The Oakland Years

They could not have imagined this. Through decades of drought and despair, Warriors fans took pleasure in the little things: a surprising win, a spectacular play, a courtside celebrity sighting. The playoffs were every bit as fleeting as a gopher popping his head above ground, then quickly vanishing. Every so often, magic would spring forth. The Warriors won the championship in 1975, and it seemed the dawning of a glorious era. Well, it was a nice thought. Only now, in a different century, has the sensation become real: three titles in the past four years, with no end in sight. The Warriors have a grip on the NBA, and it’s a stranglehold.

The Warriors Magazine It's the end of an era with the Warriors about to play their final East Bay season before moving to San Francisco's Chase Center. This collectors magazine takes you back to the Warriors start in Oakland, their ascension to #1, and finally their look to the future in San Francisco.

Purchase It's the end of an era with the Warriors about to play their final East Bay season before moving to San Francisco's Chase Center. This collectors magazine takes you back to the Warriors start in Oakland, their ascension to #1, and finally their look to the future in San Francisco.

To have forecast such an outcome in the lean years, so badly littered with incompetence and disappointment, would have yielded nothing but scorn. You’re kidding, right? The Warriors? It was simply beyond comprehension.

We find this franchise so successful now that clouds of resentment and jealousy are welling throughout the league. As fans and media lament, teams desperately plot ways to take down the Golden State machine. It is beginning to resemble the great Boston Celtics dynasty of the late-’50s and mid-’60s, not only appearing in eight straight Finals, but winning them all.

What the national audience might not realize is that the Warriors have dominated a rather esoteric category for 30 years: fan support. Undying loyalty comes easily for franchises known for winning, but that didn’t seem to matter at Oracle Arena — or as it was known for so many years, the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena.

Who goes to watch a team that has been particularly awful and shows no signs of life? Over a 12-year period (1995-2006), the Warriors didn’t come close to a .500 record. Quite often, they ranked among the worst teams in the league. And, yet, they averaged nearly 14,000 fans per game during that period, a figure suggesting uproariously good fun and pleasant drives home.

This is an Oakland story. Like its basketball team, “The Town” has been bolstered and revitalized in recent years, gaining new identity and appeal, but it’s a town that never lost its soul. We speak also of farewell, with the Warriors about to play their final East Bay season before moving to San Francisco’s Chase Center. The new scene will be spectacular, with nothing but good times in the forecast. Oakland checks out with a clean slate, all about knowledge, loyalty, seeing the bigger picture of a sporting experience. And that is the greatest triumph of all.