“If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all.”

— From “Born Under a Bad Sign,” by William Bell and Booker T. Jones

Sometimes bad luck is just what the doctor ordered, and I’m not referring to Doctor Rivers.

Here are 13 strokes of bad luck that helped make the Warriors what they are today:

Sal Galatioto sucker-punches Warriors’ fans: Summer of ’10, Chris Cohan puts the Warriors up for sale. Twelve bidders, and it comes down to Larry Ellison versus Joe Lacob and Peter Guber.

The fans desperately want Ellison — rabid sportsman, filthy rich and ready to spend a trillion or so to rebuild the woeful Warriors!

Ellison submits the high bid (according to Ellison), but Galatioto, the banker charged with effecting the sale, awards the team to Lacob/Guber.

“People wanted Ellison to win,” Galatioto would say later. “They don’t understand it. Joe had a plan. Joe got it.”

Fans mourn.

Chris Wright goaltends: Warriors’ next-to-last game of 2011-12, versus the Hornets. Mark Jackson has been tanking like mad, hoping to prevent the Warriors from climbing out of the league’s bottom seven and thus losing their top draft pick.

Coaches tank, but players don’t, and the Dubs’ scrubs are playing hard. Score tied with two seconds left when rookie forward Wright goaltends a shot by Marco Belinelli. Warriors lose, then drop their finale to the Spurs, and tie for the seventh-worst record. Then they win the coin flip to maintain their first-round pick.

Hello, Harrison Barnes.

Dwight Howard snubs Dubs: It’s the summer of 2013 and Howard, the league’s elite center, is looking for a home. He interviews five teams, including the Warriors. That’s big. The Warriors’ newish ownership group is proud to finally be relevant, as certified by Howard’s attention. Like a wink from the supermodel at the other end of the bar.

Alas, Howard chooses the Lakers, dreaming of championship rings to come. It’s a blow to Lacob and his crew, foiled in their attempt to present Warriors’ fans their first star center in decades.

Hey, maybe the quirky diva Howard would have fit in beautifully with Stephen Curry and the lads. Maybe he would have enhanced the team chemistry.

Kidding!

Plans A, B, C and D fall through: Searching for a backup guard, the Warriors try Nemanja Nedovic, Kent Bazemore, Jamal Crawford and Steve Blake. None of them cuts it.

The Warriors are forced to dive into the NBA scrap heap for an injury-ravaged reclamation project.

Hello, Shaun Livingston.

Curry’s career rests on glass ankles: Curry’s delicate ankles can’t take the NBA pounding. Surgery in 2011 and again in 2012, and he sits out 56 games.

The high-risk factor kills Curry’s market value, so prior to 2012-13, he signs for a paltry $44 million over four seasons. With all the money they save, the Warriors sign Andrew Bogut, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

Donald Sterling goes down: An embarrassment to the entire league and a blow to the Warriors.

With the Clippers-Warriors 2014 first-round playoff series tied 2-2, Clippers owner Sterling is kicked out of the NBA for life. The Clippers, inspired by adversity and anger, win two of the last three games.

Mark Jackson is already at odds with Lacob, but if the Warriors win that series, no way Lacob can fire Jackson.

Stan Van Gundy snubs the Dubs: After firing Jackson, who took the Warriors to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, Lacob and his crew are desperate. They must find an excellent head coach or look like fools.

Good luck! Van Gundy, a respected coach, is available and interested. The Warriors offer him the job.

Alas, the Pistons steal Van Gundy by offering him the coach-GM combo role.

The Warriors, back in awkward-scramble mode, make a desperate run at Steve Kerr, who was reported to be on the way to New York and the Knicks.

David Lee goes down: The installation of Kerr’s offense isn’t going smoothly, but one player grasps it quickly and is helping ease the transition. Lee, with his passing skills and hoops IQ, seems perfect for the new coach’s plan (except for Lee’s defense). Lee then strains a hammie in the final preseason game and misses 24 of the first 25 games.

Hello, Draymond Green.

Ayesha taps out: After the Warriors beat the Rockets in Game 1 of their playoff series, Ayesha Curry, pregnant and tired, lets Steph take their daughter Riley to his postgame news conference, to give mom a break.

Riley emerges as a national star, and the (slight) media backlash sharpens the Warriors’ us-against-the-world edge.

Warriors can’t handle Cavs: After winning the Finals opener, the Warriors drop the next two. Kerr, forced to think outside the key, takes a suggestion from team aide Nick U’Ren and starts Andre Iguodala. They win the next three.

Warriors called lucky: After beating four playoff foes compromised by injuries, the Warriors’ see their championship downplayed by some critics. They are lucky. The Warriors get ticked off and try to go 82-0.

Curry injured: In late December, Curry suffers a leg injury and sits out a game in Dallas. The Warriors get embarrassed 114-91, exposed as a one-man team: Steph and Some Guys.

The next night in Houston, Curry sits again. Is this Kerr’s and Luke Walton’s way of giving the Warriors a chance to prove they can play without their superstar? Maybe.

Warriors win 114-110. Klay Thompson scores 38, Green has a triple-double with 16 assists.

Hello, bright new self image.

Kerr sidelined half the season: Instead of building on his boffo first season, Kerr is forced to sit after two offseason back surgeries.

The Warriors suck it up and work harder, not wanting to let down Kerr, and wanting to prove that they are not an emotionally fragile champion.

Scott Ostler is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: sostler@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @scottostler