The Golden State Warriors now live in San Francisco, but for many of the players and coaches who have brought championships to the Bay Area in recent years, the connection is with Oakland – the city where the team played for 47 years and recently to five consecutive years went. NBA Finals in Oracle Arena – Remains Stronger Than Ever. Those roots were evident when the Warriors staff discussed what it meant for them to wear their new “Oakland Forever” jerseys – with Oakland on their chest – debuting in Wednesday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs.
“That’s fire,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said during a video conference with reporters following Monday night’s win at the Los Angeles Lakers. “You know, I rock with Oakland; that’s my second home. The soul of our team is from Oakland. That’s exactly what it is. The soul of this organization is built in Oakland; that’s just the reality.”
The jerseys, which made the “We Believe” Warriors famous during a playoff run in 2007, are blue with Oakland in gold lettering with an orange outline. They are part of the City Edition collection that Nike puts together in the competition every year.
“Love the jerseys,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr after Tuesday’s practice. “I think they look really good, and the fact that they say Oakland on them is just amazing. I will forever have five years of incredible memories playing at Oracle and practicing every day in Oakland at our facility, living in the East Bay.
“Those guys are right: Oakland will forever remain a big part of our identity and our roots. We are a Bay Area team. Obviously, the team played in San Francisco before playing in Oakland, which is why we are very “proud of us. in representing the entire bay. But Oakland will always have a special place in our hearts.”
The Warriors moved into their new home, Chase Center in San Francisco prior to the 2019-2020 season. While staff understood the move, given the huge revenue opportunities in the sparkling new building that cost more than $ 1 billion to construct, it was difficult for many to leave the East Bay due to their affinity with the community they grew.
For Warriors star Stephen Curry, the jerseys are a reminder of his NBA beginnings. The Warriors took the Davidson product with the seventh choice in the 2009 NBA draft, making him the last player on the current roster to wear the ‘We Believe’ shirt during his first season in the league.
“They were fire,” Curry said Monday night, referring in this case to what those plains were made of. “But that was the old stuff; they were heavy as hell. That was all I remember; you put those on versus how they make them now, it’s night and day. But the look is just so classic. you think of old school, you think of this franchise, Oakland, the expression of what we were, those jerseys are front and center, for the mind. ”
The Warriors wore the white version of the “We Believe” jerseys during the final game of the regular season at Oracle Arena during the 2018/19 season, but this will be the first time the group will be able to wear a jersey that actually says Oakland .
“The last time we wore them, the last game of the regular season in ’19 at Oracle, it was just a great time to bring them back,” Curry said. Clearly, having Oakland across the chest now is special. We have many fond memories of that side of the [Bay] Bridge. Pay respects to that era of Warrior basketball. And it’s clearly special to me because my rookie year; I was the only one on this team who wore them, so it’s pretty special. “