The Golden State Warriors are off to the best start in franchise history, but it's been a very long time since the Bay Area had a basketball team this good. Can the 2014-15 Warriors be the best Golden State squad of all time? Let's count down the 5 best Warriors teams since the franchise moved to the Bay Area and take a look at the competition...
5. 2013-14 (51-31, lost Western Conference First Round 4-3 to the Los Angeles Clippers)
They didn't find the same playoff success as the 2012-13 squad, but it's hard to see Mark Jackson's 2013-14 Warriors failing to beat the Clippers without a healthy Andrew Bogut, who missed a series decided by only the slimmest of margins.
With an exciting offense led by emerging superstar Stephen Curry and the best defense the team had fielded in years, this Warriors squad wasn't perfect - you just need to look at the current team to see how much better it could have been - but it still holds a special spot in Warriors history.
4. 2006-07 (42-40, lost Western Conference Semifinals 4-1 to the Utah Jazz)
They didn't have the best record, they didn't go furthest in the playoffs, and few of the players had more than one or two good seasons with the team. So how are they the 4th-best Warriors team in franchise history?
For about two weeks in late Spring, the 'We Believe' Warriors played like nothing fans had ever seen before. A miraculous late run helped them sneak into the playoffs with the 8th seed in the West, and when they took on the 67-15 Dallas Mavericks in the first round, few gave them a prayer of winning. Then, Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson, Jason Richardson and Don Nelson's gang of scrappy misfits pulled off one of the most shocking upsets in league history.
The We Believe squad ultimately fell apart after the team failed to retain Davis - a free agent after the season - but for a few beautiful weeks, this squad was on a completely different level.
3. 1991-92 (55-27, lost Western Conference First Round 3-1 to the Seattle SuperSonics)
It's a shame that the best Warriors team of the first Don Nelson era couldn't make it out of the first round, but that just goes to show how brutal the Western Conference playoffs were that year. Don Nelson's best record with the Warriors came this season, and many fans don't realize the best Run-TMC team was actually missing the M - Mitch Richmond was traded to the Kings before the season started, and the team improved on offense despite his absence.
One of the highest-scoring teams in league history, the '91-92 Warriors averaged 118.7 points per contest. Despite finishing 2nd in the Pacific Division, these Warriors couldn't find an answer for two young SuperSonics named Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp.
2. 1975-76 (59-23, lost Western Conference Finals 4-3 to the Phoenix Suns)
Golden State's best record since moving to the Bay Area came one year after the team's lone finals win (more on that later). With a three-headed monster of Rick Barry, Jamaal Wilkes and Phil Smith all averaging over 17 points per game, this was the most balanced team of the Al Attles era and arguably the best regular-season team in franchise history.
The team lost the Western Conference finals to the Phoenix Suns (led by a young Paul Westphal) in seven games despite a huge effort from Rick Barry (27.6 ppg). The Warriors entered the fourth quarter of game 7 down by just two, but Alvin Adams, Paul Westphal and Gar Heard all came up big in the final period to send the defending champs home.
1. 1974-75 (48-34, NBA Champions)
The greatest Warriors team of all time? That isn't a tough call when the franchise has exactly one championship banner hanging from the rafters.
The '74-75 Warriors were led by a 30-year-old Rick Barry, who averaged 30.6 points, 6.2 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 2.9 steals per game. In the playoffs, he was helped by a 21-year-old Jamaal Wilkes (15.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and a surprising contribution from combo guard Charles Johnson. Coach Al Attles played a fast-paced, high-scoring style that wouldn't be too alien to fans of the 2014-15 team, and the Warriors led the NBA in scoring that year with 108.5 points per game.
These Warriors faced 2-1 and 3-2 series deficits in the conference finals against the Chicago Bulls, but dug deep to win two elimination games in a row and seal a finals berth against the heavily-favored Washington Bullets. There, the Warriors edged four close games to shock the league and sweep Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes and the Bullets, who had gone 60-22 in that year's regular season.
So, where could the 2014-15 Warriors end up? It's a little too early to make that call, but from what we've seen so far...the sky is the limit.
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