Warriors Cards by Era: Philadelphia, San Francisco & Golden State

Search “Golden State Warriors card” and you will miss roughly the first twenty-five years of the franchise’s cards. That’s not a quirk of eBay — it’s because the team has had three different names, and every card is printed with the name the team used the year it was made.

This is the reference page for that: which era used which name, what cards actually exist from each, and how to search so nothing stays hidden.

The three names, one franchise

The franchise never folded, never restarted, and never changed hands into a new team — the championship banners from all three eras belong to the same club. Only the name on the front of the card changed.

Philadelphia Warriors (1946-1962)

The Warriors were a charter member of the Basketball Association of America in 1946 and won its very first championship in 1947. They won again in 1956, and the roster of the era — Paul Arizin, Tom Gola, Neil Johnston, and then Wilt Chamberlain from 1959-60 — is a Hall of Fame collection in its own right.

What exists on cardboard from this era is thin, and that’s the whole story. Basketball card production in the late 1940s and 1950s was intermittent:

• The late-1940s Bowman basketball set is the first major basketball issue and the franchise’s earliest card presence.
• Topps produced a basketball set in 1957-58 — and then dropped the sport completely.
• Fleer’s 1961-62 set is the landmark vintage NBA issue and the era’s defining release. It contains Wilt Chamberlain’s rookie card, the 1961-62 Fleer #8 — one of the most important cards in the entire basketball hobby, and a card that says Philadelphia, not Golden State.

Because so few cards were made, condition is everything here. Vintage cardboard of this age has usually been handled, and grading separates a genuinely collectible copy from a well-loved one. If you are shopping this era, prefer graded, authenticated examples and read our collecting guide on spotting reprints first — vintage Hall of Fame rookies are the most reprinted cards in the hobby.

San Francisco Warriors (1962-1971)

The franchise moved west for the 1962-63 season and played nine seasons as the San Francisco Warriors. Wilt Chamberlain came along and starred in San Francisco until he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in January 1965. Behind him, the team drafted two franchise cornerstones: Nate Thurmond in 1963 and Rick Barry in 1965. Barry won Rookie of the Year, then a scoring title, then led the team to the 1967 Finals before jumping to the ABA.

Here is the frustrating part for collectors: this is the emptiest stretch in Warriors card history. With Topps out of basketball from 1958 until 1969-70 and Fleer’s 1961-62 set standing alone, most of the San Francisco era simply has no mainstream card production. What you can chase:

• 1969-70 Topps — Topps returned to the NBA at the end of the era, and Nate Thurmond is in that “tall boy” set, printed as a San Francisco Warrior. Rick Barry is not: the set was NBA-only, and Barry spent 1968 to 1972 in the ABA — the Oakland Oaks (later the Washington Caps), then the New York Nets — before returning to the NBA (career record). So his first Topps card is the 1971-72 issue, as a Net, and his first Golden State Topps card is 1972-73. Treat a “1969-70 Topps Rick Barry” listing as mislabelled. The ABA timeline is sourced; the specific card numbers we quote for those two issues on the Barry hub are pre-2022 and are not verifiable against any checklist source reachable to us, so check them on the card.
• Regional, team-issued, and oddball items from the 1960s, which turn up sporadically and are worth learning to recognize.

If you collect this era, search “San Francisco Warriors” as its own term. Sellers list what the card says, and the card says San Francisco.

Golden State Warriors (1971-present)

The team was renamed the Golden State Warriors for the 1971-72 season, and every card from that point forward carries the modern name. This era splits into three very different collecting markets.

The 1970s. Rick Barry returned from the ABA and led the franchise to the 1975 NBA championship, winning Finals MVP. Topps was back in the NBA full-time, so the 1970s are the first period with consistent, findable Warriors cards year over year — an accessible entry point into vintage.

Run TMC and the junk-wax years. The late 1980s and early 1990s brought Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway, and Mitch Richmond. The 1986-87 Fleer set is the landmark modern basketball release and home to Mullin’s rookie. Everything printed from roughly 1988 through the mid-1990s was produced in enormous quantities, which is why base cards from those years are so plentiful — the scarce, gradeable copies are the exception, not the rule.

The dynasty. Championships in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022 built the most active Warriors card market that has ever existed, centered on Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Kevin Durant. This is the Panini era — Prizm, Optic, Select, and their parallel ladders — and it is by far the deepest and most liquid part of the market. Start with our best Warriors cards to collect list, or go straight to the rookie guides for Curry, Klay, and Draymond.

How to actually search each era

The practical takeaway is short:

1. Search all three names separately. “Philadelphia Warriors,” “San Francisco Warriors,” and “Golden State Warriors” return three almost non-overlapping pools of cards. One search will never cover the franchise.
2. Pair the name with the year or set when you know it — “1961-62 Fleer Warriors,” “1969-70 Topps San Francisco” — because the team name alone pulls in a lot of modern noise.
3. Watch for mislabeled listings. A seller who lists a 1960s card as “Golden State” is describing the franchise, not the card. Confirm what the card itself says from the photos before buying.
4. Sort vintage by graded copies first. For anything pre-1980, an authenticated slab removes both the condition guesswork and the reprint risk.

Which era should you collect?

There’s no single right answer, but the trade-off is clear. The Philadelphia and San Francisco eras offer genuine scarcity and history, with far fewer cards in existence — but condition is fragile, reprints are common, and the good copies are expensive. The 1970s are the sweet spot for accessible vintage. The junk-wax years are the cheapest way to own a lot of Warriors cardboard, though most of it stays common. The dynasty era has the most cards, the most parallels, and the most liquid resale market.

Pick the era that matches how you want to collect, then use the searches below to see what’s actually available in each right now. For the franchise-wide view, our Warriors legends list and the Golden State Warriors team page tie all three eras together.