PWPhiladelphia Warriors
PWPhiladelphia Warriors has reached the nba champions decider 3 times on record, first in 1946-47 and most recently in 1955-56. 2 wins against 1 runner-up finish are recorded below, sourced from our full nba champions list.
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
PWPhiladelphia Warriors — 2 nba champions (1946-47, 1955-56).
Franchise history
The Philadelphia Warriors were one of the eleven charter franchises of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), founded in 1946 by owner Peter Tyrrell and coach/promoter Eddie Gottlieb. The Warriors won the very first BAA championship in 1947, defeating the Chicago Stags, led by star forward Joe Fulks. Philadelphia remained competitive through the 1950s, capturing a second title in 1956 behind Hall of Famers Paul Arizin, Neil Johnston, and Tom Gola.
The team's most enduring legacy from this era belongs to Wilt Chamberlain, who joined the Warriors in 1959. On March 2, 1962, Chamberlain scored an NBA-record 100 points in a game against the New York Knicks, played on a neutral court in Hershey, Pennsylvania — still the highest single-game scoring total in league history. Despite Chamberlain's individual dominance, the Warriors could not translate it into another championship, and financial struggles led Gottlieb to sell the team in 1962 to a San Francisco-based ownership group, which relocated the franchise to the West Coast for the 1962-63 season, ending the Philadelphia chapter after 16 seasons and two titles.
Sources
NBA Champions won (2)
Runner-up finishes (1)
See the full nba champions list for the winner each of these years.
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