Golden State Warriors All-Time Starting Five
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The Golden State Warriors trail just the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics when it comes to NBA championships, with the first two of the Warriors' seven titles coming when they were the Philadelphia Warriors.
The Warriors won another title in 1975 after they moved to Oakland, California, then took a huge break from relevancy before becoming the NBA's preeminent franchise of the 2010s, making it to the NBA Finals five consecutive seasons from 2015-19 and winning three championships in 2015, 2017 and 2018. They added an unexpected championship in 2022 after not making the playoffs the previous two seasons.
Here's a look at the all-time starting five for the Warriors.
Golden State Warriors: By the Numbers
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Seasons: 77 (1946-present)
Team names: Philadelphia Warriors (1946-62), San Francisco Warriors (1962-71), Golden State Warriors (1971-present)
NBA championships: 7 (1947, 1956, 1975, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022)
Current owner: Joe Lacob
Point Guard: Stephen Curry
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Born: March 14, 1988 (Akron, Ohio)
High school: Charlotte Christian School (Charlotte, North Carolina)
College: Davidson
Height/weight: 6-foot-3, 185 pounds
Career: 14 seasons (2009-present)
Teams: Golden State Warriors
Stats: 882 G, 24.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 6.5 APG, 47.5 FG%
Career highlights: Four-time NBA champion (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022), two-time NBA MVP (2015, 2016), NBA Finals MVP (2022), nine-time NBA All-Star (2014-19, 2021-23), eight-time All-NBA Team (2014-19, 2021, 2022), NBA Three-Point Contest champion (2015), NBA Sportsmanship Award (2011), NBA All-Rookie Team (2010)
Bottom Line: Stephen Curry
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Few NBA players change the way the game is played, but Steph Curry is one of them.
Curry turned the league on its head with his shooting ability almost from the start. Then, he teamed with Klay Thompson to form one of the NBA's greatest backcourts. The "Splash Brothers" won three NBA titles and played in the NBA Finals five consecutive seasons from 2015 to 2019, then shocked the world with another title in 2022, when Curry won his first NBA Finals MVP.
Curry has made more 3-pointers than any player in NBA history and has the NBA record with a 90.6 percent mark from the free-throw line for his career. His 42.8 percent mark from beyond the 3-point arc is also one of the best in NBA history.
Shooting Guard: Klay Thompson
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Born: Feb. 8, 1990 (Los Angeles, California)
High school: Santa Margarita Catholic High School (Rancho Santa Margarita, California)
College: Washington State
Height/weight: 6-foot-6, 215 pounds
Career: 12 seasons (2011-present)
Teams: Golden State Warriors
Stats: 615 G, 19.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2.3 APG, 45.9 FG%
Career highlights: Four-time NBA champion (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022), five-time NBA All-Star (2015-19), two-time All-NBA Team (2015, 2016), NBA All-Defensive Team (2019), NBA Three-Point Contest champion (2016), NBA All-Rookie Team (2012)
Bottom Line: Klay Thompson
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The son of 1978 No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Mychal Thompson, Klay Thompson made his own name in the NBA by pairing with fellow superstar Steph Curry — also the son of a former NBA player — to win three NBA championships on the Golden State Warriors from 2015 to 2019.
Thompson, who owns the NBA record with 37 points in a single quarter, tore his ACL during the 2019 NBA Finals and, just months from starting the 2020-21 season, tore his Achilles tendon during a workout, robbing him of a second straight season in his prime.
Small Forward: Rick Barry
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Born: March 28, 1944 (Elizabeth, New Jersey)
High school: Roselle Park High School (Roselle Park, New Jersey)
College: Miami (Florida)
Height/weight: 6-foot-7, 205 pounds
Career: 10 seasons (1965-67, 1972-80)
Teams: San Francisco/Golden State Warriors (1965-67, 1972-78), Houston Rockets (1978-80)
Stats: 1,020 G, 24.8 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 4.9 APG, 45.6 FG%
Career highlights: NBA champion (1975), NBA Finals MVP (1975), eight-time NBA All-Star (1966, 1967, 1973-78), NBA All-Star Game MVP (1967), six-time All-NBA Team (1966, 1967, 1973-76), NBA Rookie of the Year (1966), NBA 50th Anniversary Team
Bottom Line: Rick Barry
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There was very little Rick Barry couldn't do on a basketball court, and he was the prototype for the point-forward position — a forward who was the primary ballhandler in his team's offense with an ability to pass and dish out assists at a high level.
During his prime, Barry decided to leave the Warriors and the NBA altogether to play five seasons in the ABA. Then, he returned to lead the Warriors to one of the NBA's greatest upsets in history with a sweep of the Washington Bullets in the 1975 NBA Finals.
Power Forward: Draymond Green
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Born: March 4, 1990 (Saginaw, Michigan)
High School: Saginaw High School (Saginaw, Michigan)
College: Michigan State
Height/weight: 6-foot-6, 230 pounds
Career: 11 seasons (2012-present)
Teams: Golden State Warriors
Stats: 758 G, 8.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 6.8 APG, 44.9 FG%
Career highlights: Four-time NBA champion (2015, 2017, 2018), three-time NBA All-Star (2016-18), two-time All-NBA Team (2016, 2017), NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2017), eight-time NBA All-Defensive Team (2015-19, 2021-23)
Bottom Line: Draymond Green
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Draymond Green is a four-time NBA champion, three-time All-Star and five-time NBA All-Defensive Team pick. He was also the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2017 — making it impossible to leave him off any list of the greatest power forwards in NBA history. This gives him a slight edge over Nate Thurmond as the greatest Warriors' power forward of all time.
It's also worth pointing out Green is among the NBA's career leaders in technical fouls and the only person in NBA history to probably cost his team an NBA championship because of a technical. After Green hit LeBron James in the groin in Game Four of the 2016 NBA Finals, he was suspended for Game 5, and the Warriors became the first team to lose a 3-1 series lead in the Finals. Another part of Green's legacy? When he knocked out teammate Jordan Poole with a wicked right cross before the 2022-23 season — all of which was caught on video.
Center: Wilt Chamberlain
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Born: Aug. 21, 1936 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Died: Oct. 12, 1999 (age 63, Bel Air, California)
High school: Overbrook High School (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
College: Kansas
Height/weight: 7-foot-1, 275 pounds
Career: 14 seasons (1959-73)
Teams: Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors (1959-63), Philadelphia 76ers (1965-68), Los Angeles Lakers (1968-73)
Stats: 1,045 G, 30.1 PPG, 22.9 RPG, 4.4 APG, 54.0 FG%
Career highlights: Two-time NBA champion (1967, 1972), NBA Finals MVP (1972), four-time NBA MVP (1960, 1966-68), 13-time NBA All-Star (1960-69, 1971-73), NBA All-Star Game MVP (1960), 10-time All-NBA Team (1960-68, 1972), two-time NBA All-Defensive Team (1972, 1973), NBA Rookie of the Year (1960), NBA 50th Anniversary Team
Bottom Line: Wilt Chamberlain
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Wilt Chamberlain won seven scoring titles and led the league in assists one season, basically as a direct response to fans and media complaining he took too many shots.
Chamberlain could score at will, but there were times in his career when he played with a very pronounced indifference toward the game. With only two NBA titles, his basketball career will always have a certain degree of "what if" hanging over it.
Chamberlain could have been the center on the all-time starting five for the Philadelphia 76ers, but he was at his most dominant on the Philadelphia Warriors when he set the NBA record by scoring 100 points in a game and won his first NBA MVP award in 1960.
Head Coach: Steve Kerr
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Born: Sept. 27, 1965 (Beirut, Lebanon)
Career: 7 seasons (2014-present)
Teams: Golden State Warriors
W-L record: 473-238 (.665 winning percentage)
NBA championships: 4 (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022)
Bottom Line: Steve Kerr
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The first decade of Steve Kerr's head coaching career has been nothing short of historic.
Kerr became the first rookie head coach since the Los Angeles Lakers' Pat Riley in 1982 to win the NBA championship when he led the Golden State Warriors to the title in 2015. In fact, Kerr led the Warriors to the NBA Finals in each of his first five seasons, adding two more titles in 2017 and 2018, then surprising the sports world with another championship in 2022. Kerr also won five NBA championships in his 15-year playing career, including four straight from 1996 to 1999 — three with the Chicago Bulls and one with the San Antonio Spurs.
Kerr's 2015-16 team set the NBA record for most wins in a regular season by going 73-9 before losing to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.
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