When did the Golden State Warriors last win an NBA Championship?

The Golden State Warriors could secure the NBA Championship by winning Game Six in Cleveland on Tuesday, but when did they win their last title?

With a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Six of the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors will secure the fourth NBA Championship in club history. To do so, they’ll have to win under similar conditions to when they lost took home the NBA title.

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When the Warriors last won the NBA Championship, the year was 1975 and the ball was in the hands of another dynamic scorer. In this case, Rick Barry entered the postseason averaging 30.6 points per game, 5.7 rebounds, and 6.2 assists. He was supported by a solid starting five, including fellow Hall of Famer Jamaal Wilkes (14.2 points, 8.2 rebounds), point guard Butch Beard (12.8 points, 4.2 assists), guard Charles Johnson (10.9 points), and center Clifford Ray (9.4 points, 10.6 rebounds), and as a collective unit, they paced the NBA averaging 108.5 points per game.

Sounds somewhat familiar right? The current rendition of the Warriors also paced the league in scoring, were led by a truly gifted scoring machine, and were built on a solid core of players. Also like their current compatriots, the 1974-75 Golden State Warriors were forced to win their championship on the road, but only because of an unusual scheduling format.

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Poor planning led the Warriors to have to play their home games at the Cow Palace in nearby San Francisco rather than their own home court of Oakland Arena. Additional issues with planned events at the Cow Palace required the need to schedule the series in an odd way. Rather than open the series on the road, the Bullets exercised their home court advantage to force a 1-2-2-1-1 format to the series, with Washington opening at home and then going on the road for two games before returning to Capital Centre for games four and five.

Well, Game Five turned out not to be necessary, as the Warriors swept through the Bullets. While the final outcome would insinuate utter domination, that was not the case. Two games were decided by a single point, including the clincher, and none of the contests were won by greater than eight. Barry himself averaged 29.5 points per night, including 38 during a Game Three performance that is still considered one of the best in NBA Finals history.

For those counting at home, that is a 40-year drought between NBA Championships. It isn’t the longest in NBA history, but it is still a long wait to raise a banner.

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