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The Golden State Warriors have arguably been the most popular team all around the world in the last few years. They are known for their deadly shooting, solid defense and bench depth. Their home matches almost always witness complete sell-out crowds at Oracle Arena.
Even when they play on the road, the stadiums are usually filled with people coming from different parts of the city to watch their All-Star players' skills. Playing in a very competitive Western Conference, the Warriors have become a team that opponents do not love playing against.
After adding the star small forward, the 2014 regular season MVP Kevin Durant to the team in 2016 after losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the finals, they went on to win the NBA championship in 2017. While the Golden State Warriors are now a force to reckon with, some great basketball players have donned their jerseys playing for the Warriors.
Here are the top five players in the history of the franchise.
#5 Nate Thurmond
He was part of the league for 14 years and has spent 11 of those years playing for the Warriors. He is the franchise leader in minutes played (30,735) and total rebounds (12,771). He was drafted as the 3rd overall pick in 1963 by the Warriors.
Nate averaged 15 points, 15 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game over his 14-year-long NBA career. He is known for one of the rarest achievements possible in the NBA, a quadruple-double that he has recorded against the Atlanta Hawks in 1974.
He was a seven-time All-Star, part of the All-Defensive First Team twice.and was also part of the All-Defensive Second Team for three consecutive years. He is one of the only four players to record 40 or more rebounds in a game. A career filled with a lot of accolades, he currently holds the record for highest number of rebounds in a quarter with 18. He achieved this feat against the Baltimore Bullets in 1965.
His jersey No. 42 was retired by both Warriors and Cavaliers, for whom he has only played for 2 seasons. He is a Hall of Famer and will always be remembered by the Warriors fans as "Nate the Great".
#4 Chris Mullin
A five-time All-Star, Chris Mullin has played both shooting guard and small forward during his 16-year NBA career from 1985 to 2001. He leads the franchise record for highest number of games played (807). Chris is also the franchise leader in steals (1360).
He averaged 18.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game during his playing career in the NBA. He was also part of the legendary Dream Team in 1992 together with greats such as Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson.
Chris Mullin shot consistently over 50% from the field for the most part of his career. He was part of the All-NBA First Team in 1992 and was also part of the All-NBA Second Team in the year 1989 and 1991. He averaged 5.9 rebounds per game during the 1990 season which is his single-season record, made it to the All-NBA Third Team.
He is a two-time Hall of Fame inductee and his jersey No. 17 was retired by the Golden State Warriors in 2012.
#3 Rick Barry
Also read: 5 Highest scoring games in NBA History
Rick Barry carried the Golden State Warriors to a championship in 1975 when he won the Finals MVP. He was an eight-time All-Star and was also the All-Star game MVP in 1967. He averaged 24.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists per game over his 16-year career.
Ricky has made it to the playoffs in seven of those years. He was selected by the Golden State Warriors as a second overall draft pick in 1965 and went on to win the Rookie of the Year award that year.
Ricky is the franchise leaders in steals per game with 2.3. He was sharp on defense and was the steals champion in 1975. He was part of the All-NBA First Team five times and was part of the All-NBA Second Team once. Ricky Barry carried the load offensively for the Warriors and was also the scoring champion in 1967.
His jersey No. 24 was retired by the Golden State Warriors in 1988. He is also the youngest player to score 57 points in a game at 21 years, 261 days. It was against the New York Knicks in 1965.
#2 Wilt Chamberlain
A 13-time All-Star who is the only player to ever score 100 points in an NBA game is known for his days at Golden State. He was a 4-time regular season MVP and one of those have come with the warriors in 1960. Widely regarded as one of the greatest centers the game has ever seen, Wilt was the Rookie of the Year in 1960.
Standing at 7 feet 1 inch, he dominated at the center position every time he stepped his foot onto a basketball court. He was the 7-time scoring champion, 11-time rebounding champion and was also the assists leader in 1968.
Wilt has won two NBA championships and was named finals MVP once. In his 14-year-long career, he has made it into the postseason 13 times, a stat that speaks for his dominance. Wilt is the Warriors franchise leader in 2-point field goals made, points per game, and rebounds per game. He averaged 30.1 points, 22.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game in the NBA.
The Golden State Warriors retired his jersey No. 13 in 1999 and he will always be one of the greatest players to have ever played for the Warriors.
#1 Stephen Curry
Steph Curry is the face of the Golden State Warriors franchise today and is also the first ever unanimous MVP winner when he captured the award for the second consecutive year in 2016.
Widely called as the greatest shooter of all time by pundits and the fans all over the world, Steph Curry, a 5-time All-Star along with his other All-Star teammates has taken the team's consistency to a whole another level reaching four consecutive finals (2015 to 2018).
The Warriors have become a dominant force with Curry as point guard. He is the franchise leader in 3-point field goals and free throw percentage. He is on course to break all the Warriors records and is already second in the steals category only behind Chris Mullin.
A two-time NBA Champion, both with the Warriors, Stephen Curry has led the Warriors team to the greatest regular season NBA record of all time (73-9). He holds the record for most 3 pointers in the regular season with 402.
He won the scoring title and was also the steals leader in 2016. He also became a part of the prestigious 50-40-90 club in 2016 when he shot 50.4% from the field, 45.4% from the 3-point range and 90.8-% from the free throw line. He was also the 3-point shooting contest champion in 2015.
He is the greatest Warrior to lace up a pair and is a guaranteed Hall of Famer.
Agree with our list? Disagree? Who makes your list of greatest Golden State Warriors players? Let us know in the comments below.
Guess the Lakers players!
