Philadelphia Warriors Founding

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The Warriors were founded in Philadelphia in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors, a charter member of the Basketball Association of America. They were owned by Peter A. Tyrrell, who also owned the Philadelphia Ramblers of the American Hockey League. Tyrrell hired Eddie Gottlieb, a longtime basketball promoter in the Philadelphia area, as coach and general manager. Gottlieb had previously founded and coached several independent and barnstorming teams in the region, but the NBA Warriors franchise was established in 1946 as a completely new entity, not a direct descendant of those earlier teams. The team's name was chosen by Gottlieb, inspired by the 'Warriors' nickname of an earlier Philadelphia team he had been involved with, but the NBA franchise itself has no direct lineage from those pre-1946 clubs. There is no verifiable record of former NBA player Carmelo Anthony calling for the team to change its name due to Native American iconography; the team's management has stated that the name 'Warriors' is intended as a general term of respect and honor, not specifically tied to any one group.

In Their Own Story

The atmosphere during the Wilt Chamberlain era was unlike anything seen before. In his rookie season alone, he averaged 37.6 points and 27.0 rebounds per game, earning Rookie of the Year, All-Star Game MVP, and regular season MVP honors. The team's dominance shifted the style of play forever, with Chamberlain grabbing 55 rebounds in a single game during his second year. Despite this individual brilliance, the team faced challenges after trading him to the Philadelphia 76ers following the 1964–65 season, which resulted in only 17 wins. The roster had previously included Nate Thurmond, drafted in 1963, who helped the Warriors win the 1963–64 Western Division title before losing the championship series to the Boston Celtics in four games. Rick Barry joined as a rookie in 1965, averaging 25.7 points and 10.6 rebounds, leading the team back to the finals in 1967 with an average of 35.6 points per game.

Reader's Guide

Led by early scoring sensation Joe Fulks, the Warriors won the championship in the league's inaugural 1946–47 season by defeating the Chicago Stags, four games to one. (The BAA merged with the National Basketball League to become the National Basketball Association in 1949.) Among the individual Warriors highlights of the 1940s, Fulks set an NBA single-game scoring record of 63 points in 1949 that stood for more than 10 years. Gottlieb bought the team in 1951. The Warriors won their 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 future Hall of Famers Paul Arizin, Tom Gola and Neil Johnston. Arizin and Johnston won five of the six NBA scoring titles between the 1951–52 and 1956–57 seasons, while Johnston led the NBA in rebounding during the 1954–55 season and Andy Phillip led the NBA in assists twice during the early 1950s.

Did You Know?

• Joe Fulks set an NBA single-game scoring record of 63 points in 1949 that stood for more than 10 years.
• Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962, in a game played on a neutral court in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
• The Warriors changed their name to the Golden State Warriors for the 1971–72 season, becoming the only NBA team that does not include the name of their state or their city in their name.