Golden State Warriors: 15 Greatest NBA playoff moments

5. 1975 NBA Finals: Rick Barry wins Finals MVP

The Warriors began the 1970’s by changing their name from the “San Francisco Warriors” to the name we now know them by. With this change, came the return of Rick Barry. Barry began his career with the San Francisco Warriors before jumping teams a few times and landing back in Golden State.

Barry had quickly turned into one of the league’s greatest shooters. With three seasons of 30+ points already under his belt by the 1974-75 season, Barry was ready for great things. Per usual, Barry was phenomenal in the regular season. He averaged 30.6 points per game and led the Dubs to a division best 48-34 record.

After barely escaping a seven-game series with the Chicago Bulls, the Warriors advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in nearly a decade. With Barry running the show, the Dubs were prepared to take home the title.

Of course, Barry absolutely dominated this series. Behind Rick’s 29.5 points, 5.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game, the Dubs swept the Washington Bullets and won the championship.

While this series was a sweep, it should be noted that it was not an easy series for the Dubs. Each game was decided by fewer than 10 points and the final game was won by only one point. Had it not been for the heroics of Barry, this series could have gone either way.