The world champion Golden State Warriors open up their pre-season schedule tonight in San Jose at SAP Center (formerly known as HP Pavilion). The first 10,000 fans will receive a Stephen Curry bobblehead that features him wearing a San Jose Sharks jersey.
It’s this recent glorious season that makes many of the past horrible seasons somewhat digestible.
Somewhat.
The return to San Jose brings back one of those memories of the 1996-97 Warriors, who played the entire regular season at the San Jose Arena, home of the Sharks since 1993. During that time, “The Arena in Oakland” — later renamed Oracle Arena in 2006 — was being renovated. San Jose Arena would later be renamed to the Compaq Center, then HP Pavilion, then SAP Center.
1996-97 was also one of those years that most loyal Dubs fans had grown accustomed to ugliness. Results and performance would always outweigh hope related to “on-paper roster potential”, as well as bad chemistry in the front office and on the court.
Whether you were willing to make the trip to the South Bay or you had always lived there, seeing a Warriors game at the “Shark Tank” quickly became a souring experience. As usual, what was frustrating was that the pieces seemed to be there. They just never materialized to wins.
Roster
On paper, like so many times before, the Warriors roster seemed to have a lot of exciting young pieces to match some decent veterans. An aging Mark Price and Latrell Spreewell ran the backcourt, while Chris Mullin and second year hopeful Joe Smith held the front court.
With BJ Amrstrong, Donyell Marshall and a young Todd Fuller coming off the bench, it appeared that the team had a decent balance of offensive fire power and size to try and match up with some other Western Conferences powers.
Coaching Staff
Head coach Rick Adelman returned for a second season at the helm and was looking to build on the 37-win season he had established in the year previous with less of a squad.
Adelman was still fresh off a ten year stint with the Portland Trail Blazers, where he had transformed a middle-of-the-road organization into a perennial power including two trips to the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992. This would never materialize, not only the season in San Jose, but with the Warriors overall under his tutelage.
Season
In front of their temporary new digs in the South Bay on opening day, the Warriors lost a close one to the Los Angeles Clippers, followed by eight more losses their first eleven games, a hole they would never dig out of. Each month as the losses mounted, the Warriors found themselves further and further behind the pack and ready to embrace for another draft lottery.
Frustration reached toxic levels during March when the team spiraled in a seven-game losing streak capped by four overtime loses during the streak. By seasons end, the team would finish 30-52 and last in the Pacific Division, at the bottom of the conference.
Ironically, even with a season of constant losing, having professional basketball in San Jose for the first time, crowds continued to flock to the arena in San Jose, helping the Warriors finish sixth-highest in the league in attendance.
Epilogue
The Warriors offense with Sprewell and Mullin were a respectful 11th in the league in points scored, but dead last in the league in defense and rebounding told more of the true story. Smith, the team’s first overall pick in the Draft just two years prior, seemed to regress and ownership overall felt the team was once again moving backward.
Adelman was fired at the end of the season and replaced by PJ Carlesimo. Mullin, the last remaining cog of Run TMC, was jettisoned to the Indiana Pacers.
The Warriors moved back to new newly renovated arena in Oakland for the 1997-98 season, but resumed its dark ages of basketball under the ownership of Chris Cohan, with a new mascot named Thunder and orange as the secondary color of the team.
The San Jose Arena, even with the bad brand of basketball it enduring during in 1996-97, did enough to entice other teams as a possible future destination for an NBA team ready to relocate, such as when Larry Ellison reportedly offered to buy the Memphis Grizzlies and move them there.
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