10 greatest Warriors in franchise history, ranked
03/28/2025 11:55 AM
The Golden State Warriors are one of the original franchises in the NBA since the league was founded in 1946. With their success over the past decade, the Warriors have also become one of the most popular NBA teams across the world — and a lot of that has to do with the emergence of an all-time great in Stephen Curry.
Golden State has amassed a rich history since its inception in Philadelphia before the franchise moved to The Bay Area in 1961. Here is a look at the 10 greatest Warriors players in franchise history, ranked.
10. Neil Johnston
For even some of the die-hard NBA fans, Neil Johnston isn’t really a name they hear when talking about the history of the game. But his lack of recognition shouldn’t take away from the fact that he was one of the most dominant players of his era.
Johnston played for the Philadelphia Warriors from 1951 to 1959. He may have only played nine seasons as his career was cut short due to a knee injury. Nonetheless, Johnston made the most of his short, yet impactful NBA career.
He achieved a ton of accomplishments, which include winning NBA MVP in 1956 and leading the Warriors to the NBA Championship that same year. He also won three straight scoring titles from 1952 to 1954 and made six All-Star appearances.
Though injuries derailed his career and ultimately led to his retirement from the NBA in 1959, Neil Johnston was still one of the best Warriors players in franchise history.
9. Kevin Durant
Plenty of Warriors fans will agree to put Durant on this exclusive list of greatest Warriors players ever despite spending just three years with the franchise from 2016 to 2019. In those three seasons, Durant won two NBA Championships and two NBA Finals MVPs.
KD essentially ensured two NBA Championships for the Warriors, helping lead the team to back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019. Despite his short tenure, Durant still finished as No. 2 in terms of points per game in Warriors franchise history.
The league was at a dark place for majority of NBA fans when Kevin Durant decided to join Stephen Curry and the 73-win Warriors in the summer of 2016. Those KD-Dubs were a cheat code and essentially ran the entire league. But it’s hard to deny the Warriors were such a fun team to watch and were one of the greatest teams of all time.
Durant’s exit with the Warriors in the summer of 2019 may not have been ideal, but both sides are still grateful of the time they spent together. Add the fact that KD attempted to make a comeback during Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals when the Warriors were down to the Toronto Raptors three games to one despite not being fully healed from a calf injury.
His premature return unfortunately led to a torn Achilles, which took away a season from his career. I’m pretty sure Dubs fans will forever appreciate Durant for this moment.
8. Nate Thurmond
Another history lesson for the Gen Z’s and Millennials out there: Nate Thurmond was one of the most dominant big men during his time and deserves a spot on the best Warriors players ever. He spent the majority of his NBA career with the Golden State Warriors, where he played from 1963 to 1974.
Drafted third overall by the Warriors in 1963, Thurmond initially played a supporting role behind Wilt Chamberlain (who, again, may or may not be on this list). After Chamberlain was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, Thurmond assumed the starting role and became a force for them in the middle.
With the Warriors, Thurmond became a 7-time All-Star and a 5-time All-Defensive Team member. The 6-foot-11 center was most known for being a menace on the boards, having averaged 15.0 rebounds per game throughout his 14-year NBA career.
During the 1967-68 season, he became just the fourth player to average at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in a season. Thurmond also owns the record for most rebounds in a quarter with 18.
Apart from his rebounding prowess, Thurmond was also a force defensively, still holding the No. 1 spot in Defensive Win Shares in Warriors history. In fact, all-time great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar called him the “toughest defender he ever faced.” That’s incredible praise from the No. 2 all-time scorer in NBA history.
7. Klay Thompson
One of the pillars of the Golden State dynasty in this century, Klay Thompson deserves to be on the list of top 10 greatest Warriors players ever. The Warriors star is already one of the best three-point shooters in NBA history — would be the best if a guy named Stephen Curry did not exist.
Though, Curry would agree his former fellow Warriors Splash Brother has the prettiest jumper ever. Nonetheless, the four-time NBA champ is already second all-time in three-point shots made in franchise history and is currently fifth on the all-time list.
As a Warrior, Thompson won four NBA titles, and had five All-Star appearances and two All-NBA nods. Note that all these accolades, save for one championship, came before he suffered two of the more devastating injuries in sports (a torn ACL and a torn Achilles) in back-to-back years. That added title puts him ahead of KD for the purposes of this article.
6. Draymond Green
It was a tough consideration where Draymond Green or Klay Thompson go on this list of best Warriors players of all time. But ultimately, we decided to go with Green over Thompson because of Green’s often overlooked, yet immense impact on the Warriors’ success over the past decade.
Simply looking at his raw stats would make one wonder why the four-time champ is even on this list. But Green’s value for Golden State goes way beyond the stat sheet. His impact in anchoring the Warriors’ defense throughout their dynastic run cannot be understated. Green is currently second behind Nate Thurmond in Defensive Win Shares in franchise history.
Aside from four NBA titles, Green has amassed a solid set of accolades with the Dubs, including four All-Star appearances, two All-NBA nods, eight All-Defensive team selections, and the 2016-17 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.
5. Chris Mullin
Golden State had this iconic trio with Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway, and Mitch Richmond dubbed as “Run TMC” that ran an exciting brand of Warriors basketball through the early 1990s. The three were incredibly popular across the entire league, and Mullin was the head of that iconic trio.
For the large part of half a decade, Mullin was one of the best players in the league. From 1988 to 1994, the lefty forward averaged at least 25 points per game. He made the All-Star team five straight times through that run and earned four All-NBA nods, including a First Team selection in 1992.
Selected seventh overall by the Warriors in 1985, Mullin finished as the Warriors’ all-time leader in games played at the time of his retirement. He is also the fifth leading scorer and has the second-most steals in franchise history.
4. Paul Arizin
More history lesson for NBA young bloods out there, Paul Arizin was one of the earliest stars in the NBA. He played his entire NBA career with the Philadelphia Warriors (before they moved to California).
Arizin was most known for his scoring, having won to scoring titles in 1952 and 1956. The 6-foot-4 forward formed the best one-two punch in the league at the time with Neil Johnston.
Unfortunately, Arizin, who also missed two seasons from 1952 to 1954 due to military service at the Korean War, retired from the NBA at the young age of 34. The Philly-native chose to retire instead of moving to San Francisco when the Warriors chose to relocate to The Bay Area.
Nonetheless, Arizin still had a storied career with the franchise despite playing just 10 years. The Hall of Famer led the Warriors to the 1956 NBA Championship.
He earned 10 All-Star appearances, made All-NBA four times, and won the 1950-51 Rookie of the Year trophy. He is also Golden State’s franchise leader in free throws made. With those accolades, it is hard to argue his standing on this list.
3. Rick Barry
Before the Warriors won their flurry of titles throughout the past decade, Rick Barry was the guy who led Golden State to its last championship in 1975. He won NBA Finals MVP on the heels of 29.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 3.5 steals during their 4-0 sweep of the Washington Bullets en route to the title.
Barry was most known for his unorthodox free-throw shooting, which was an underhanded shot that no one else in NBA history has been able to replicate. Despite the funky form, the Hall of Famer was still highly efficient from the foul line and finished his career as a 89.3 percent free-throw shooter.
As a Warrior, Barry made six straight NBA All-Star appearances, as well as three First-Team All-NBA nods. The Hall of Famer still averages the most steals per game in Warriors franchise history. He is also third in Warriors history in total points and points per game.
2. Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain was most popular for his time with the Los Angeles Lakers and to an extent, the Philadelphia 76ers. But Chamberlain actually spent his longest tenure for a team with the Warriors, which was located in Philadelphia until they moved to San Francisco during the 1961-62 season.
Chamberlain never won a championship with the Warriors and only led them to one NBA Finals appearance. Like every other team in the NBA, he and his squad often fell to the mighty Boston Celtics during the 1960s. Nonetheless, despite the lack of team success, Chamberlain had his best statistical years with the Warriors.
In six seasons with the franchise, Chamberlain averaged an insane 41.5 points and 25.1 rebounds per game. It was also with the Warriors where Wilt accomplished perhaps his greatest feat: scoring 100 points in a game.
Chamberlain still holds the No. 1 spot in points per game, and it’s not even close. KD at second averaged 25.8 points through his three-year Warriors run.
1. Stephen Curry
Are we shocked? No player in Warriors history has elevated the franchise to the heights it has reached than Wardell Stephen Curry. He single-handedly raised the Warriors to become the most valued franchise in the NBA.
Since Joe Lacob and Peter Guber purchased the team for $450 million, Golden State is now worth $7 billion. None of that is possible without Steph Curry. That’s why he deserves to top the list of the greatest Warriors players of all time.
Before the Davidson standout came, the Warriors were essentially the laughingstock of the NBA. Golden State made just one playoff appearance between 1994 to 2012. Since his arrival, Golden State has won four NBA titles, including three in four years from 2015 to 2018.
Undoubtedly, Curry is the most accomplished player to grace The Bay Area. The accolades speak for themselves: four NBA Championships, two NBA MVPs (including the only Unanimous MVP in NBA history), a Finals MVP, 11 All-Star appearances, 10 All-NBA selections, two scoring titles, an All-Star Game MVP, and a whole lot more.
Perhaps Curry’s greatest accomplishment, however, is leading the Warriors back to the mountaintop in 2022.
After everything the franchise went through, from finishing with the worst record in the 2019-20 season, to losing Klay Thompson for two straight years due to a pair of devastating injuries, to a heartbreaking loss in the play-in tournament in 2021, Curry carried the Warriors to another championship in 2022, their fourth title in eight years.
Curry finally earned that elusive Finals MVP trophy and won his fourth NBA title in the same season he broke the NBA’s all-time three-point record.
The scary part about it? Stephen Curry isn’t done just yet.
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