA title, winning Finals MVP honors. He averaged 25.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in eight seasons with the Warriors.

Top Coaches

Al Attles has seemingly held every job you can have in the Warriors organization, having played for the team before becoming player/coach and head coach for the team. In his 12-plus seasons coaching the team, he racked up the most regular-season wins in franchise history and led the team to the 1974-75 NBA title. Attles continues to be a part of the organization today, having spent 60 years with the franchise in some capacity.

Steve Kerr is quickly climbing the coaching victories list for the Warriors, and he has been at the helm for three NBA titles and five NBA Finals appearances. Kerr won the NBA Coach of the Year award in 2015-16, coaching the team to an NBA-record 73 regular-season victories and a second straight trip to the NBA Finals.