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.
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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 second of 27 players who wore the No. 15 jersey for the Warriors.
Sep 15, 2017; Culver City, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors jerseys on display during the Nike and Sony press conference at Sony Studios. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
That player would be Golden State big man alum Hank Beenders. After ending his college career at LIU, Beenders joined the (defunct) Providence Steamrollers in their (and the BAA’s) first-ever season of existence in 1946.
The Haarlem, Netherlands native would be dealt to the (then) Philadelphia (now, Golden State) Warriors in 1948, his stay spanning just 24 games before he’d be dealt again, this time to the Boston Celtics.
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During his time suiting up for the Warriors, Beenders wore only jersey No. 15 and put up 2.5 points per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
This article originally appeared on Warriors Wire: Thunder jersey history No. 15 – Hank Beenders (1948)