10 best players to ever suit up for the Golden State Warriors

No. 8: Paul Arizin

The Golden State Warriors have one of the most storied histories among all 30 NBA teams, dating all the way back to the Philadelphia Warriors in the BAA in 1946-47 when they won the NBA Finals behind “Jumpin” Joe Fulks. They struggled to follow up that initial title, however, until they managed to land a true superstar in the 1950 NBA Draft: Paul Arizin.

The best scorer in college basketball while starring at Villanova, the 6’4″ scoring guard was a territorial pick of the Warriors in 1950 and immediately hit the ground running, winning the very first Rookie of the Year award. He would then lead the league in minutes, field goal percentage and scoring the following season, averaging 25.4 points per game to go with 11.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists.

Arizin lost the following two seasons to military service during the Korean War, returning to the Warriors for the 1954-55 season. He picked things up like he had never left, continuing a streak of scoring at least 20 points per game for nine consecutive years. Even more impressively, after making the All-Star Game as a rookie, he would go on to make the All-Star team in each of his 10 seasons in the league, a feat likely impossible to replicate today with significantly more teams and players vying for All-Star spots.

To add it all up: 10 seasons, 10 All-Star selections, four All-NBA teams, the 1956 NBA Championship and two-time scoring champion. It was an impressive, if brief, career for Paul Arizin.