Former Purdue player reflects on playing for last Warriors team to win title

In the haze following the final buzzer of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night, newly minted world champion Harrison Barnes decided to experiment.

Barnes, a 23-year-old starter on the first Golden State Warriors team to win a title since 1975, said he got his first taste of alcohol in the locker room after the game — a victory swig of Champagne.

Very few people understand what it's like to win an NBA championship. Even fewer know what it's like to have your first drink right after. Indianapolis native Frank Kendrick is one of those people. And if watching the only NBA team he ever played for earn its second title in 40 years didn't take him back to 1975, watching Barnes finally put his liver to task sure did.

"It tasted nasty," Kendrick says, recalling the Champagne that ended his personal Prohibition. "I wanted to throw it on other people so I didn't have to drink it."

The celebration then looked a lot like it does now. The background changes, sure — bigger arenas, bigger crowds, more cameras — but the heart of it remains the same: the unmistakable pop of corks exploding off bottles, the screaming, the singing and the hugging never change.

The biggest difference between Tuesday night and 40 years ago came down to the matchups. Steph Curry & Co. were favored against the Cavaliers, but when Golden State met the Washington Bullets in '75, the Warriors were expected to lose in four straight games. And had the Bullets defeated Golden State in Game 1, Kendrick believes that's the way it would've gone. Instead, it was the Warriors pulling off the sweep.

Which is why Kendrick wakes up at his home in Fishers each day, polishes his championship ring and gazes at the inscription of his name and number before putting it on.

"I sit there and say I was on the best team in the world," Kendrick said. "It's mind-blowing."

Part of the reason why the Warriors were so underrated had to do with guys like Kendrick. Not because he grew up playing at Tech High School in Indianapolis, or because he stayed in state for college at Purdue. It was his youth. The '75 team boasted four rookies and revolved around veteran Rick Barry — whom Kendrick was brought in to back up. At the time Kendrick was coming off a National Invitation Tournament championship with the Boilermakers in 1974, and despite being selected in the third round, he knew he could make himself valuable to then Warriors coach Al Attles.

At rookie training camp before the 1974-75 season, in a gym with no air conditioning, Attles committed to running Kendrick, Jamaal Wilkes and Phil Smith until their legs gave out. Except Kendrick's never did.

"I told Attles that he would drop before I did," Kendrick says. "And he said, 'That's why I draft kids from Indiana.' You can imagine what that did to my confidence."

Kendrick's confidence didn't change during the year, though quickly his role did. In his only NBA season, Kendrick appeared in just 24 games, averaging 3.3 points, 1.5 rebounds and 5 minutes.

Two games before the end of the regular season the Warriors removed him from their active roster to add veteran Bill Bridges for their playoff run. The rookie was still under contract with Golden State, and he continued to practice with the team — Kendrick says he'd wear out Bridges when they scrimmaged — but he would never play another NBA game.

Not that any of this stopped him from enjoying postseason life with the Warriors. When looking at the 2015 Golden State team, Kendrick notes that the family attitude they have toward each other is what's easiest to relate to. This year's Warriors team stayed close on road trips and made sure they all went out to eat together — not exactly common in the NBA. It's reminiscent of how Barry would organize team meals during the '75 season.

So after Barry helped crown Golden State champions, Kendrick celebrated like one. He took his first sip of alcohol, sprayed more of it on his teammates and came home to Indianapolis where he could thank those who helped put him in the league.

"I felt like I'd done it for everyone," said Kendrick, who was released after the '75 season. "Every guy I played with in high school, everyone in my neighborhood, everyone in my city. I'm a very proud Hoosier. There's nothing more fulfilling than to be able to bring something that big home."

These were the memories running through Kendrick's mind as he watched the fourth quarter come to a close Tuesday night from his home. It was a similar-looking celebration, and a familiar family atmosphere that connected a former champion to the latest crop.

As Warriors players in Cleveland hugged and cried and roared, the urge for Kendrick to join in began to grow.

"About 10 minutes later I called coach Attles," Kendrick said. "We were both happy as heck. I said, 'Coach, congratulations, we got it done again.' "

Follow Star reporter Blake Schuster on Twitter: @Schustee.