It has been a long forty years. The vast majority of the Golden State Warriors‘ “2.0” fanbase with the nickname “DubNation” probably was not even born when the franchise won its lone NBA championship, but the fever now is intense, as evidenced by the trendy NBA Finals hats worn by the players selling out quickly at local malls:
Sold out within an hour! #Warriors #NBAFinals https://t.co/J3le6WesYi pic.twitter.com/Z3T94JWELN
— LetsGoWarriors (@LetsGoWarriors) May 31, 2015
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Where did it all begin? Let’s take a trip back in time…
Beating The Chicago Bulls In The 1975 Western Conference Finals
What an era it was, as Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News wrote:
”When you got up in the morning back then,” Thurmond said, “you looked at the schedule not to see who you played, but where you played. Then you got in your car and drove to wherever.”
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The “wherever” part could also pose challenges. The best Warrior ever, Rick Barry, frequently referred to the San Jose Civic Auditorium as “kind of a nice little dump.” He also recalled how teammate Al Attles became particularly famous in the building because his pell-mell drives downcourt often ended with him unable to stop his momentum. This caused him to sprint right through the wide open doors beneath one basket and right into the San Jose Civic front lobby.
The way Bulls fans saw it, the Warriors got lucky back in 1975, even before they surprisingly swept the Washington Bullets in the NBA Finals, as Sam Smith of NBA.com wrote:
Back then playoff series with arena uncertainties and TV issues still made the NBA almost a barnstorming league. The home team had the choice of sequence. The Warriors with the better record in order to get some early rest chose a 1-2-2-1-1 series starting in Oakland. The Bulls had beaten the Warriors three of four that season (travel was limited by geography to save money), and Boerwinkle and Thurmond had dominated Golden State’s Cliff Ray, the former Bull traded for Thurmond, and George Johnson. Love and Walker matched the scoring of Rick Barry and rookie Keith (later Jamaal) Wilkes. Sloan and Van Lier had dominated Warriors guards Butch Beard and Charles Johnson. In the end, though, the Bulls would be run down by their overuse as Warriors coach Al Attles deftly kept throwing depth at the Bulls.
Defeating The Washington Bullets For The 1975 NBA Championship
- “‘Togetherness’ One Of A Few Similarities of 1975 Championship Warriors And 2014-15 Squad”, by Ryan Viera, LetsGoWarriors.com
- “Who were those guys? A look back at the 1974-1975 Warriors”, by John Cannon of Crossover Chronicles
Decades Of Futility
Chris Ballard of SportsIllustrated:
Meanwhile, the Bay Area is besotted. An Oakland brewer sells DubNation IPA; Berkeley buses read GO WARRIORS! instead of a destination; local band Stroke 9 recorded a song called “Dem Dubs Doh’ to the theme of the Love Boat. Longtime fans are unsure what to do. They’ve never been overdogs before. Rather, their touchstones are flashes of unsustainable brilliance: Floyd’s magical night; Run-TMC knocking off the Spurs in the first round in 1991; the “We Believe” team upsetting the top-seeded Mavericks in 2007 in the first round (still the loudest I’ve ever heard a basketball arena); Baron Davis blowing up Andrei Kirilenko (in a series the Warriors lost). So now they exist in a state of bewildered euphoria. Jeff Chang, a season-ticket holder who wore Purvis Short’s number 45 when he played high school ball, returned from watching the Game 1 win over the Rockets in the conference finals and realized he’d totally forgotten that night’s draft lottery. Which was funny, Chang told me, “considering that was usually the highlight of any season after December.”
- “Warriors fan to Cleveland fan: Dub Nation, Oakland deserve title for decades of unwavering support”, by Robert Salunga, San Jose Mercury News
Lacob Throws Down The Gauntlet, But Gets Booed At The Onset
Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle:
Speaking of a refusal to capitulate, this is a good time to recall the Warriors’ state of affairs in January 2011. With the team languishing well below .500 and looking for big nights from players like Andris Biedrins, co-owner Joe Lacob made this proclamation to the Bay Area News Group: “There is nothing that is going to stop us from winning at a high and consistent level. Nothing. I intend for this to be the iconic franchise of the NBA, period, end of story, and we’re going to do it. The only question is when.”
Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group:
“I know there were a lot of promises early on, a little bravado,” Lacob said. “A lot of that was just goal-setting there for an organization to turn it around.
Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group:
“I think for him it was another step, another lesson in what it means to be in the public eye and especially as a steward of this franchise,” Kirk Lacob said.
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“After talking with him, I knew he was hurt, but I also knew he’d come back from it pretty strong. He likes to use the word ‘relentless’ a lot.”
Setting The Tone For 2014-15
Sam Amick of USA Today:
Long before the Golden State Warriors would dominate the 2014-15 regular season and win their way into the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers that start on Thursday, co-owner Joe Lacob wrote his goals for the coming season on a piece of paper and hid it inside his office desk.
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“I thought we were a lot better than a 51-win team,” Lacob, whose team entered the playoffs with a 67-15 mark, told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday night while celebrating his team’s Western Conference Finals win over the Houston Rockets. “I didn’t write 60 (wins on the paper), but it was damn close. It was high 50s. Our goal, as I’ve said all along, was to get to the Western Conference Finals. That was our goal, to get to the Western Conference Finals. Anything beyond that, I think we exceeded our goal.”
Jeff Faraudo of the Bay Area News Group:
The first time Harrison Barnes talked on the phone with Steve Kerr last year, the new Warriors coach didn’t promise him a starting job. He offered something better.
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Kerr, who won five NBA titles as a player with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs, was working the NBA Finals as a TV analyst when he reached out to Barnes.
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“Oh man, the Finals, it’s a great experience. It’s so fun to be in,” Kerr told him. “It may sound crazy, but I think we have the potential to be there.”
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It took Barnes a moment to digest the outlandish notion. “I was thinking, ‘OK, that’s pretty optimistic thinking.'”
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“If we just tweak a few things,” Kerr went on, “I think we can get there. A little less isolation, a little more ball movement, you’ll be much more successful.”
“There’s a message there. I think from every part of the organization, from this office where I sit, from Rick Welts and from Steve Kerr and from Bob Myers, we’re extremely pleased by the performance of the organization and by the team and we’re really happy to be here.” — Lacob
Ethan Strauss of ESPN.com:
To maintain their (hopefully) metaphorical killer instinct, the Warriors must focus amid this week’s chaos. To quell James, they must draw on what they’ve learned this season. Should they do that, should they win a championship, they’ll have taught the league a thing or two about defense. And there’s still much to learn, going forward.
I think I’m still very much, along with Peter and our group… We’re very intense, we’re very focused on the prize and not just on the prize this year.
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We’re focused on creating an organization that can be competing for the prize every year. Sustained excellence.
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We take a very long-term view, whether it’s in respect to the operation of the team, the team itself, the arena.
DubNation’s Appreciation
Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports:
Warriors general manager Bob Myers, who is a life-long Warriors fan from nearby Danville, Calif., remembers the franchise’s dark days.
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“Growing up here it’s pretty surreal,” Myers told Yahoo Sports. “I’m excited for the people who have worked for the organization a long time and the fans. I walk around town and hear people say, ‘I’ve been a Warriors fan for 20 years, 30 years.’
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“If anybody deserves it, it’s them. It’s fulfilling to hear people say, ‘Thank you.’ A lot of people have been waiting a long time. We still hopefully can keep going and get four more [wins].”
- “For Warriors’ longtime voice Barnett, timing finally perfect”, by Daniel Brown of the San Jose Mercury News
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @airbiggs)
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