NBA · Pacific · San Francisco, California, US · Chase Center
Golden State Warriors
Splash Brothers, seventy-three wins, and a dynasty that fundamentally altered how basketball is played - the Warriors went from decades of irrelevance to becoming the most transformative franchise of the twenty-first century, turning the three-point line into a weapon of mass destruction.
1946–1971
Philadelphia to San Francisco
Early glory and a cross-country move
The Warriors are one of the NBA's founding franchises, established in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors. They won the very first BAA championship in 1947, defeating the Chicago Stags. In the years that followed, the Warriors featured some of basketball's earliest stars, including Joe Fulks and Paul Arizin. But the franchise's Philadelphia years are defined by one towering figure: Wilt Chamberlain.
Chamberlain, drafted in 1959, was the most dominant individual force in basketball history. His statistical feats with the Warriors remain scarcely believable: he scored 100 points in a single game against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962, and averaged 50.4 points per game for the entire 1961-62 season - records that will almost certainly never be broken. Despite Chamberlain's dominance, the Warriors won only one championship during his tenure (1956, before Wilt's arrival; the 1947 title predated his era).
The franchise moved to San Francisco in 1962 and then rebranded as the Golden State Warriors in 1971, reflecting a broader Bay Area identity. Rick Barry, the prolific scorer with the distinctive underhanded free throw, led the Warriors to a stunning 1975 championship sweep of the heavily favored Washington Bullets - one of the biggest upsets in Finals history.
Key Facts
- Founded in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors, won the first BAA title in 1947
- Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game on March 2, 1962
- Moved to San Francisco in 1962, rebranded as Golden State in 1971
- Rick Barry led the 1975 Warriors to a Finals sweep over Washington
1976–2011
Run TMC & The Wilderness Years
Decades of excitement without sustained success
After the 1975 championship, the Warriors entered a long stretch of mostly disappointing basketball. The bright exception was the "Run TMC" era of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin formed one of the most exciting trios in the league. Under coach Don Nelson, the Warriors played a fast, three-point-heavy style that was ahead of its time, but the team lacked the defensive commitment to advance deep in the playoffs.
The franchise's nadir came in the late 1990s and 2000s, when the Warriors became one of the NBA's most irrelevant franchises. The exceptions were brief and thrilling: the 2007 "We Believe" Warriors, an eighth-seeded team that stunned the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round - one of the greatest upsets in NBA playoff history - and Baron Davis's iconic dunk over Andrei Kirilenko.
By the late 2000s, the Warriors were again at the bottom of the league, struggling to attract fans to Oracle Arena. The franchise needed a new owner and a new vision, and it was about to get both.
Key Facts
- Run TMC (Hardaway, Richmond, Mullin) was one of the most exciting trios of the early 1990s
- 2007 'We Believe' Warriors pulled off a historic first-round upset of Dallas
- Franchise largely irrelevant from the mid-1990s through the late 2000s
- Don Nelson's offensive innovations were ahead of their time
2012–Present
The Curry Dynasty
The greatest shooting revolution in basketball history
Everything changed when Joe Lacob and Peter Guber purchased the Warriors in 2010 and hired Steve Kerr as head coach in 2014. The centerpiece of the transformation was Stephen Curry, the undersized guard from Davidson College drafted seventh overall in 2009. Curry had battled ankle injuries early in his career, but when healthy, his shooting range - extending well beyond the three-point line - was unlike anything basketball had ever seen.
In 2014-15, the Warriors won 67 games and the NBA championship, defeating LeBron James's Cavaliers. The following season, they went 73-9, breaking the 1996 Bulls' regular-season wins record, though they infamously blew a 3-1 lead to Cleveland in the Finals. The Warriors responded by signing Kevin Durant in 2016, forming perhaps the most talented team ever assembled, and won championships in 2017 and 2018 with historically dominant playoff runs.
After Durant's departure and injuries to Klay Thompson, the Warriors bottomed out in 2019-20 before Curry led yet another championship run in 2022, defeating the Boston Celtics and earning his first Finals MVP. Curry's four championships, his revolution of the three-point shot, and his joyful style of play have made the Warriors the defining franchise of modern basketball and Curry one of the most transformative athletes in sports history.
Key Facts
- Stephen Curry drafted 7th overall in 2009
- Won four championships in eight years (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022)
- 2015-16 Warriors went 73-9, setting the regular-season wins record
- Kevin Durant joined in 2016, creating one of the most dominant teams ever