Golden State Warriors is a professional basketball team that plays in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team competes in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Warriors play in Chase Center in San Francisco, California.
The team began play in the NBA in the 1946-1947 season as the Philadelphia Warriors. The team won the NBA championship that season behind high-scoring forward Joe Fulks. The Warriors won the NBA title again in 1955-1956. Stars of that team included center Neil Johnston, forward Paul Arizin, and guard Tom Gola. The team moved to San Francisco for the 1962-1963 season as the San Francisco Warriors. They made the NBA finals in 1963-1964 and 1966-1967. The star of the first team was center Wilt Chamberlain. The stars of the second team were forward Rick Barry and center Nate Thurmond.
In 1971-1972, the team moved to Oakland, California, and became the Golden State Warriors. The team won the NBA championship in 1974-1975 behind Rick Barry and forward Jamaal Wilkes. After the mid-1970’s, the Warriors went into a decline, seldom making the playoffs through the early 2000’s. During the 1980’s and early 1990’s, the team featured three of the best scorers in league history—guards Tim Hardaway and Mitch Richmond and forward Chris Mullin. Mullin averaged more than 25 points a game for five consecutive seasons from 1988 to 1993.
The Warriors did not make the playoffs from 1994-1995 until 2006-2007, when the team qualified as the 8th and lowest seed in the Western Conference. Golden State defeated the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs in one of the biggest upsets in NBA history. Golden State lost to the Utah Jazz in the second round. The Warriors were led by forward Jason Richardson and guard Baron Davis.
Golden State won the 2014-2015 NBA championship under coach Steve Kerr. Star guard Stephen Curry was named the league’s Most Valuable Player for the regular season. Guard Klay Thompson and forward Draymond Green also starred for the team. During the 2015-2016 season, the Warriors set an NBA record by winning their first 24 games. Golden State won 73 games during the 2015-2016 season, breaking the NBA team record of 72 victories set by the Chicago Bulls in 1995-1996. Golden State reached the playoff finals at the end of the 2015-2016 season but lost the NBA championship to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors acquired forward Kevin Durant—a former most valuable player and scoring champion—during the summer of 2016. The Warriors defeated Cleveland in the playoff finals to win both the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 NBA championships. The Warriors returned to the finals following the 2018-2019 season, but they were defeated by the Toronto Raptors.
The Warriors, who had played in Oakland since 1971, moved back to San Francisco shortly before the start of the 2019-2020 season. The team—featuring Curry, Green, Thompson, and forward Andrew Wiggins—won the 2021-2022 NBA championship. They defeated the Boston Celtics, four games to two.
