Golden State Warriors: nba FUTURES & BETTING ODDS

The Philadelphia Warriors were an original member of the BAA, the Basketball Association America, and won the first ever championship in 1947. The league merged with the NBA for the 1949-50 season. The Warriors were knocked out of the playoffs by the Syracuse National in three consecutive seasons. Behind stars Paul Arizin, Neil Johnston, and Tom Gola the Warriors won their first title in the NBA in 1955-56. 

The team signed center Wilt Chamberlain in 1959, and he paid immediate dividends, winning league MVP in his first season, and scoring 100 points in a game in 1962. After that season. The Warriors would move out west to San Francisco. 

The Warriors added star big man Nate Thurmond to aid Wilt  for the 1963-64 season, but they would lose the NBA Finals to the Celtics, the fourth time in seven seasons the Celtics knocked them out of the playoffs. The following season the team traded Chamberlain to the 76ers and proceeded to win just 17 games. 

The team’s next star was Rick Barry who would win 1965-66 Rookie of the Year and lead the Warriors back to the NBA Finals in his second season, where they would lose to Chamberlain and the 76ers. Barry would leave the team the following season in a pay dispute, not returning until 1972. 

In 1971-72, the team became known as the Golden State Warriors, now playing their games primarily in Oakland. After missing the playoffs in 1973-74, the team drafted Jamaal Wilkes, who would be named Rookie of the Year the following season. Behind the returned Rick Barry and Wilkes, the Warriors went 48-34, and defeated the Sonics and Bulls to make the NBA Finals. While few people bet on the Golden State Warriors to defeat the Baltimore Bullets, the team stunned the Bullets by sweeping them as Barry was named Finals MVP. 

The Golden State Warriors odds of repeating seemed strong but the team fell in Game 7 of the conference finals to the Suns, then lost another Game 7 to the Lakers the following season. 

If you had bet on the Golden State Warriors to make the playoffs the following season, 1977-78, or any of the seasons between 1978 and 1986, you would have lost that bet. The Golden State Warriors odds would begin to change in 1985 when they drafted Chris Mullin out of St. John’s, then added Mitch Richmond in 1988 and Tim Hardaway in 1989. The trio would be known as Run-TMC, and would win playoff series in 1989 and 1991. They would eventually trade RIchmond to Sacramento for Billy Owens who would only play three seasons for the Warriors. 

After going 34-48 in 1992-93, the Warriors would acquire first overall pick Chris Webber on draft day, and C-Webb would win Rookie of the Year, leading them to 50 wins and a playoff spot. Some experts bet on the Golden State Warriors to make a playoff run, but they were upset in the first round by the Suns, who swept them.

 This set off the darkest period in team history where the Golden State Warriors odds were better to win the draft lottery than a playoff game from 1995 through 2007, a stretch where the team failed to make the playoffs once. The Warriors would lose more than 60 games four times between 1998 and 2002. The most notable thing to happen to the Warriors during this period may have been when star player Latrell Sprewell choked head coach P.J. Carlesimo in 1998, earning him a season-long suspension. 

Finally, in 2006-07, a team led by Baron Davis and Most Improved Player Monta Ellis qualified as the 8th seed of the Western playoffs. While virtually no one bet on the Golden State Warriors to upset the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks, the Warriors became the first eight seed to ever win a seven-game playoff series. While Golden State Warriors odds were better in their next round against the Utah Jazz, they would fall in five games. 

The Warriors would actually miss the next five postseasons, from 2008 through 2012, but during that time they rebuilt the team by drafting Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. They would win a playoff series in 2012-13, before falling to the Spurs, and would be knocked out of the 2014 postseason when they lost a Game 7 to the Clippers. 

By 2014-15, the Warriors were the best team in the NBA, with Stephen Curry being named league MVP, as the team went 65-17, only losing three games in the Western conference playoffs. The Golden State Warriors odds against Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers looked strong and the team would win the series in six games with Andre Iguodala being named Finals MVP. 

By 2015-16, the team was a juggernaut, going a record 73-9 in the regular season, as Curry won his second straight MVP, and they set up a rematch with the Cavs in the Finals. While most people bet on the Golden State Warriors to repeat, this time however, Cleveland prevailed when Kyrie Irving hit a three-pointer late in Game 7. 

Most experts bet on the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers to face off in the Finals for a third straight season, after the Warriors added superstar Kevin Durant for the 2016-17 season. The Warriors went 67-15 in the regular season, and then swept the Blazers, Spurs, and Jazz in succession. They would finally lose a playoff game to Cleveland before ultimately winning the series in five games as Durant was named Finals MVP. 

The Golden State Warriors odds of making a fourth straight Finals looked strong with Durant, Curry, and co. leading the way. And while the team had a more pedestrian regular season, going 58-24, they once again got through the Western conference playoffs, setting up a fourth straight rematch with the Cavs. The Warriors would sweep the Cavs with Durant once again being named Finals MVP. 

The Warriors would make their fifth straight Finals in 2018-19, but Durant and Thompson would get injured during the Finals, and the team fell to Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors in six games. 

Durant would leave after the season, and the 2019-20 campaign would be ruined by injuries to virtually all of the Warriors top players, with the team going 15-50, completing their turnaround from league-best to league-worst. 

With Klay Thompson out again for the season in 2021, the team did reach the Western Conference play-in series thanks to the heroic efforts of Curry but lost to the Lakers and Grizzlies to miss out on the playoffs for the second-straight season.

Championships: 6 (1947, 1956, 1975, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022)

Retired Numbers: 

13: Wilt Chamberlain

14: Tom Meschery

16: Al Attles

17: Chris Mullin

24: Rick Barry

42: Nate Thurmond