Oakland celebrates its Warriors
The streets of Oakland were awash in yellow and blue as hundreds of thousands of fans watched and cheered the Golden State Warriors’ victory parade, which has been 40 years in the making.
In a rare moment of glory, Oakland – a California city that usually makes news for crime, corruption, protests and violence – shined in the national spotlight.
On Friday, blue-and-gold-clad fans flooded downtown to see the NBA championship players, MC Hammer, six floats and, of course, the championship trophy, won after the team bested LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers.
People started lining up as early as 3 a.m., and city officials estimated at least 500,000 fans packed the streets when the parade started about 10 a.m.
Kamala Moore arrived at the parade route at 4:15 a.m. “It’s history in the making,” she said.
“Oh my gosh, I really want to see Riley (Curry),” she said, referring to the 2-year-old daughter of Stephen Curry, her favorite player.
At Children’s Fairyland, an amusement park on Lake Merritt, it was all about Riley on Friday as the large colorful sign was changed to read “Rileyland.”
The mayors of San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland were all in the parade showing support for the team at a time when Oakland officials are fighting to keep the NBA champions from relocating across the San Francisco Bay. The Warriors have purchased land in San Francisco, where they plan to build a privately financed arena.
Warriors fans and city leaders alike have stood behind their team through the season, and on Friday they basked in the glory of the team’s first NBA title in four decades.
The team won 105-97 in the Game 6 clincher Tuesday night.
Hawks buy out Ferry
The Atlanta Hawks have agreed to a buyout of the final two years of general manager Danny Ferry’s contract, a person with knowledge of the agreement told the Associated Press.
The person said the buyout will be paid by the current ownership group, which has a deal to sell the team for $850 million to a group led by billionaire businessman Antony Ressler.
This past season, Atlanta won a franchise-record 60 games before losing to Cleveland in its first Eastern Conference final. Ferry had to watch from a distance. He has been on an indefinite leave of absence following racially derogatory comments he made last year.