21 Fun Facts You Might Not Know About the Golden State Warriors

This piece was inspired by an episode of The Cooler, KQED’s weekly pop culture podcast. Give it a listen!

Here are some fun facts about the Warriors that'll make you seem really sports savvy and informed at the next viewing party:

• In 2016, the Warriors broke the record for most wins in a regular season with 73 victories and only 9 losses. The 72-10 record was held by the 1996 Chicago Bulls. 

• One of the players on that team was their current coach Steve Kerr.

• On the brink of elimination in the 2016 semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Warriors rallied and became the 10^th team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven series.

• The team originally called Philadelphia home and won the league’s first-ever championship way back in 1947.

• Back then, the Warriors joined the Redskins in being as problematic as possible:

• The team moved West in 1962 as the San Francisco Warriors, dropping the offensive Native American imagery. Nine years later, they became the Golden State Warriors.

• Star of the team Stephen Curry's real name is Wardell.

• Curry has accomplished a lot in his 29 years, maybe most importantly helping create the most gif-able human being to ever grace this planet, Riley Curry.

• In 2016, 131 voters unanimously selected him as the MVP; a first.

• Curry loves God a lot. He used to write a Bible verse on his sneakers (Phillippians 4:13), which says “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Now those words grace his official Under Armour footwear.

• Someone else he loves a lot: wife and chef Ayesha Curry. They first met at a church group. Years later, they reconnected in LA and strolled along the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their first date. Ayesha was in LA pursuing acting; her most notable gig was an appearance in an episode of Hannah Montana.

• Rumor has it that, every time Steph commits more than three turnovers in a game, he has to give his mom $100.

• Another major player is Draymond Green. He’s super passionate, but maybe too much so. He’s at risk for being suspended over committing too many flagrant fouls, like “accidentally” kicking someone in the balls during a recent game.

• Back in the 9^th grade, he was caught cheating on a biology test so his mother gave away everything he owned. Old school parenting skills in full effect!

• In Stars: They’re Just Like Us! news, Draymond was so turned off by the crazy astronomical rents in San Francisco that he moved across the bridge to Emeryville.

• The player with the coolest name from the 2016 roster, Festus Ezeli emigrated from Nigeria at 14 to become a doctor. Needless to say, things didn't really go that way.

• Shaun Livingston, a player who doesn't get as much attention as these other guys, is kind of a prodigy. He could walk at seven months and was reading by the age of three.

• And last, but certainly not least, Klay Thompson comes from a family that has very athletic genetics. His father played for three separate teams in the NBA in his day, and his brother Trayce plays major league baseball for the LA Dodgers.

• Without Klay's playoff record for most three pointers, the Warriors wouldn't even be in the Finals this year.

• Something to watch for in the Finals is how Klay interacts with a Cavaliers player called Kevin Love (nephew of Beach Boys founder, Mike Love). They were childhood friends and played on the same Little League team in Oregon. In 2015, Love had an injury and had to watch Klay beat his team to win the title. Rumor has it he wasn't very happy about that and did something about it in 2016, when the Cavs beat the Warriors.

• The main reason to love Klay: he's a shameless Harry Potter geek. Exhibit A: the high school photo of him dressed up as a Hogwarts wizard, wand and all, below. And there's also a photo series of him geeking out on a recent trip to Orlando’s Harry Potter theme park.

This post ends now because there's no way things get better than that photo.

If you're still not feeling the Warriors, or sports in general, these helpful tips on how to pretend you care are for you:

Go Warriors!!!