The Philadelphia Warriors were a charter member of the NBA Basketball Association of America, winning the championship in the league's inaugural 1946-1947 season by defeating the Chicago Stags, four games to one.

The Philadelphia Warriors was founded by Eddie Gottlieb, the long-time promoter of the Philadelphia Sphas (South Philadelphia Hebrew Association), one of the foundations of the original American Basketball League. Gottlieb retained ownership of the ABL Sphas until that league disbanded in 1955. The Philadelphia Warriors are considered one of only three original BAA/NBA teams still in existence, the others being the Boston Celtics and New York Knickerbockers.

The Philadelphia Warriors won their only other championship as a Philadelphia NBA team in the 1955-1956 season, defeating the Fort Wayne Pistons four basketball games to one. In 1959, Philadelphia Warriors signed their 216-cm tall (7'1") draft pick Wilt Chamberlain. Known as "Wilt the Stilt," Chamberlain rapidly started shattering NBA scoring records and changed the style of play forever. On March 2, 1962 , in a Philadelphia Warrior "home" game played in Hershey , Pennsylvania , Chamberlain scored 100 points against the Knickerbockers, a single-game record that may never be broken.

In 1962, Philadelphia Warriors moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and became the San Francisco Warriors, playing most of their NBA home games at the Cow Palace (actually located in neighboring Daly City), though infrequently playing home games in close by cities such as Oakland and San Jose. The Philadelphia Warriors won the 1963-1964 Western Division crown, losing the NBA championship series to the Boston Celtics, four games to one.

In 1965, the Philadelphia Warriors drafted Rick Barry in the first round. Barry was named NBA Rookie of the Year in his first season, and then led Philadelphia Warriors to the NBA finals in the 1966-1967 season, where the Warriors lost (four games to two) to the team that replaced the Philadelphia Warriors in the City of Brotherly Love , the Philadelphia 76ers. annoyed by management's failure to pay him certain incentive awards he felt he was due, Barry sat out the 1967-1968 season, joining the Oakland Oaks of the rival American Basketball Association the following year. After numerous seasons in the ABA , Barry rejoined the Philadelphia Warriors team in 1972.

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