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With the 74th NBA season on hiatus due to the pandemic, ESPN is asking its experts to rank the top 74 players of all time.
The sports media giant released Nos. 74 through 41 and three players with ties to the Golden State Warriors made the list:
No. 69: Bernard King
King was a walking bucket who could score on anyone. The Warriors acquired him from the Utah Jazz prior to the 1980-81 season. King delivered over his two seasons in the Bay Area, averaging 22.5 points during his short stint with the Dubs, but never led the team to the playoffs.
I don’t know what former GM Al Attles was thinking, but he traded King to the New York Knicks for Michael Ray Richardson and a fifth-round pick before the 1982-83 season, where King would put up the best seasons of his career.
No. 61: Robert Parish
The Chief was picked No. 8 overall by the Warriors in the 1976 NBA Draft. He spent the first four seasons of his career with the Dubs and his numbers got better in year three, where he put up 17.2 points and 12.1 rebounds per game. Parish wasn’t happy with his time in Golden State and reportedly wanted to quit basketball because of how much the team lost during his tenure. The Warriors made the playoffs in Parish’s rookie season, but lost 141 games over his final three seasons in the Bay Area, before being dealt to the Boston Celtics in a draft day deal that saw Golden State get Joe Barry Carroll, while the Celtics added Kevin McHale with the Warriors pick.
No. 43 Rick Barry
Barry is one of the greatest Warriors of all time. He had two separate stints with the franchise, playing a total of eight seasons with the franchise. Barry was selected No. 2 in the 1965 NBA Draft and the Rookie of the Year Award, averaging 25.7 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. The Warriors went 45-37 in Barry’s second year and he led the team to the NBA Finals, where they lost a tough six-game series against the Philadelphia 76ers. After a contract dispute with the team, Barry bounced to the ABA where he played five seasons before returning to the Bay Area for the 1972-73 season. The Dubs made it back to the playoffs his first two years, with his crowning achievement coming during the 1974-75 season, when he won the NBA Finals MVP, leading the Dubs to a championship. He spent three more years with the franchise, before signing with the Houston Rockets in 1978.
Are there any Warriors players that should have made the list from No. 41 to 74?