Who Belongs Next to Stephen Curry on the Warriors' Mount Rushmore?
Stephen Curry is the undeniable face of the Warriors' franchise, an underrated, gutsy point guard out of Davidson College who crafted the legacy of a 2010s dynasty that will always live on.
The Warriors franchise has seen its fair share of greatness don their uniform, and while Curry's teams will go down as some of the best in its history, many forget the team's roots go back to Philadelphia in the 1940s before its 1962 relocation to California.
One all-time -- arguably top 10 -- player in NBA history not named Curry played for Golden State in the 1960s; he will make this list. However, not making the top 4 are modern-day icons Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, despite their indelible impact on recent great Warriors teams.
Instead, taking their place in the third- and fourth-place spots are two legends from the franchise's long-ago past.
The Honorable Mentions
- Klay Thompson (2013-2024)
- Draymond Green (2012-present)
- Steve Kerr (2014-present)
- Kevin Durant (2016-2019)
- Nate Thurmond (1963-1974)
- Chris Mullin (1985-1997; 2000-01)
- Neil Johnston (1951-1959)
4. Paul Arizin (1950-1962)
Arizin was the central building block for the Philadelphia Warriors before the team moved out west, and a player who easily gets overshadowed due to recency bias.
Arizin won two scoring titles in 1952 and 1956 and formed an excellent backcourt with the aforementioned Neil Johnston. The 6-foot-4 native of La Salle, Pennsylvania, played for Villanova University and was picked by Philadelphia in 1950 after leading the NCAA in scoring, and was one of the earliest stars in the NBA during a career bookended by time missed serving in the Korean War.
Arizin led Golden State to the 1956 NBA championship, made 10 All-Star teams (including an All-Star game MVP award in 1952) and averaged 21.9 points per game in his final season, at the time the best tally of any player at the twilight of his career. Arizin chose to retire in 1962 instead of following the team to the Bay Area, but his greatness will still live on.
3. Rick Barry (1965-1978)
Barry was the face of the 1975 NBA championship-winning Warriors team, the last team to reach the mountaintop before Curry and company did so in 2015.
Known primarily for his "granny" free throw shooting style that led to a career 89.3% mark, Barry played the game in a very unorthodox, but still legendary fashion.
While the Warriors swept the Washington Bullets 4-0 in the 1975 NBA championship, it was Barry who was credited with MVP after averaging 29.5 points, 4.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.5 steals.
Prior to joining the Rockets at the end of his career, Barry made six straight NBA All-Star teams and notched three First-Team All-NBA awards.
Barry remains the only player to lead the NCAA, American Basketball Association (ABA) and NBA in points per game in a season, showing that his prolific on-court play never dwindled from his time at the University of Miami to his retirement with the Rockets.
2. Wilt Chamberlain (1959-1965)
While Chamberlain is known in NBA spaces for a career entrenched with greatness, his time with the then-Philadelphia Warriors deserves a moment.
In his first career NBA game, played against the Knicks in 1960, Chamberlain scored 43 points and grabbed 28 rebounds, while his third game saw him score 41 points and 40 rebounds against the Syracuse Nationals. That season saw him win Rookie of the Year, MVP, and All-Star Game MVP.
In 1962, still with the Philadelphia Warriors, Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game against the Knicks, in a game shrouded in mystery due to lack of video footage. Still, Chamberlain crafted much of his all-time greatness with the Warriors prior to their move out west.
While he didn't win a title with the Warriors, Chamberlain made the All-Star game in each of his six seasons, from 1960 to 1965, making the NBA All-First Team from 1960 to 1962. He led the NBA in rebounds from 1960 to 1963 and scoring in each of his seasons with Philadelphia.
1. Stephen Curry (2013-2026)
Curry is the undisputed greatest player in Warriors history, and his legacy in Golden State is still being written.
When Curry came onto the scene in 2013, the Warriors had made just one playoff appearance since 1994 after the dissolution of the "Run TMC" team centered around Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway, and Mitch Richmond. They were the butt of every joke in basketball, a team in need of something, anything.
What Curry delivered was a full-fledged dynasty, taking the franchise from the basement to the mountaintop, consistently and almost annoyingly to the rest of the league. The Warriors won three NBA titles from 2015 to 2018, missing a three-peat by two minutes in the 2016 Finals' vaunted Game 7 against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Curry took the Warriors back to the mountaintop in 2022, at the center of a team that still included Thompson, Green, and Iguodala, but also Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins, who were not on the 2015-2018 dynasty.
His individual accolades hardly need to be said -- two NBA MVPs (one of which is the only unanimous vote in NBA history), one Finals MVP, 11 NBA All-Star nods, two NBA scoring titles, and the NBA's all-time leader in three-pointers made.
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This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 4:47 AM.