By Adam Hart
Introduction
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Warriors won their first NBA championship in 1947 as the Philadelphia Warriors. They have won six NBA championships: 1947, 1956, 1975, 2015, 2017, and 2018. The Warriors was founded as the Philadelphia Warriors in 1946, a charter member of the Basketball Association of America (BAA).
Peter A. Tyrrell owned the team. Tyrell hired Eddie Gottlieb, a longtime basketball promoter in the Philadelphia area, as the newly formed team’s coach and general manager.
Essential facts about the Golden State Warriors.
1. The team was founded in 1946 and is one of the founders of the NBA, along with the New York Knicks and a few others.
2. The team is owned by Joe Lacob (majority owner) and Peter Guber, who took control of the team in 2010 for a reported $450 million from Chris Cohan. Before Joe took control of the Warriors, he was a minority owner of the Boston Celtics.
3. As of 2021, the Warriors are now the 2nd most valuable team (after the Knicks) in the NBA, worth an estimated $4.7 billion, surpassing the Los Angeles Lakers.
4. The team plays its home games at Chase Center in the beautiful city of San Francisco after moving from the Oracle Arena in Oakland. The team played its final game at Oracle on April 7, 2019, defeating the Clippers 131–104.
5. At an estimated $1.4 billion U.S. cost, the Chase Center is currently the newest and the most expensive arena in the NBA.
6. The Warriors won their first NBA (BAA) championship when they defeated the Chicago Stags 4–1 in the best-of-seven series in 1947.
7. Joe Fulks of the Warriors was the first-ever recipient of the league’s scoring title in 1946 as a rookie.
8. The Warriors won their second NBA championship when they defeated the Fort Wayne Pistons 4–1 in the best-of-seven series in 1956.
9. The longest-serving Warrior head coach is Don Nelson, who served from 1988 to 1995 and from 2006 to 2010. The team’s current coach is Michael Jordan’s former teammate, Steve Kerr, from 2014 to today.
10. Steve Kerr is the Warriors’ most successful head coach, leading them to 3 NBA Championships and breaking Michael Jordan and the Bulls’ 72 wins (1996) in a season with 73 (2016).
11. Although he is known mainly for his time with the Los Angeles Lakers, Wilt Chamberlain played for the Warriors from 1959 to 1965. Despite only playing about five seasons for the team, he is widely regarded as the greatest player in the history of the Warriors (averaging 40 points per game, putting up video game-like numbers, and leading the team in win shares).
12. Speaking of leading – the Warriors’ current icon is Steph Curry, the son of Dell Curry. Steph is the greatest shooter in the history of the NBA and is second behind Wilt Chamberlain on the Warriors’ Mount Rushmore. Steph revolutionized long-distance shooting.
13. Among many of Steph Curry’s Awards, he has won the NBA Most Valuable Player two times.
14. The team colors are royal blue, yellow and white.
15. The team has changed its logo ten times.