The 8 greatest Golden State Warriors to never make an All-Star Team

No. 7: Clifford Ray

One of the greatest big men in the history of the Golden State Warriors was Nate Thurmond, but he missed out on the Warriors' NBA title in 1975 when the team traded Thurmond to the Chicago Bulls to get younger at the position, adding a young rebounding big named Clifford Ray.

Ray was the defensive anchor the Warriors needed, and he paired with Rick Barry to lead the team to the championship. Ray is part of a unique group of players to have a long NBA career and yet finish with more reobunds than points; names like Bill Russell, Dennis Rodman and Ben Wallace join him on that list.

Ray would play seven seasons for the Warriors, racking up 4,310 rebounds in that time; he twice led the NBA in total rebounding percentage, and his defensive rating of 96.3 is the sixth-best in NBA history; his playoff rating was even better at 95.4 and ranks fourth all-time, behind Ben Wallace, Dave Cowens, and Gar Heard.

As with so many big men of his era, injuries caught up to him and limited him to only 10 seasons in the league. His brand of basketball was unheralded but his impact was undeniable, and he is clearly one of the best Warriors players to never make an All-Star Team.