Illustration by Nick Ybarra
As you step off the Oakland Coliseum BART stop, cross the pedestrian bridge flooded with fans, buy a $5 bacon-dog and enter Oracle Arena to a wave of “Warriors” chants, you know you just stepped into the heart of Oakland, California.
But the Golden State Warriors are no longer Oakland’s team, or even the Bay Area’s team for that matter, now that they relocated to San Francisco.
The Warriors are San Francisco’s and Silicon Valley’s shiny, new cash-grabbing toy.
The latest slap in the face to Oakland natives and die-hard Warriors fans comes in the form of the new city edition “Oakland Forever” jerseys the team debuted this season.
The jerseys are supposed to pay homage to the “We Believe” team that upset the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the 2007 NBA Playoffs and celebrate the 47 years when the team called East Oakland home.
This doesn’t sit well with Oaklanders.
In a Feb. 1 SFGATE article, the designer of the 2017 “The Town” Warriors jerseys, Dustin Canalin, called the newest jerseys “forced,” “a grab for leftover emotional baggage” and “a jersey for new fans.”
Canalin’s 2017 jersey design incorporated the famous Oakland symbol of an oak tree that traces back to the ‘70s, and the nickname “The Town,” opposite of San Francisco’s nickname
“The City.”
As an Oakland native myself, I rally behind Canalin’s design more than the new “Oakland Forever” jerseys because the symbols and meanings behind the jersey embody the Oakland spirit, grit and culture.
Quite frankly it’s disrespectful to have “Oakland” on the front of the new jerseys when the team is no longer in Oakland.
In the Warriors’ history, the team has been named the “San Francisco Warriors” and the “Golden State Warriors,” but never the “Oakland Warriors.”
The “Oakland Forever” jerseys highlight the Bay Area’s ongoing gentrification as the Warriors have begun to outprice their loyal fans in recent years.
In an Oct. 24, 2019 San Francisco Chronicle article, it was reported that a lower-bowl corner seat at San Francisco’s Chase Center would cost you $275, compared to $185 at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
Not to mention the price of food, drinks and team merchandise rose as a result of the move to San Francisco. The article also points out how season ticket holders are required to pay $45 to park at the Chase Center but parking was free at Oracle Arena.
Nearly 30% of season ticket holders didn’t renew with the Warriors after its relocation to San Francisco because of skyrocketing prices, according to the article. Go figure.
Let’s face it, San Francisco is expensive. Yes, Oakland fans only have to travel 11 miles across the Bay Bridge to watch the Warriors, but the ticket and experience is too steep of a price and fans are forced to watch games from home.
So if die-hard fans, who are largely minorities and people of color, stay at home – who goes to the games? White people from San Francisco and Silicon Valley with deep pockets.
And I guarantee you, they will be wearing those “Oakland Forever” jerseys as they leave 10 minutes before the game ends to avoid traffic.
Look, I get that the San Francisco relocation will make the Warriors more money in the future compared to if the team stayed in Oakland.
But trading away your soul, in this case a loyal fanbase of 47 years, for money isn’t right.
It’s not the arena that makes the environment electric, it’s the generations of supporters. It’s the custodians who’ve worked 30 years with the team, the local vendors selling hot dogs at the Bart station or the DJ who knows all the Bay Area hype music.
At least the former Oakland, now Las Vegas Raiders, moved to a different state. The Warriors chose the gloss of San Francisco and the money of Silicon Valley across the bay. That
hurts more.
Oaklanders having to watch the Warriors play in San Francisco is the equivalent of your ex marrying someone richer, but still inviting you to their wedding as friends.
The connection is still there but you know it’ll never be the same.