The Golden State Warriors have had over 600 players don the more than 60 jersey numbers used by their players over the more than 75 years of existence the team has enjoyed in its rich and storied history.
Founded in 1946 during the Basketball Association of America (BAA — a precursor league of the NBA) era, the team has called home the cities of Philadelphia, San Francisco, Oakland, and even San Diego.
To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Warriors Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. For this article, we begin with the third of nine players who wore the No. 16 jersey for the Warriors.
That player would be Golden State forward alum Bill Closs. After ending his college career at Rice, Closs signed with the (defunct) Anderson Packers in 1949.
The Edge, Texas native was drafted by the (then) Philadelphia (now, Golden State) Warriors in the Packers dispersal draft when that team went under the following offseason. His stay with the team would span a single season, with the forward signing with the (then) Fort Wayne (now, Detroit) Pistons in 1951 for the final season of his BAA/NBA career.
During his time suiting up for the Warriors, Closs wore only jersey No. 16 and put up 8.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.