- NBA Championships: 6
- Last NBA Championship: 2018
- Claim to Fame: The Warriors set the all-time record for most regular season wins in 2015-16 when they racked up 73 victories.
- Claim to Shame: The Warriors lost the 2016 NBA Finals despite having a 3-1 series lead over the underdog Cavaliers.
Champagne showers and championship parades are nothing new for the Warriors, who won their first title in 1947 in the now defunct BAA. The franchise joined the fledging National Basketball Association three years later and added subsequent championships in 1956 and 1975.
The ensuing years were not so kind to Golden State and its fanbase. The Warriors missed the playoffs from 1978-1986 and again from 1995-2006. Those dark days were marked by 17-win seasons, empty stands, and player revolts. The low point came in 1997 when All-Star guard Latrell Sprewell choked head coach PJ Carlesimo during a practice.
Golden State took the first step towards building another championship contender in 2009 when it selected Davidson junior Steph Curry with the seventh pick in the NBA Draft. The baby-faced guard averaged 17.5 points per game in his rookie season and overcame early injury issues to win back-to-back NBA MVP trophies.
Curry led the Warriors to their fourth title in 2015 and guided Golden State to an NBA best 73-9 regular season record the following season. The Warriors didn’t win the title that year, but they did win the following two thanks to the addition of Kevin Durant. The four-time scoring champ raised his game to a new level against LeBron James and the Cavaliers, earning NBA Finals MVP honors in 2017 and 2018.
Golden State’s extraordinary dynastic run, at least in its recent state, is finally over. Following a loss in the Finals to the Toronto Raptors in which Kevin Durant suffered a torn achilles and Klay Thompson a torn ACL, the team moved in a new direction as Durant opted to team up with his friend Kyrie Irving to try and build a new super team in the “cool” borough of New York City.
Also gone are foundational pieces Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, as well as the one year experiment that was DeMarcus Cousins. In their place is young All-Star guard D’Angelo Russell, and a group of young players who will be looking to prove themselves playing alongside Curry and Draymond Green as the Dubs look to stay competitive in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race.
