Golden State Warriors And March Madness

golden state warriors and march madness (Photo: Associated Press)

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament has officially begun. March Madness is sweeping the nation and the Golden State Warriors’ locker room.

Many of the Warriors’ players have created their own brackets and are participating in various bracket challenges.

For his monthly #SC30 contest, Stephen Curry started his second annual NCAA Tournament Bracket Challenge. Fans were able to enter their bracket into the SC30Bracket group, and the fan that finishes the challenge with the most points wins a pair of his Under Armour birthday shoes.

Harrison Barnes is participating in the Red Bull Bracket Challenge along with other athletes, including some NBA players such as John Wall and Anthony Davis. Click here for Harrison’s bracket:

In addition to creating their own brackets, the Warriors are have created their own March Madness Tournament in the form of a three-point shooting bracket challenge, which we are hashtagging on Twitter as #DubBracket.

It all started during the Warriors’ past road trip when they held three-point contests between players and coaches.

Klay Thompson and Mark Jackson beat Marreese Speights and Draymond Green in a post-practice shooting contest in New York, and Coach Jackson infamously swept Curry in a three-point contest recently too:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dg7bLL5Kgo&w=560&h=315]

These contests have led to this three-point shooting bracket challenge with 16 contestants, including both players and coaches. The rules and competitors were posted on Curry’s Mobli account, as well as on his (alleged) Instagram account.

We made a cleaner version of it:

Andrew Bogut even got in on the action yesterday afternoon at practice, as he took part in a contest with assistant coach Darren Erman.

Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle reported on how Bogut, David Lee, and Jermaine O’Neal did in their first round matchups:

While Iguodala was inactive during Wednesday’s practice, Bogut and O’Neal participated in lighthearted “play-in” games for the Warriors’ three-point shooting bracket challenge. Bogut won his competition against an assistant coach, but O’Neal and power forward David Lee each lost to assistants.
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“The winner of our game had Steph (Curry next), so basically it’s like Albany and Mount St. Mary’s, and the winner gets the Gators,” joked Lee, an alum of NCAA Tournament top-seed Florida. “I was probably better off losing now, rather than facing the embarrassment of going against maybe the greatest three-point shooter to ever touch a basketball.”
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Jackson, who beat Curry a couple weeks ago to spawn the bracket, had a different idea.
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“I say, ‘Why waste our time? Turn the lights on. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, meet me at the three-point line, and let’s get this over with,’ ” Jackson said.

Many Warriors fans have wanted to see a three-point shootout between the Splash Brothers, and this might be their chance to witness it.

Here’s Laurence Scott with an update on the bracket challenge as well from this past Wednesday:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1joVn3ifxs&w=560&h=315]

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