That time the Warriors almost boycotted a game
The Golden State Warriors were prepared to boycott a playoff series if Commissioner Adam Silver didn’t get rid of the racist Donald Sterling.
Three Golden State Warriors have publicly supported the protests started by Colin Kaepernick. Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and Draymond Green have all chimed in. Athletes both in the NFL and beyond have taken a seat or a knee during the national anthem in order to express their frustrations with systemic racism in the country.
The NBA season is starting sooner than later and it will be interesting to see if the Warriors organize their own protest. It’s important to note that Golden State is no stranger to organizing a response to a social issue. They almost boycotted before.
In the 2014 playoffs–before the Warriors were a legitimate championship contender–they met with the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round. The Clippers were in the middle of a controversy as owner Donald Sterling’s racism was brought to the light. For years, Sterling operated and thrived off racism.
Adam Silver, new to being NBA commissioner, had to find a way to deal with Sterling. The entire sports world weighed in on the issue. The spotlight was on the Clippers and, by extension, the Warriors. They, too, had tough decisions to make.
According to Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group, the Warriors were prepared to stage a boycott. Everyone was pleading with Silver to rid the league of Sterling’s awful presence and force him to give up the team. Golden State was ready to make a statement. They were going to show the world that they weren’t going to stand for anything less than a permanent punishment for the bigoted owner.
The team was going to go through their pre-game routine all the way up to tip-off. When the referee threw the ball in the air, they were going to walk off the court. They wouldn’t play the game. They wouldn’t perform for a league that let a horrible human being own a franchise.
They hoped that the Clippers would join them. Knowing Chris Paul and all of the great work that he does, he surely would have agreed to also staging a boycott. The issue was bigger than basketball.
Rising star Stephen Curry said this was the only appropriate response. He said:
"“It would have been our only chance to make a statement in front of the biggest audience that we weren’t going to accept anything but the maximum punishment. We would deal with the consequences later but we were not going to play.”"
Silver pulled the trigger and ended up getting rid of Sterling. The Warriors didn’t need to protest and they played the games. Without Andrew Bogut, the young Warriors lost to the Clippers in seven games.
NFL players have taken the lead in this new form of protest. But NBA players will soon have to make a decision. According to Thompson, Curry and Draymond Green were two of the players that came up with the idea of walking out. Both of those players have spoken up now.
The players have a lot to lose and you can’t blame them if they don’t organize anything. It’s hard to tell someone to do something that will negatively impact their wallet. It’s not right. But the Warriors have shown a willingness to make a bold statement before.
As the hottest show in sports with all eyes on them, perhaps they’ll do it again.