The Oracle Arena crowd is buzzing. It’s so loud that the opposing players can’t hear themselves during timeout huddles.
Must be another Golden State Warrior home game where a sea of yellow exists in the stands and every Stephen Curry 3-pointer brings the decibel level ever closer to that of a jet engine.
Too bad every game can’t be in Oakland.
But, at least when our Road Warriors are away from home, they can bring a little piece of the San Francisco Bay with them via their away jerseys, right?
Last week I celebrated the return of the bridge icon jerseys with a look into the Dubs past home unis. This week lets see where this newly brought back jersey ranks among the past road editions.
1962-1965: SAN FRANCISCO BEGINNINGS
Much like its home counterpart, the initial Warriors road unis were boringly simple at best.
A mere “San Francisco” text at the top of the jersey, let the rest of the league know the team no longer played in the “City of Brotherly Love.
Above, you see Mr. Wilt Chamberlain happily showcasing this while caressing the ball like a hand to a marble.
1998-2010: PHOENIX SUN-WARRIORS
During the Chris Cohan era of lightning and super heroes, the team ushered out “Golden Gate Bridge – Orange” jerseys for special away games.
I hate the Phoenix Suns. I despise Charles Barkley, Dan Majerle, Steve Nash and even the Phoenix Gorilla.
They’ve all worn bright orange jerseys while terrorizing our Warriors for most of the past three decades.
Don’t these uniforms at close glance look eerily similar? Enough said.
1998-2010: UGH-LY
At least these Cohan era road jerseys were “Warrior-blue”.
They still, however, conjure up memories of being blown out from Staples Arena to the Boston Garden for the better part of twelve seasons.
Next.
1988-1997: RUNNING TMC TIME AWAY FROM THE BAY
These road jerseys were made famous by the winning ways of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin.
They still follow along the same boring-esque simple Warriors text jerseys of the 60’s.
Winning trumps fashion, however, and that’s why these uniforms have a special place in our hearts.
2011 to present: THE CITY IS BACK
Curry & Company are fast making these “new-retros” uber likable in the Bay Area again. Why wouldn’t they?
The bridge icon is back. The original color scheme is back. Curry and Klay Thompson while wearing these jerseys are hitting 3’s back to back.
What’s not to like?
1966-1971: THE ORIGINAL CITY ON THE ROAD
(Again) much like their home counterparts, this jersey is usually the fan favorite when it comes to Warriors road attire.
The original bridge icon, use of “the City” and sharp color scheme set this one apart from others.
The cable car image on the back, simply puts it over the top.
1972-1987: STARS AND MAPS AWAY FROM HOME
Why are these road unis ranked above “the City-bridges”, especially given what I just wrote?
Nostalgia you could say is a mixture of memory, symbolism and emotion. That’s why this one takes the top nod.
The Warriors won their one and only title in these uniforms at the Capital Center (DC) in game 4 over the heavily favored Washington Bullets back in ’75.
Though this uniform over the years would see subtle changes from “Golden State” to “Warriors” to different shades of blue, it always represented the organization away from home at its highest peak.
Here’s to hoping years from now the current away jersey overtakes this spot.
That way we’d have a couple more championships to celebrate, right?
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