Are the Golden State Warriors Really “The Bay’s Team”?

“The Bay’s team is the best team,” quipped Golden State Warriors radio announcer Tim Roye as the buzzer sounded on the franchise’s first championship since 1975.

You here that a lot these days — that the Warriors are “the Bay’s team,” representing the entire Bay Area, not belonging to any one side of the bay. It’s true in a certain context, because in a region with battle lines drawn between San Francisco and Oakland with the Giants and A’s and the 49ers and Raiders, the Warriors are the lone NBA team and therefore a squad that can be universally supported by San Francisco and Oakland fans alike.

But although everyone in the Bay Area was happy that the Warriors are at long last NBA champions, there is no question the city of Oakland lays a larger claim to the Warriors than any other city. They’ve played in Oakland since 1971. They practice in Oakland. The parade was in Oakland.

Jun 19, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Fans gather before the Golden State Warriors 2015 championship celebration at the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center overlooking Lake Merritt. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

I was at the parade on Friday, interviewing fans along the route for a story on SFBay capturing the atmosphere and vibe in the crowd. And from the general reaction of those in attendance, there was a fair contingent of fans upset about the team moving to San Francisco by the 2018-2019 season,

One fan quoted in the story was Brian Mulhem, who has followed the Warriors since 1960s and is an employee at Oracle Arena. Mulhem described the experience as “bittersweet” because “the fact that they’re leaving Oakland is sad. Oakland is out here in force today to support their team, and it’s being taken away from them.”

Other fans were just as divisive between the two sides of the bay. Said Cliff McElroy, “This is the first championship on the Oakland side of the bay, which is totally different from the San Francisco side of the bay. These are our teams over here. We’re very happy we’re having our championship over here.”

And then there was Darmel Rahsaan, who, as I noted in the SFBay story, brought his two young children and wanted them to experience the momentous event. But he also went on a lengthy diatribe about the expected move to San Francisco, pledging to become a Kings fan after this season because of ticket pricing and loyalty.

“I remember the days when you could go sit anywhere for $9,” he said. “That’s just not happening nowadays. I appreciate what happened [this season]. I love it, but I got to move on.

“It’s for my kids, mostly. Me, personally I’ve got to move on. I’m going to be a Kings fan because the Kings are staying in Sacramento.”

It makes you wonder how many will do the same. Sacramento is the closest NBA city to the Bay Area, just an hour and a half’s drive away from Oakland. A couple of seasons ago, the Kings were on the verge of moving to Seattle before being saved by a new ownership group with the backing of a fiercely loyal fanbase and grassroots movement. It’s very similar to the Warriors’ fanbase before they erupted onto the championship scene — fiercely loyal and supportive of a subpar franchise.

Oakland is a proud city. It was once the sports capital of the world when the A’s won three straight championships from 1972-1974, followed by titles for the Warriors (1975) and Raiders (1976). But its reputation has taken a hit in recent years with violence, economic stagnation and the immense growth of its neighboring region (San Francisco and the development of Silicon Valley). As Oakland has been repeatedly left behind in the dust, its sports teams have become a way to unite, one of the few positives and bragging rights of “The Town.”

Dec 21, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; General view of the O.co Coliseum before the NFL game between the Buffalo Bills and Oakland Raiders. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

And it may even lose that. The Warriors are moving out by the end of the decade. The Raiders are seriously flirting with relocating to Southern California once again. And the A’s have attempted to build a new stadium for years, making it known their dissatisfaction with the Coliseum.

As I walked along the parade route, I overheard many conversations going something like, “Soak it all in. We’re going to lose all three of our teams pretty soon,” followed by a begrudging nod or grunt.

There seems to be a rising tension between San Francisco and Oakland fans, made worse in recent years with the Giants winning three World Series in five years in their shiny, waterfront ballpark and the 49ers opening a gleaming new stadium in the heart of Silicon Valley while the A’s and Raiders flounder in the run-down Coliseum. All of the above makes the Warriors moving to San Francisco seem like a gigantic punch to the gut, a middle finger to loyal Oakland fans who have supported their team through decades of appalling basketball only to see the franchise bolt for greener pastures at the earliest opportunity.

So with all that being said, are the Warriors really “The Bay’s Team”? If they move away from the place they have called home for the past 34 years, threaten to change their name to represent San Francisco, and vault up their ticket prices to essentially banish the same fans who have supported them through a rough 40 years, then who do they really stand for?

Jun 16, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors fans celebrate during a watch party for game 6 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

This isn’t like the 49ers moving their stadium from San Francisco to Santa Clara, two extremely gentrified regions. This is a move from Oakland to San Francisco, cities with two very different environments despite being separated by just a small body of water.

Most Oakland fans will probably still support the Warriors after they move across the bay, which is expected to happen by the 2018-2019 season. They will still watch the games, still cheer on Stephen Curry‘s long-range bombs, still crowd bars during the playoffs. But there will be a nagging feeling, an unremitting sentiment that they got cheated, robbed, and stripped clean of their prized possession by their rich neighbor who already has a monopoly on all valuable assets in the neighborhood.

For loyal Oakland fans like Darmel Rahsaan, they have had enough.

“San Francisco is an economic leech,” he pouted. “Record that. San Francisco is an economic leech. It’s important to leave the money in Oakland.”