Season by Season
1974 to 1975
Rick Barry Leads Warriors
to Championship
The retirements of Jerry West and Oscar Robertson left their teams
weakened, and the Lakers and Milwaukee each fell to the bottom of
their divisions. This spelled opportunity for hungry young teams in
the Western Conference, and nobody was hungrier than the Golden State
Warriors. Al Attles, a fixture with the Warriors since 1960 as a player
and a coach, had developed an 11-deep roster of role players to go
with high-scoring forward Rick Barry, still in his prime at 30. Attles
had acquired young center Clifford Ray for the aging Nate Thurmond,
obtained scrappy guard Butch Beard and drafted forward Jamaal (then
Keith) Wilkes from UCLA and guard Charles Johnson from California.
This unlikely group won 48 games to top the Western Conference, defeated
Bill Russell's Seattle team in six games and used its endless hustle
and desire to beat a more talented Chicago Bulls team in seven games
to reach the Finals.
The Washington Bullets had won 60 games in the East but had a tough
time dispatching the Buffalo Braves, led by NBA scoring champ Bob McAdoo
(34.5) in seven games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Celtics
had also won 60 games and blew past Houston in five games to meet Washington.
The Bullets had the inside-outside combination of Elvin Hayes and Phil
Chenier working brilliantly, and turned back the Celtics in six games.
The Bullets were heavily favored to beat the Warriors, but Golden State
stunned the basketball world by winning four straight close games to
post only the third sweep in the 29-year history of the NBA Finals.
BARRY REJOICES IN UPSET OVER
BULLETS
The Bullets had an experienced team in 1975, with powerful Elvin Hayes
and Wes Unseld up front joined by feisty forward Mike Riordan, with
quick Kevin Porter and sharpshooter Phil Chenier in the backcourt. On
paper, the Bullets were far superior to the Warriors. But as the old
saying goes, games aren't played on paper. And when the Warriors swept,
Rick Barry could afford to celebrate.
"It has to be the greatest upset in the history of the NBA Finals,"
Barry said. "It was like a fairy-tale season. Everything just fell
into place. It's something I'll treasure for the rest of my life."
The
NBA History Season by Season
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