Golden State Warriors

Golden State Warriors
Conference	Western Conference
Division	Pacific Division
Founded	1946
History	Philadelphia Warriors 1946-1962 San Francisco Warriors 1962-1971 Golden State Warriors 1971-present
Arena	Oracle Arena
City	Oakland, California
Team colors	Midnight blue, Golden Gate orange, California yellow, White
Owner	Chris Cohan
General manager	Chris Mullin
Head coach	Don Nelson
D-League affiliate	Bakersfield Jam
Championships	BAA: 1 (1947) NBA: 2 (1956, 1975)
Conference titles	6 (1947, 1948, 1956, 1964, 1967, 1975)
Division titles	7 (1948, 1951, 1956, 1964, 1967, 1975, 1976)
Official website	None

The Golden State Warriors are a professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. The team is part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). They play their home games at Oracle Arena in Oakland.

Franchise history

Philadelphia Warriors

Philadelphia Warriors logo 1946-1962

The Warriors were founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors, a charter member of the Basketball Association of America. They were owned by Peter Tyrrell, who also owned the Philadelphia Rockets of the American Hockey League.^[1] Tyrell hired Eddie Gottlieb, a longtime basketball promoter in the Philadelphia area, as coach and general manager.^[2] He named the team after an early professional team in the city.

Led by early scoring sensation Joe Fulks, they won the championship in the league's inaugural 1946-47 season by defeating the Chicago Stags, four games to one. (The BAA became the National Basketball Association in 1949.) Gottlieb bought the team in 1951.

The Warriors won their only other championship as a Philadelphia team in the 1955-56 season, defeating the Fort Wayne Pistons four games to one. The stars of this era in the team's history were Paul Arizin and Neil Johnston. In 1959, the team signed draft pick Wilt Chamberlain. Known as "Wilt the Stilt," Chamberlain quickly began shattering NBA scoring records and changed the style of play forever. On March 2, 1962, in a Warrior "home" game played on a neutral court in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Chamberlain scored 100 points against the Knickerbockers, a single-game record that the NBA reckons among its finest moments.^[3]

San Francisco Warriors

In 1962, Franklin Mieuli purchased the majority shares of the team and relocated the franchise to the San Francisco Bay Area, renaming them the San Francisco Warriors, playing most of their home games at the Cow Palace (located on the border between San Francisco and Daly City), though occasionally playing home games in nearby cities such as Oakland and San Jose. The Warriors won the 1963-64 Western Division crown, losing the NBA championship series to the Boston Celtics, four games to one.

In the 1964-65 season, the Warriors traded the legendary Wilt Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers, as they only won 17 games that season. In 1965, the Warriors drafted Rick Barry in the first round. Barry was named NBA Rookie of the Year in his first season, then led the Warriors to the NBA finals in the 1966-67 season, where the team lost (four games to two) to the team that replaced the Warriors in Philadelphia, the 76ers. Angered by management's failure to pay him certain incentive awards he felt he was due, Barry sat out the 1967-68 season, joining the Oakland Oaks of the rival American Basketball Association the following year. After several seasons in the ABA, Barry rejoined the Warriors in 1972.

With the opening of the Oakland Coliseum Arena in 1966, the Warriors began scheduling increasing numbers of home games at that venue. The 1970-71 season would be the team's last as the San Francisco Warriors. They changed their name to the Golden State Warriors for the 1971-72 season, playing almost all home games in Oakland. Six "home" games were played in San Diego during that season but more significantly, none were played in San Francisco or Daly City.

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors won their only championship on the West Coast in 1974-75. In what many consider the biggest upset in the history of the NBA, the Warriors defeated the heavily favored Washington Bullets in a four-game sweep. That team was coached by former Warrior Al Attles, and led on the court by Rick Barry, Jamaal Wilkes and Phil Smith. So little was felt of the team's chances in the playoffs, even by their home fans, that the Coliseum Arena scheduled other events during the dates of the NBA playoffs. As a result, the Warriors did not play their championship series playoff games in Oakland; rather, they played at the Cow Palace in Daly City.

After changing their name from the San Francisco Warriors, the Warriors became (and remain) the only NBA team that does not include the name of their state or their city in their name.

Late 1980s-1994

After a subpar stretch in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the team had another successful string of wins in the late 1980s to early 1990s with the high scoring trio of point guard Tim Hardaway, guard Mitch Richmond, and forward Chris Mullin (collectively known as "Run T-M-C" after the rap group Run-D.M.C.). However, with then coach Don Nelson wishing to get frontcourt players to complement his run-and-gun system, made a trade that broke up the Run T-M-C core by sending Richmond to the Sacramento Kings for Billy Owens while bypassing Dikembe Mutombo, who was selected next by the Denver Nuggets. Nelson was brought to the team by Jim Fitzgerald, who owned the team between 1986 and 1995. The following year, 1993-94, with first-round draft pick and Rookie of the Year Chris Webber playing alongside Latrell Sprewell, the Warriors made the playoffs.

1995-1999

Warriors logo 1997-Present

The season after that, however, saw a rift form between Webber, Sprewell and Nelson. All three soon left the team, and the organization went into a tailspin. Sprewell was suspended 1997-98 season for choking head coach P. J. Carlesimo during a team practice in December 1997. He would not play until he was dealt in January 1999 to the New York Knicks for John Starks, Chris Mills and Terry Cummings. 1994-95 was also the first season under current team owner Chris Cohan. Former GM Garry St. Jean and Dave Twardzik receive much of the blame for the Warriors' struggles since then. St. Jean brought in several players, such as Terry Cummings, John Starks, and Mookie Blaylock, who were well past their primes. Twardzik drafted several flops, such as Todd Fuller (while Kobe Bryant was still available) and Steve Logan (who never played an NBA game). St. Jean did, however, draft the future 2-time NBA slam dunk champion Jason Richardson (from Michigan State), who would become a key player on the team until the end of the 2006-2007 season. When the Warriors fought over an extended contract to continue play in Oakland, the Warriors played 20 "home games" each in the San Jose Arena in San Jose, California for the 1997-98 and 1998-99 NBA seasons.^{[citation needed]}

2000-2003

For a few years, with rising stars Jason Richardson, Antawn Jamison and guard Gilbert Arenas leading the team, the Warriors seemed like a team on the rise. In the end the young Warriors just did not have enough in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. After the 2002-03 season, Garry St. Jean's earlier mistakes of committing money to players like Danny Fortson, Adonal Foyle and Erick Dampier were painfully felt by Warriors fans when the team was unable to re-sign up-and-coming star Gilbert Arenas, despite Arenas's desire to stay in the Bay Area.

2004-2005

After spending two years in the Warriors front office as a special assistant, Chris Mullin succeeded Garry St. Jean and assumed the title of Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations. Among his first moves were the hiring of three former teammates to help run the organization: Mitch Richmond (special assistant), Mario Elie (assistant coach) and Rod Higgins (General Manager). Mullin hoped to build the team around Jason Richardson, Mike Dunleavy, Jr., and Troy Murphy—complementing them with experience in Derek Fisher, a free agent signed by Golden State after playing a key role on three championship Lakers squads, Calbert Cheaney, a playoff-tested sharpshooter and Adonal Foyle, an excellent shot-blocker who is perhaps better known for his off-court work as founder of the campaign finance reform organization, Democracy Matters. The team also drafted 7-foot center Andris Biedriņš from Latvia (11th overall). At the 2005 trading deadline, Mullin further added to the team by acquiring guard Baron Davis, bringing the team its first "superstar" since Mullin himself.

2005-2007

Warriors fans hoped that 2005-06 would finally be the season that the team ended their playoff drought. Despite the poor play of newly re-signed Mike Dunleavy, Jr. and the broken hand of first round draft pick Ike Diogu, the Warriors enjoyed a great start to the 2005-06 season. They entered the new year with a winning percentage over .500 for the first time since 1994, but lost their first five games of 2006 and managed to win only 13 more games through the end of March. Davis failed to remain healthy and played in just 54 games. He suffered a sprained right ankle in mid-February and did not return for long before being listed as an inactive player the remainder of the season. The injury-prone Davis has not played a full season since the 2001-02 campaign. Though Davis is widely considered a star player, he often found himself at odds with coach Mike Montgomery. On April 5, 2006, the Warriors were officially eliminated from playoff contention with a 114-109 overtime loss to the Hornets, extending their playoff drought to 12 seasons.

During the offseason, the Warriors rebuilt themselves. First in the 2006 NBA Draft, the Warriors selected center Patrick O'Bryant with the 9th overall selection. They also traded Derek Fisher to the Utah Jazz for guards Devin Brown, Andre Owens and Keith McLeod, and signed training-camp invitees Matt Barnes, Anthony Roberson and Dajuan Wagner. Brown, Owens, Wagner, Roberson, Chris Taft and Will Bynum were all waived while Barnes established himself in the rotation. Golden State also announced that it had bought out the remaining two years of head coach Mike Montgomery's contract and hired previous Golden State and former Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson to take over in his place.

Entering the 2006-2007 season, the Warriors held the active record (12) for the most consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance (see Active NBA non-playoff appearance streaks). The 2006-07 season brought new hope to the Warriors and the Warriors faithful. Fans hoped that the Warriors will eventually find themselves among the NBA's elite with Don Nelson leading a healthy Baron Davis, an ever-improving Jason Richardson, and future stars Monta Ellis and Andris Biedriņš.

On January 17, 2007, Golden State traded Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Jr., Ike Diogu, and Keith McLeod to the Indiana Pacers for forward Al Harrington, forward/guard Stephen Jackson, guard Šarūnas Jasikevičius, and forward Josh Powell.^[4] Many Warriors fans praised GM Chris Mullin for the trade for getting rid of considerable financial burdens in Dunleavy and Murphy. The Warriors now sought to "run and gun" their way to the playoffs with a more athletic and talented team. On January 24, the Warriors won their first game with their revamped roster, with encouraging play from Monta Ellis, Al Harrington, and Baron Davis against the New Jersey Nets, ending dramatically on a buzzer beater from Ellis.

March 4, 2007 marked the turning point in the Warriors season. They suffered a 107-106 loss in Washington handing them their 6th straight loss when Gilbert Arenas hit a technical free throw with less than one second remaining. The loss dropped them to 26-35, a hole inspiring the squad to a point of total determination. On April 18, 2007, the Warriors clinched their first playoff bid since 1994 with a resounding 120-98 victory in their season finale at Portland. The Warriors closed out the regular season (42-40) with a 16-5 ending run.^[5] During the run, they beat Eastern top seed Detroit Pistons 111-93, snapping their 6-game losing streak and notching their first win on the tail end of a back-to-back. The Warriors also ended the Dallas Mavericks' 17-game win streak with five players recording double digits. "We Believe" became the Warriors' slogan for the last couple months of the season and the playoffs.^[6]

2006-07 Playoffs

On April 22, 2007, the Warriors played their first playoff game in 13 years, and beat the Dallas Mavericks 97-85, holding MVP Dirk Nowitzki to just 4-of-16 shooting, making it 6 straight against the NBA best 67 game winners. But the Warriors were crushed by the Mavericks in Game 2 when both Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson were ejected from the game. Then the Warriors bounced back by winning both Games 3 and 4 at home, putting Dallas on the brink of elimination. A close Game 5 saw the Mavericks eke out a 118-112 victory to send the 3-2 series back to California. The Warriors led by 9 with 2:41 left in the game, but Dallas scored 15 straight points. On May 3, 2007, the Warriors, with the help of their explosive third quarter, eliminated the Mavericks and became the first #8 seed to beat a #1 seed in a seven-game series. This was the Warriors' first playoff series win in 16 years. The Warriors went on to play the Utah Jazz in the second round of the 2006-2007 playoffs.

Facing the Utah Jazz in the Conference Semifinals, The Warriors dropped two close games at EnergySolutions Arena to open the series. The Warriors had the chance to win both games late. In Game 1, Stephen Jackson missed a wide open 3 pointer that would have put the Warriors ahead with 6 seconds left. In Game 2, the Warriors led by 3 with 15 seconds left, but missed free throws allowed the Jazz to tie the game and eventually win in overtime. The series then shifted to the Oracle Arena, where the Warriors won Game 3 in a convincing blowout. The Warriors went on to lose Game 4 at home, in what was their first loss in Oakland in well over a month. The Jazz closed out the Warriors in Game 5 in Salt Lake City. In the end, the physical play of the Jazz simply wore down the smaller Warriors.

2007-2008

After reestablishing itself as a playoff contender in the past season, the team set high expectations for itself. A much challenging year was foreseeable because the "We Believe" generation of Warriors have already gotten attention of the whole league. Shooting guard Jason Richardson was also traded to the Charlotte Bobcats for rookie Brandan Wright. To make things harder, Stephen Jackson received a 7-game suspension for his firearm incident. The absence of Jackson hurt the Warriors, as the team opened the season with six straight losses. Things immediately turned around with Jackson's return. The Warriors quickly fought back into playoff position. Monta Ellis' rise, Baron Davis' amazing injury-free outstanding season (21.6 points, 8 assists, 4.6 rebounds per game),^[7] and an overall improvement in chemistry, led to the good play of the team after the Jackson's return.

Broadcasts

TV

Bob Fitzgerald does play-by-play and Jim Barnett does color commentary on FSN Bay Area. Together, they do over 70 Warriors games a year on FSN.^[8] They also host "Roundtable Live", a half-hour pre-game show leading up to the broadcast of select Warriors home games. Bob is in his 11th season broadcasting Warriors games while Jim is in his 23rd season.

Radio

Tim Roye, who is in his 13th season doing Warrior games, does the play-by-play by himself without a color commentator. Exceptions are when the game is on national television, in which case, Jim Barnett (not doing TV) does color commentary. The games are broadcasted on KNBR-AM. Games at night, 7:30 Pacific Time, are broadcast on 680, while early starts on the East Coast are broadcast on 1050 to avoid interrupting The Razor and Mr. T. After each game, Tim Roye, Bob Fitzgerald, and Jim Barnett discuss the just-finished game and then they preview the upcoming games. Damon Bruce does the pre-game and post-game shows live from Oracle Arena. Major sponsors of the Warriors radio broadcast are Bud Light, Lucky's, and Corona Light.

Season-by-season records

Main article: Golden State Warriors seasons

Home arenas

• Philadelphia Arena (1946–1962)
• Philadelphia Convention Hall (1952–1962)
• Cow Palace (1962–1964, 1966–1971 and two games in 1975 NBA Finals)
• San Francisco Civic Auditorium (1964–1967)
• USF War Memorial Gymnasium (1964–1966)
• San Jose Arena (now the HP Pavilion) (1996–1997)
• Oakland Coliseum Arena/Oakland Arena/Oracle Arena (1966–1967, 1971–1996 and 1997–present)

Head coaches

Players of note

Basketball Hall of Famers

• 11 Paul Arizin
• 24 Rick Barry
• 13 Wilt Chamberlain
• 10 Joe Fulks
• 14 Tom Gola
• 6 Neil Johnston
• 16 Jerry Lucas
• 00 Robert Parish
• 17 Andy Phillip
• 42 Nate Thurmond
• Eddie Gottlieb (team founder-owner)

Arizin, Fulks, Gola, Johnston and Phillip played all or most of their tenure with the Warriors in Philadelphia. Chamberlain's tenure was about evenly divided between Philadelphia and San Francisco. Lucas and Parrish were elected mainly for their performances with other teams. Thurmond and Barry are the only Hall-of-Famers who spent significant time with the team since the 1971 move to Oakland and the name change to "Golden State."

Retired numbers

^[9]

• 13 Wilt Chamberlain, C, 1959-65 (including 1959-62 in Philadelphia)
• 14 Tom Meschery, F, 1961-71 (including 1961-62 in Philadelphia)
• 16 Al Attles, G, 1960-71 (including 1960-62 in Philadelphia); Head Coach, 1970-83; also team executive
• 24 Rick Barry, F, 1965-67 & 1972-78
• 42 Nate Thurmond, C, 1963-74

Meschery, Attles, Barry and Thurmond are also members of the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.

Current roster

Golden State Warriors roster v • d • e
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From 2.5 G/F 7 Nigeria Azubuike, Kelenna 77 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Kentucky 3.5 F 22 USA Barnes, Matt (C) 79 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) UCLA 2.0 SG 18 Italy Belinelli, Marco 77 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Italy 5.0 C 15 Latvia Biedriņš, Andris 83 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Latvia 3.5 F 44 USA Croshere, Austin 82 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Providence 1.0 PG 5 USA Davis, Baron (C) 75 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg) UCLA 1.5 G 8 USA Ellis, Monta 75 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 177 lb (80 kg) Lanier HS (MS) 4.5 F/C 3 USA Harrington, Al 81 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) St. Patrick HS (NJ) 3.0 SF 1 USA Jackson, Stephen (C) 80 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 218 lb (99 kg) Oak Hill Academy (VA)* 5.0 C 26 USA O'Bryant, Patrick 84 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Bradley 5.0 C 19 Serbia Perović, Kosta 86 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Serbia 2.5 G/F 2 France Piétrus, Mickaël 78 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) France 1.0 PG 23 USA Watson, C.J. 74 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 176 lb (80 kg) Tennessee 4.5 F/C 4 USA Webber, Chris  82 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Michigan 3.5 F 32 USA Wright, Brandan 82 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) North Carolina	Head coach Don Nelson (Iowa) Assistant coach(es) Larry Riley (Chadron State) Keith Smart (Indiana) Stephen Silas (Brown) Russell Turner (Hampden-Sydney) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Draft pick (FA) Free agent Injured Roster • Transactions • updated 2008-01-29

Current depth chart

^[10]

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Chris Webber	Andris Biedriņš	Patrick O'Bryant	Kosta Perović
PF	Al Harrington	Matt Barnes	Austin Croshere	Brandan Wright
SF	Stephen Jackson	Mickaël Piétrus
SG	Monta Ellis	Kelenna Azubuike		Marco Belinelli
PG	Baron Davis	C.J. Watson

Not to be forgotten

For the complete list of Warriors players, see: Golden State Warriors all-time roster.

High points

Franchise leaders

• Games - Chris Mullin (807)
• Minutes Played - Nate Thurmond (30,729)
• Field Goals Made - Wilt Chamberlain (7,216)
• Field Goals Attempted - Rick Barry (14,392)
• 3-Point Field Goals Made - Jason Richardson (700)
• 3-Point Field Goal Attempts - Jason Richardson (2001)
• Free Throws Made - Paul Arizin (5,010)
• Free Throw Attempts - Paul Arizin (6,189)
• Offensive Rebounds - Larry Smith (2,709)
• Defensive Rebounds - Larry Smith (3,731)
• Total Rebounds - Nate Thurmond (12,771)
• Assists - Guy Rodgers (4,855)
• Steals - Chris Mullin (1,360)
• Blocked Shots - Adonal Foyle (1,090)
• Turnovers - Chris Mullin (2,110)
• Personal Fouls - Paul Arizin (2,764)
• Points - Wilt Chamberlain (17,783)

Individual awards

References

External links

Official

• Golden State Warriors Official Website – Player profile, statistics, biography, and wallpapers.

Blogs

• Golden State of Mind- Warriors Community + news, hype, rumors, humor, science, history, and fashion
• The W Column - Golden State Warriors analysis on FSN Bay Area

Message Boards

• WarriorsWorld Forum – Bulletin board to discuss the Golden State Warriors.

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