Best: Golden State Warriors — Wilt Chamberlain
The Warriors are one of the more difficult teams to choose a best all-time player for. Rick Barry is the conventional choice for his great run in the 70s that included a championship and a Finals MVP. It’ll probably be Steph Curry in another few years, with another ring or two and some more longevity, but he’s really only been this Steph for five or six years. And that’s not enough to beat five and a half years of Wilt the Stilt.
Chamberlain averaged 41 points and 25 rebounds a game during his time with the Warriors, the greatest statistical stretch in NBA history. He won league MVP as a rookie and had the top three scoring seasons and the top three rebounding seasons in NBA history, all in half a decade with the Warriors. Wilt Chamberlain was incredible.
Worst: Golden State Warriors — Joe Barry Carroll
Philadelphia 76ers fans may cringe reading this one. The Warriors made a big move prior to the 1980 draft, trading up from number three to number one for a Purdue player named Joe Barry Carroll that they just couldn’t pass. Though they moved up only two spots, the trade cost the Warriors dearly as they also lost talented young center, Robert Parish.
The Boston Celtics dropped from one to three and got the best player in the draft, Kevin McHale, and the two were the spine of the Celtics dynasty in the 80s. Carroll averaged at least 17 points a game all six Warriors seasons, but he had a knack for not playing with enough heart, earning the nickname Joe Barely Cares, and most importantly, he just wasn’t Kevin McHale or Robert Parish.