OAKLAND, Calif. — Before the 2010-11 season opener at Oracle Arena, soon after Joe Lacob bought the Warriors, the new owner came onto the court, microphone in hand. Without a prepared speech, he simply pointed to a gold banner hanging from the rafters that read — “1974-75 NBA Champions.”
“If you look up there, that’s a very lonely flag,” Lacob said. “We want another one.”
By late Monday night, Lacob’s Warriors might have another two. With Golden State up 3-1 on LeBron James’ Cavaliers, back-to-back NBA championships is in the offing — even if Draymond Green is suspended.
“We know we have the personnel and the depth to come out and get a win,” Stephen Curry said. “That’s all that matters.”
Back-to-back titles after a 40-year title drought should give Knicks fans hope things could eventually turn as sweet as it has in the Bay Area. In 2006, the Warriors held the NBA’s longest playoff drought (12 seasons) and missed the postseason in 17 of 18 years.
But it’s been an embarrassment of sports riches in recent years here — an athletic gold rush. Just 40 miles south on Interstate 880 on Sunday night, the Bay Area’s NHL team, the San Jose Sharks, hosted Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final vs. the Penguins. When the Warriors were in Cleveland last week, GM Bob Myers, a friend of San Jose’s front office, took the two-hour drive to Pittsburgh to watch Sharks-Penguins, Game 5.
Over the weekend, the Giants-Dodgers warred at AT&T Park — 1-2 in the NL West. The Giants have won three World Series in six years (2010, 2012, 2014). This being an even year, superstitious sports analysts have the Giants winning it all in 2016.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr spent his late Sunday afternoon at the ballpark instead of with his assistant coaches, getting a huge hand when shown on the scoreboard, soaking in the new World Series banners.
Kerr can do no wrong — the man Lacob stole away from Knicks president Phil Jackson two springs ago. As we’ve noted in this space, fate is cruel. If the Warriors had beaten the Clippers in Game 7 of their 2014 first-round series, Mark Jackson remains head coach and Kerr moves to Tarrytown with his wife Margot, a Westchester native.
In The Finals, Kerr has outcoached Tyronn Lue, finding the right spare part off the bench in all three wins — James Michael McAdoo and Anderson Varejao the latest to spark a win. Now Kerr needs one more trick up his sleeve Monday, filling Green’s gap.
Kerr must say, “Don’t stop moving the ball” — or a variation of that phrase — 170 times a week to his team. He deserved two Coach of the Year Awards, not just one.
When Curry split the Cavaliers’ defense with a floater off the glass with two minutes left to seal Friday’s road win, the roars went up from Oakland’s Mosswood Park to Oracle, where fans jammed the place to watch on a big screen, to the streets of San Francisco.
For the first time in franchise history, the Warriors now have a chance to clinch it in Oakland. The unexpected, underdog Warriors of 1974-75 won the crown in Baltimore. Curry’s band celebrated last season’s title in their light blue-and-gold uniforms in Cleveland. When Mike Breen shouted last June, “The NBA championship is back in the Bay for the first time in 40 years,” his chirping came at Quicken Loans Arena.
Only four local teams ever have clinched a title on Bay Area soil — the 1973 A’s (over the Mets), the 1974 A’s, the 1984-85 49ers and the 1989 A’s.
“For sure, it’s [more special],” Shaun Livingston said. “It gives us a different taste, a new opportunity to win at home in front of our fans.”
In a documentary on Golden State’s 2014-15 season, Curry is shown, amid the spraying champagne in the visitors’ locker room, admiring the trophy while cradling it.
“Looks better in person, too,” Curry said.
It may also feel better celebrating on home turf.