Golden State Warriors

Atlantic

Championships

League: ABL, BAA, NBA
Conference: NBA East 1949-1963, West 1964-current
Division:

Arenas

Front Office

Owner:
General Manager:
Head Coach: Don Nelson

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History[]

The Warriors actually date back to before World War I, and the Philadelphia Sphas ( South Philadelphia Hebrew Association ). The all-Jewish squad, which included franchise father figure Eddie Gottlieb, was one of the great independent teams in basketball history. The team changed it's name to the Warriors to enter the American Basketball League in 1924, where it remained in one form or another for the next two decades. The team was entered into the Basketball Association of America in 1946. The BAA was a circuit of hockey arena managers looking for another products to put in their buildings. The Warriors had the league's top star in 6'5 scoring machine Joe Fulks. Gottlieb saw the value of the big star and made money with his frugal bottom-line. He also was the league's schedule maker and, in the minds of many, the real leader of the league. The BAA began taking on franchises from the National Basketball League in 1948 and changed it's name to the NBA in 1950. The Warriors added local star Paul Arizin from Villanova and Ohio State's Neil Johnston to Fulks in the early 1950s. But military service slowed the team's success. Fulks soon retired with Johnston and Arizin the best scoring tandem in the NBA. In 1956, Tom Gola, another local star, joined. A 6'6 three-position player, Gola joined the 6'5 Arizin and the 6'9 Johnston to lead Philly's 1956 NBA championship team. Military service again prevented future success and the team could not repeat. With Johnston retiring, Gottlieb worked out a deal with Abe Saperstein's Globetrotters to land star Wilt Chamberlain. The super seven foot athlete began to smash nearly every NBA individual record at the urging of Gottlieb and put the team, and the league, into the financial black. With a feud going against Saperstein's ABL in the early 1960s, Gottlieb finally sold the Warriors and they were moved to San Francisco in 1963. The team again reached the NBA Finals while there but did not have Boston's depth of talent. In 1965, the team made a move to go with center Nate Thurmond and rookie star Rick Barry, jettisoning Chamberlain back to his native Philadelphia. The team again reached the NBA Finals as one of the league's top four clubs in 1967. But Barry, a big scoring star, feuded with management and money and bolted the team for the new American Basketball Association. Coaches Alex Hannum and Bill Sharman both also came and went. Barry's leaving damaged the team successes much as the military service of the 1950s had. In the early 1970s, Barry was persuaded to return, with long-time Warrior Al Attles now the coach. Slowly, a defense-oriented team in support of Barry was built. The fact they had upset powerful Milwaukee with Thurmond, one of the all-time defensive greats, at center in 1973 did not stop Attles from trading him for more help. In the 1974-75 season, those moves were validated when Barry led the Warriors to a surprising NBA title. Posting one of the great individual seasons ever, Barry led a winner past a much-higher rated but lazy Washington team in four straight games. The championship cemented Barry's status as one of the NBA's all-time great players. The team strongly contended to repeat but were done in by another similar underdog, the Phoenix Suns, in 1976. The team then faded from there, with Barry leaving for Houston. Attles did have some promising young stars like Robert Parish, but blundered in trading Parish and his top draft pick to Boston for the rights to Joe Barry Carroll. Their draft pick turned out to be Kevin McHale as well. The 1980s and 1990s did include stars like Sarunas Marchalonas, Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway and Latrell Sprewell among others, but the once-powerful franchise declined to also-ran during much of those two decades. Only in this decade have the Warriors begun to resemble again their great teams of the past.