NBA's Warriors Add Golden State; Drop San Francisco

On July 16, 1971, the National Basketball Association San Francisco Warriors, add Golden State, and take away San Francisco from their name.

The San Diego Evening Tribune reports that the San Francisco Warriors will play half of their home games on the 1972 schedule in Oakland, with the other half to be played in San Diego. With the team moving out of San Francisco, it was also reported that the team would be changing its name to the "Golden State Warriors," so as to identify with both the cities of Oakland and San Diego.

As it turned out, the Warriors only played six games in San Diego that year, and then switched to playing in Oakland full-time. But they kept the "Golden State" name anyway, making them the only team in the NBA to not include their city or state in their name (although California's state motto was "the Golden State.")

The team would also change their logo, which was supposed to compensate for the confusion some fans had when they asked, "Where do the Golden State Warriors play?" The Warriors' new logo featured the outline of California, and had a blue star positioned on the edge of the state where the Bay Area was located.

As unique as it was, the Warriors weren't the only Oakland sports team to go this route.

One year earlier, the Oakland Seals of the NHL changed their name to the "California Golden Seals." Besides dropping the "Oakland" from their title, the Seals had also moved out of San Francisco.

In 1976, the Seals moved east and became the Cleveland Barons, where they lasted for two seasons before folding.

However, the Golden State might drop from the teams name as the team has proposed to build a 17,000-to-19,000-seat waterfront arena on Piers 30 and 32 in San Francisco on a 13-acre site near the Bay Bridge they hope to finish in time for the 2017-18 NBA season, when the team's lease at the Oracle Arena in Oakland expires

Since being named the Golden State Warriors, the Bay Area’s sole basketball franchise has won one NBA Championship coming in the 1974-1975 season, where the team beat the Washington Bullets in a four-game sweep, with home games being played in Oakland and San Francisco.

Since that 1974-1975 season the Warriors have struggled to get back to the NBA Finals obtaining only one Division Title coming in 1976.

Last years playoff appearance for the Warriors was only their third in the last 20 years, and second in the last two years. However, this year they were unable to reach the second round again falling to the higher seeded Los Angeles Clippers

This off-season the Golden State Warriors have made and have tried to make several more moves to bolster their lineup for the upcoming season including trying to trade for Kevin Love who the Warriors General Manager Bob Myers said is the right piece to put the Warriors over the hump and playing for the Western Conference Championship, similar to what he said last year when the club signed Andre Iguodala.

Golden State Warriors Upset The Dallas Mavericks

On May 3, 2007, the Golden State Warriors completed one of the biggest upsets in sports history with a game-six win, taking the Western Conference Quarterfinals from the NBA Leading Dallas Mavericks.

It all started in April though, the Golden State Warriors were done. After a one-point loss in Washington, where the deciding point came from a technical foul by head coach Don Nelson in the final seconds, the Warriors had lost six in a row. They were nine games under .500 and Nelson was already looking ahead to the next season.



The Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Dallas Mavericks in 2007.

But in their next game, the team - fresh off of a trade in which they acquired Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington. They Warriors into Detroit, one of the best teams in the NBA at the time, and destroyed them, leading by 26 at point.

Golden State won 16 of their final 21 games and nine of their last ten to advance to the postseason for the first time in 13 years.

The Warriors met the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, a team Don Nelson had coached only a few years earlier. The Warriors were the only team to beat the Mavericks three times and had won six of the last seven meetings with them.

But with the Warriors as an eight-seed, and the Mavericks as the best team in basketball, no one gave them much of a chance.

Nevertheless, the upset took place. Backed by a raucous home crowd, the Warriors defeated the Mavericks in just six games. Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson, and Matt Barnes had the series of their lives, while the Mavericks appeared rattled by the Warriors’ unorthodox style.

 Baron Davis and the "We Believe" crowd at Oracle after a Game 6 upset of the Dallas Mavericks.

Nelson went small-ball on the Mavs, playing small forward Al Harrington at center, shooting guard Stephen Jackson at power forward, and Monta Ellis at shooting guard.

In the end, their frenetic style was simply too much for the Mavs. On May 3, the Warriors completed the upset by crushing the Mavericks, 111-86 in Game 6. It was the first time in American sports that a team that won 25 games less than its opponent went on to win the playoff series.

In the second round they faced Jerry Sloan's Utah Jazz, who muscled their way to a five-game series win. It was a one-shot wonder for the Warriors, who lost most of their roster only a few years later. As for the Mavs, they remained competitive, but another early exit in 2008 cost head coach Avery Johnson his job.

The Golden State Warriors once again made the playoffs this year, the second time in as many years, and once again faced an uphill battle against the Los Angeles Clippers.

However this year the Warriors playoff series was almost derailed by the shameful remarks that former Clippers owner Donald Sterling made.

Game 7 of the series between the Warriors and Clippers is tonight at the Staples Center in L.A.

Magic Johnson To Coach Los Angeles Lakers

On March 22, 1994, the Los Angeles Lakers announce that Magic Johnson will replace head coach Randy Pfund, who was fired after compiling a 66-80 record in less than two seasons. Johnson, only 34, had retired in 1991 when he learned he was HIV-positive.

Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson (right) talking with James Worthy (left) after he was appointed to the head coaching position during the 1993-1994 season.

Johnson discovered immediately that coaching wasn’t in his heart. Things got off to a solid start, as the Lakers won five of their fist six games under their new coach. But the Lakers closed out the season with 10 consecutive losses, the longest losing streak in franchise history, finishing the season with a 33-49 record – missing the playoffs for the first time since 1976.

Not even a month after taking the job, Johnson announced in the middle of April that he wouldn’t be returning for the 1994-1995 season.

Magic’s brief coaching stint ended with a 5-11 record, however, Johnson became a part owner of the Lakers that summer.

Olajuwon Records Quadruple-Double

On March 3, 1990, Hakeem Olajuwon, then known as Akeem Olajuwon, briefly records a quadruple-double in a 129-121 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

Hakeem Olajuwon (left) with teammate Clyde Drexler (right) in 1990 on the Houston Rockets.

Olajuwon compiled 29 points, 18 rebounds, 11 blocks, nine assists and five steals. However after the game, members of the Rockets’ scoring crew went back and reviewed the tape of the game. They decided that he had not been rightfully given an assist on a first quarter shot by Buck Johnson, so they have him the tenth assist.

With the updated stat Olajuwon had recorded a quadruple-double, which only two others had done before him, Nate Thurmond and Alvin Robertson. It was short lived though as NBA vice president Rod Thorn looked over the game and decided to remove the additional assist.

The decision would have been a bad footnote in Olajuwon’s career, however just 26 days later Olajuwon recorded a quadruple-double against the Milwaukee Bucks, going for 18 points, 16 rebounds, 11 blocks and 10 assists – that quadruple-double was league approved.

Wilt Chamberlain Scores 100

On March 2, 1962, that Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain scored an incredible 100 points in a single NBA game.  Chamberlain accomplished the feat while playing for the Philadelphia Warriors in a 169-147 win over the New York Knicks.

Wilt broke five records in that game: points in a quarter with 31, points in a half with 59, field goals made with 36, field goals attempted with 63 and free throws made with 28.  Only one of the these records has since been broken, as George Gervin and Carmelo Anthony have each scored 33 points in a single quarter.

A few years ago Kobe Bryant came relatively close to the record by dropping 81 points against the Toronto Raptors.

Chamberlain would go on to finish his career with 31,419 points, as he led the NBA in scoring seven times, field goal percentage nine times, minutes played eight times, rebounding eleven times, and assists once.

Despite being such a great scorer, Chamberlain's main weakness was his notoriously poor free throw shooting, where he has the third lowest career free throw percentage in NBA history with 51.1% (based on a minimum of 1,200 attempts). Chamberlain claimed that he intentionally missed free throws so a teammate could get the rebound and score two points instead of one, but later acknowledged that he was a "psycho case" in this matter.

He committed surprisingly few fouls during his NBA career, despite the rugged play in the post. Chamberlain never fouled out of a regular season or playoff game in his 14-year NBA career. His career average was only 2 fouls per game, despite having averaged 45.8 minutes per game over his career. He had 5 seasons where he committed less than 2 fouls per game, with a career low of 1.5 fouls during the 1962 season, in which he also averaged 50.4 points per game. His fouls per 36 minutes (a stat used to compare players that average vastly different minutes) was a remarkable 1.6 per game.

Chamberlain was also responsible for several rule changes, including widening the lane from 12 to 16 feet, as well as changes to rules regarding inbounding the ball and shooting free throws.

Chamberlain is most remembered however for his 100-point game, which is widely considered the greatest basketball record of all-time. He is also only one of two basketball players, the other being Michael Jordan to have averaged at least 30 points per game over their entire career, but Chamberlain is the only player to average over 50 points a game for an entire season.

For his feats, Chamberlain was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, ranked no. 2 in SLAM Magazine's Top 50 NBA Players of All-Time and no. 13 in the ESPN list "Top North American athletes of the century" and voted the second best center of All-Time by ESPN behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on March 6, 2007.

Chamberlain’s record would hold up for over 15 years until another former Los Angeles Laker, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, would break his record. After Abdul-Jabar broke Chamberlain’s record, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have also surpassed his numbers, out ranking Chamberlain to fifth as they are second, third and fourth respectively behind Abdul-Jabar who is still the NBA’s All-Time leading scorer with 38,387 points.

Barry Sets NBA Record

On Dec. 6, 1966, Rick Barry of the then San Francisco Warriors makes an NBA record 14 free throws in one quarter. Barry who used an unconventional style of free throw shooting, the granny shot, is the owner of several NBA records although his free throw percentage record was broken by a later Warrior, Mark Price.

Some of Barry’s records include being the youngest player to score 57 points in a game. He did so at age 21, 261 days. The record still stands today as the most a rookie has ever scored also.

Highest average of steals per game by a forward in a career, with an average of 1.99, 1,104 steals in 554 games.

While holding several playoff records including:

Scoring 30 or more points in all games, any playoff series: In the six game series against the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1967 Finals.

Field goal attempts in a six-game series: 235, in the 1967 Finals against the 76ers.

Field goal attempts in a game: 48, on April 18, 1967 in the Finals against the 76ers.

Field goal attempts in a quarter: 17, on April 14, 1967 in the Finals against the 76ers.

Barry also holds a few All-Star game records as well including, most field goal attempts in a game 27, in the 1967 All-Star game, most steals in a game, 8, 1975. Most personal fouls, six, twice, 1966 and 1978.

Spreewell Chokes Out Carlesimo

On Dec. 1, 1997, a bad season for the Golden State Warriors turned much worse when Latrell Spreewell choked P.J. Carlesimo during a team practice.

Apparently, the coach was critical of Spreewell's passing during the practice. At the time, the Warriors were 1-13 and looking into trading the already disgruntled star.

Sprewell was suspended for 10 games without pay. The next day, in the wake of a public uproar, the Warriors voided the remainder of his contract, which included $23.7 million over three years, and the NBA suspended him for one year. Sprewell took the case to arbitration, and, as a result, the contract voiding was overturned and the league suspension was reduced to the remaining 68 games of the season. He sought to vacate the arbitration contract under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

 His case went through all appeals, and was remanded. During his suspension, Sprewell was charged with reckless driving for his role in a 90-mph accident that injured two people, and spent three months under house arrest as part of a no-contest plea.

It was not Spreewell’s first violent incident with the Warriors; in a 1993 practice, Sprewell fought with Byron Houston, who was 50 pounds heavier than Sprewell and had what many teammates describe as having a Mike Tyson-like demeanor and physique. Then in 1995, Sprewell fought with teammate Jerome Kersey and returned to practice carrying a two-by-four, and reportedly threatened to return with a gun.

After the Warriors suspension of Spreewell he was traded to the New York Knicks who he would help lead to the NBA Finals in 1999, making them the first eighth seeded team to reach the finals. He would spend a few years with the Knicks before being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he would finish his career.

Spreewell would finish his career as one of the NBA’s most prolific scorers totaling 16,712 points, with an average of 18.3 points per game, 3,664 assists, an average of 4.0 assists per game, and 1,294 steals averaging out to be 1.4 steals per game over the span of his career.

Spreewell was a four-time NBA All-Star in 1994-1995, 1997 and 2001. He was also voted to the All-NBA First Team in 1994, as well the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. In his rookie year he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 1993.

The Knicks Open Up The Garden

On Nov. 11, 1946, the New York Knicks play their first game at Madison Square Garden.

Although the Knicks have played at Madison Square Garden since 1946, the location of the Garden has changed, twice before the Knicks began playing basketball in 1879, and 1890 before its location change in 1925 where the 1946 Knicks played.

The 1925 Garden was located on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Manhattan on the site of the city's trolley car barns. It was the first Garden that was not located near Madison Square. 

The Knicks would call this location their arena for home games, although if there was an important college game, they played in the 69th Regiment Armory.

Then in February 1968 the Garden moved to its current location, where it has been renovated three times in 1991, 2011, and 2012. 

The Garden is now the oldest active major sporting facility in the New York metropolitan area and is the oldest arena in the National Hockey League and the second-oldest arena in the National Basketball Association (after the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California). 

 The current configuration at the Garden has been host to several Knicks NBA Finals games including in 1970: when the Knicks won the NBA championship at Madison Square Garden.

The Garden was also host for the Knicks in the NBA finals in 1972, 1973, 1994 and1999: when the San Antonio Spurs won their championship at Madison Square Garden.

Chamberlain Scores 72

On Nov. 3 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scored 72 points for the San Francisco Warriors against the Los Angeles Lakers. This was one of four games in 1962 in which Chamberlain scored at least 72 points. The highlight was the 100 points he scored in March of 1962.

Chamberlain holds numerous NBA all-time records in scoring, rebounding and durability categories. He is the only player to score 100 points in a single NBA game or average more than 40 and 50 points in a season. He also won seven scoring, nine field goal percentage, and eleven rebounding titles, and once even led the league in assists.

Although he suffered a long string of professional losses, Chamberlain had a successful career, winning two NBA championships, earning four regular-season Most Valuable Player awards, the Rookie of the Year award, one NBA Finals MVP award, and being selected to 13 All-Star Games and ten All-NBA First and Second teams.

Chamberlain was subsequently enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, elected into the NBA's 35th Anniversary Team of 1980, and chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History of 1996^.

After his basketball career ended, Chamberlain played volleyball in the short-lived International Volleyball Association, was president of the organization, and is enshrined in the IVA Hall of Fame for his contributions.