Golden State Warriors are an American 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.

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. Tyrell hired Eddie Gottlieb, a longtime basketball promoter in the Philadelphia area, as coach and general manager. 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.

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.

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 (although "Golden State" is a well-known California nickname).

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.

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. 1994-95 was the first season under current team owner Chris Cohan. While the Oakland Coliseum underwent a complete renovation, the 1996-97 Golden State Warriors played their home games in the San Jose Arena in San Jose, California, struggling to a 30–52 finish. 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. Former GM Garry St. Jean and Dave Twardzik received much of the blame for the Warriors' struggles following the start of Chris Cohan's tenure, including Cohan himself. 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 2006–07 season.

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.

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 Biedriš 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.

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 had not played a full season since the 2001–02 campaign until the 07–08 season in which he played all 82 games averaging 21.8 points a game (incidentally a contract year). 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 2006–07 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 Biedriš.

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 Šarnas Jasikeviius, and forward Josh Powell. 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. 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.

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 2006–07 playoffs.

Facing the Utah Jazz in the Conference Semifinals, The Warriors dropped two close games at Energy Solutions 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.

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 had 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' solid injury-free season (21.6 points, 8 assists, 4.6 rebounds per game), and an overall improvement in chemistry, led to the good play of the team after the Jackson's return. It was the first time the Warriors had three players average 20 points per game since the T-M-C era (Davis at 21.7, Ellis at 20.7, Jackson at 20.1).

On January 29, 2008, the Warriors signed Chris Webber for the rest of the season. But the Warriors offense was too fast for Webber and he ended up playing only nine games, averaging 3.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 14 minutes per game before been waived on March 25, 2008. Webber announced that he is officially retired from basketball due to persistent problems with his surgically repaired knee. On April 14th, 2008, the Warriors were officially eliminated from the 2008 Western Conference Playoffs, after losing to the Phoenix Suns 122–116 in Phoenix, despite having 48-34 season. The Warriors sold out nearly every home game during the season averaging 19,631 per game, the highest in team history.

On June 30, 2008, Baron Davis opted out of his contract with Golden State. To replace Davis, Golden State offered Gilbert Arenas a lucrative contract, but Arenas re-signed with the Washington Wizards. With the 14th pick of the 2008 NBA draft, the Warriors selected and signed Anthony Randolph. Golden State then inked Corey Maggette to a deal.

On July 19, 2008, the Warriors signed Ronny Turiaf from the Los Angeles Lakers. Also, on July 22, 2008, the Warriors acquired Marcus Williams from the New Jersey Nets for a future first-round draft pick. On July 24, 2008, the Warriors resigned Monta Ellis to a new 6-year contract, matched the Clippers' offer for Kelenna Azubuike, and signed second round draft pick Richard Hendrix. On July 26, 2008, the Warriors also resigned Andris Biedrins with a six-year contract worth nearly $63 million.

On July 31, 2008 Don Nelson won his bid over The Dallas Mavericks GM, Mark Cuban. Mark Cuban has to pay the Golden State Warriors head coach an extra 6.3 Million from when he was the Head Coach for the Mavs in 2005.

Getting Inside

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2008-09 Golden State Warriors:

Starting at point guard: Monta Ellis. Re-signed to a six-year, $67 million contract in July, Ellis will be moved into Baron Davis’ old position. He can’t be expected to provide the leadership or ball-distribution of the Team MVP the past two seasons, but the former second-round pick will find the ball in his hands late in close games. How he handles that pressure will go a long way toward determining not only how the Warriors do next season but also how long before Don Nelson is tempted to move Marcus Williams, acquired this summer from the Nets, into the point-guard spot.

Starting at shooting guard: Corey Maggette. If you’re looking for the main reason the Warriors didn’t make the playoffs last season (other than the fact they play in the Western Conference), it was the Jason Richardson trade. The club dealt the present (Richardson’s 20-plus scoring average) for the future (lottery pick Brandan Wright, who saw little playing time last season). Thanks to money freed up when Davis opted out of his contract, the Warriors have now corrected that mistake by signing a Richardson-type player in Maggette, whose rebounding from the guard position might be as critical as his scoring on a club that routinely has gotten hammered on the boards in recent seasons.

Starting at small forward: Stephen Jackson. With the Warriors having signed Ronny Turiaf and drafted Wright and Anthony Randolph in the past 15 months, there’s less need to push the undersized Jackson to power forward, as was the case on too many occasions last season. That said, Jackson’s versatility is what makes him so valuable to an outside-the-box coach like Nelson.

Starting at power forward: Anthony Randolph? Clearly, the stiffest competition in training camp will come at this position, where this year’s lottery pick (Randolph) will battle last year’s top choice (Wright) and former Lakers’ backup Turiaf for the starting spot. Then again, swingman Kelenna Azubuike also was re-signed this off-season, giving Nelson to option of moving him into the shooting guard spot and pushing Maggette and Jackson up a notch. After a very impressive summer league stint, Randolph already has vaulted himself into the thick of the picture.

And starting at center: Andris Biedrins. He got slightly less than Ellis (six years, $54 million) to return to the club, but his role is equally as important. The club’s only legitimate alternatives at the center position are Al Harrington and Turiaf, neither of whom would be considered a center on a team not coached by Nelson.

It should be fun, even if the fun ends in the middle of April.

Notes, Quotes

• G Monta Ellis was one of 10 players drafted straight out of high school in 2005, the last year the NBA allowed guys to jump straight from the preps to the pros. He was picked 40th overall. Last season, his scoring average (15.7) was almost double the second-highest among the 10, the 8.2-point contribution of Martell Webster to the Trail Blazers.

• Ellis, who was used mainly at the shooting guard position alongside Davis last season, averaged just 3.4 assists. In Don Nelson’s nine previous seasons as Warriors coach, the starting point guard has never averaged fewer than 5.3 assists per game, with the nine-year average being 9.4.

• C Andris Biedrins’ six-year deal could earn him a total of $62 million if he surpasses certain levels of production.

• Both Ellis and Biedrins have opt-out clauses following the fifth year of their new contracts.

• The Warriors were co-champs of both their summer leagues last month, going 4-1 in Las Vegas and 3-1 in Salt Lake City.

• Former Warriors’ star Baron Davis won’t make his return to Oakland’s Oracle Arena as a Clipper until Jan. 25.

• The Warriors, who open the 2008-09 season at home on Oct. 29 against the Hornets, will play 23 of their first 36 games on the road.

Quote To Note:   “He told me it was time to hand over the torch.”—Warriors point guard Monta Ellis, on a chat he had with last year’s starter, Baron Davis.

Roster Report

Draft Picks: 

Anthony Randolph, F, 6-10, LSU—The slender forward will have to be more perimeter-oriented in the NBA than he was in college. Some see him as another Rashard Lewis; others say Jonathan Bender.

Richard Hendrix, F, 6-9, Alabama—The Southeastern Conference’s leading rebounder becomes the club’s toughest interior force from the first moment he steps onto the court.

Biggest Needs:   In order to build upon the momentum of a 48-win season, the Warriors must forget about the departure of Baron Davis and focus on the addition of four key newcomers—Marcus Williams, Corey Maggette, Anthony Randolph and Ronny Turiaf.

Free Agent Focus:   The Warriors entered the off-season with a remarkable 10 free agents. They chose to retain just Monta Ellis, Andris Biedrins and Kelenna Azubuike. The biggest loss: Mickael Pietrus to the Magic.

Player Notes: 

• F Anthony Randolph, the Warriors’ lottery pick in June (No. 14 overall), was everything Chris Mullin had raved about on draft night during his Golden State debut in summer-league action. The 6-foot-10 forward out of LSU averaged 19.1 points and 7.3 rebounds in eight games. Among his many skills: free-throw shooting. He went 60 of 73 (82.2 percent).

• G Anthony Morrow wasn’t just impressive in summer-league play. He was the best. The 6-foot-5 Georgia Tech product was voted the MVP of the Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City after averaging 21.0 points and 6.5 rebounds while making 11 of his 16 three-point attempts.

• G DeMarcus Nelson was best-known to Californians as the state’s all-time leading scorer during his high school career with 3,462 points. The 6-foot-4 guard, a defensive standout at Duke, probably played his way into someone’s training camp by seeing action in all nine summer-league games for the Warriors, averaging 8.8 points and 2.9 assists.