On Thursday night, Warriors legend Alvin Attles was officially inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The former Warriors point guard averaged 8.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game during his career-- but his numbers do not tell his impact on Warriors and basketball history.

That impact started in Newark, New Jersey during the 1940s when Attles was a young boy. The Civil Rights Movement was not yet conceived. Jim Crow laws were still in effect, and de facto social climate was very fashionable. African American representation in the media was not a thing. It wasn't until 1950 that Blacks were integrated into the NBA. To say the least, it was not a natural thought for a black man to believe that he had a secure spot in the league that ensured wealth -- like it is today.

Because of this, Attles thought practical. He often describes himself as a guy who didn't make a lot of noise, which is what he believes propelled his success at his college alma mater North Carolina A&T -- where he received his bachelor's degree in Physical Education and History along with a master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction while dominating on the school's basketball team.

He had plans to teach at a high school in Newark-- a common profession among people who looked like Attles-- but his high school and college coach saw a different opportunity.

"My high school coach and another teacher in my high school talked me into going and just trying out [for the Warriors]," Attles told Marc Spears of ESPN. "My college and high school coach told me, 'You can make the team.' I said 'OK, I tell you what, I'll go and try out and I'll come back and teach school in Newark.' I actually had accepted a teaching job in Newark. But I got lucky and I went to the Warriors. That's just the way things work."

And Attles made things work for the better. He joined the then Philadelphia Warriors in 1960. While players like Bill Russell had already begun to have success in the league, many players at that time believed they were limited by an unofficial league quota of four black players per team.

Attles did not let the climate of the time deter him from making the best of his situation. He, along with Wilt Chamberlain, became apart of NBA history on March 2, 1962, after combining for 117 points in a single game-- with Wilt scoring 100 points and Attles as the second-leading scorer with 17 points. The regular-season victory over the Knicks not only created a new space in NBA history for the Warriors franchise, but the night also brought a slew of feature articles on national newspapers-- adding to the slimmer of African American representation in mass media as America moved into the Civil Rights Era.

Attles' mark on history did not end on March 2, 1962, despite Wilt Chamberlain being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in July of 1968. Attles moved with the team to the Bay Area at the end of the 1962 season, playing until 1971.

His defensive intensity and grit earned him the nickname, "The Destroyer" while helping the Warriors to Western Conference Finals and NBA Finals -- all in which they fell short. During his final playing year, the then-Warriors owner Franklin Mieuli talked to Attles about coaching the team, to which he agreed.

"I didn't want it. Mr. Mieuli, he talked me into it. He was like a second father to me," Attles told the Undefeated. "We were very close. He just told me that he thought that I could really do some great things as a coach that I couldn't do as a player. As a player, you only think about one thing: playing. The coach, you got to do all these other things. I didn't want to do them all, so I got an assistant coach."

Attles was the second Black coach to grace the NBA, Bill Russell being the first, giving yet another form of representation to a league and era that desperately needed it. His hiring proved to be the right move, as Attles coached the Rick Berry led Warriors to the franchise's second NBA championship in 1975. The victory came over the heavily favored Washington Bullets, making Attles the second African American coach to win an NBA title.

Attles' coaching career continued through 1983, with him compiling a 557-518 regular-season record -- 588-548 including playoffs -- with six playoff appearances in 14 seasons. Attles then continued to work for the Warriors as general manager during the 1983-84 NBA season and returned to the Warriors' bench as an assistant coach during the 1994-95 season. Since then, Attles has served an essential ambassadorial role with the organization, meaning he's been on the Warriors payroll every year for nearly 60 years. Even until this day, he is the longest-serving coach in Warriors history.

"How have I been with the Warriors for 60 years," Attles said. "As I like to say, they never caught up to me."

Al Attles is a piece of the rich cloth that has dominated the NBA for the past five years. His contributions to the Warriors franchise created the footsteps that the current dynastic squad led by Stephen Curry follows.

"I've never been caught up with how many points I scored," Attles said. "I always thought about, am I doing the right thing? Where am I going? Whether it's in school, whether it's in college, whether it's after college with the Warriors. I really cared about doing the right thing for other people. My legacy? Just do what I think is the right thing. That's all I concern myself with."