12 Players who turned their back on the Golden State Warriors

4. Baron Davis

From the end of the high-flying "Run TMC" days of the early 1990s, to the rise of the Stephen Curry dynasty, there was only one real bright spot for the Golden State Warriors and their fans: We Believe.

A key member of the Warriors' surprise playoff run in 2007 was Baron Davis, a talented and outspoken point guard who joined the Warriors via trade in 2005. He was a gifted scorer who averaged 20.1 points per game in 3.5 seasons with the team, but he also lifted his teammates with timely assists. In 2006-07 he received MVP votes and led the league with 2.1 steals.

In that year's playoffs Davis was absolutely transcendent, taking on the league-leading Dallas Mavericks in the first round and pulling off a grandiose upset in six games. Davis averaged 25.3 points, a whopping 2.9 steals and chipped in 6.5 assists per game in their playoff run.

The following season Davis took on even more of a scoring and creation burden but the team took a small step back, missing the playoffs and propelling Davis into the offseason. Instead of re-signing with the Warriors or simply playing on his lucrative $17.8 million player option, he opted out and left for the Los Angeles Clippers, putting a personal end to the "We Believe" Warriors himself.

The Warriors would spiral into a 29-53 season the following year and win an average of just 28.5 games over the next four seasons. They would pull out of that slump with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on board, but Davis' departure put an era to death and forced a rebuild onto the team.