We look at the 1975 Golden State Warriors’ upset over the Washington Bullets in the NBA Finals and where it ranks among all-time pro basketball upsets in the latest edition of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast’s Basketball Mysteries of the 1970s.

We look at how the Warriors' Finals run came as a surprise to virtually everyone, how they managed to sweep a powerhouse Bullets team with Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes, how it appeared the Warriors were retooling around Rick Barry and a group of young players after trading Nate Thurmond, how they faced Thurmond and the last run of a very good Chicago Bulls team in the playoffs, how they battled a Seattle Supersonics team led by coach Bill Russell and Spencer Haywood, how their playoff run compares to some of the other great upsets like the Cavs beating the Warriors in 2016 or the Rockets beating the Magic in 1995, how a schedule conundrum actually helped Golden State and hurt Washington, and how other key Warriors players contributed (including Jamaal Wilkes, Butch Beard, Clifford Ray, Bill Bridges, Phil Smith and Jeff Mullins).

Then we discuss Rick Barry’s jump to the ABA, winning an ABA title in Oakland while injured, his difficulties with an unstable Washington Capitols franchise, refusing to play in Virginia, joining the New York Nets and leading them to an ABA Finals, and then returning to the NBA and Golden State in a very different league from when he’d left it five years before.

Original airdate: 8/26/16