Watch out for oldly stroke: the Warriors dynasty won its first title … Ten years ago! An epic that marked the beginning of a revolution in the NBA, especially in terms of the game. The strip of Stephen Curry was still young, but managed to take with her a large majority of basketball fans. 10 years later, TrashTalk offers you a series retracing this singular adventure. Episode 8: Diving in the overheated atmosphere of the Oracle Arena!
18 avril 2015, 7000 Coliseum Way, East Oakland.
After a regular season punctuated by an exceptional assessment of 67 victories, the Warriors started that day their quest for the NBA title, at home, facing the New Orleans Pelicans.
The excitation around the Oracle Arena is palpable. This was the case all the season through the exploits of the Stripn Curry band, but it is the first time since the mid -1970s that the Warriors started the playoffs in the favorite costume. What boost the Californian fanbase, already renowned for its unconditional passion.
Game 1 against the Pelicans is scheduled at 12:30 p.m. local time, but the party starts well before.
Two good hours from the in-between, many Warriors fans are already gathered in the parking lot of the Oracle Arena, opposite the Oakland Coliseum (the Oakland A’s baseball stadium), for a tailgate party under the sun. We see blue, white and yellow everywhere. There is a basket that has been specially installed for the occasion, in order to allow fans of dubs to achieve their best imitation of Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson. There are also foodtrucks for those who have the slab. As well as ephemeral shops that sell jerseys, caps and other accessories. There is even the possibility of getting the Warriors logo tattoo. In short, the passion what!
Inside the Oracle Arena, the temperature rises slowly but surely.
The MVP Stephen Curry performs his warm -up session under the admiring eyes of his fans. Logo shots, dribbles with two balloons at the same time … The chef is delighting when the match has not even started yet.
The room is becoming more and more yellow as the 19,596 supporters join their headquarters, where each of them finds a “Strength in Numbers” t-shirt. The Oracle Arena is ready to transform into a real pressure cooker. It is then 12:15 pm, we are a quarter of an hour from the very first step towards a potential NBA title in Golden State.
Under the legendary his “California Love” of 2Pac and Dr. Dre., The five major of the Warriors is presented to the hot boiling public of Oakland. The songs of “MVP! MVP!” Already descend from the stands of the Oracle Arena at the time of the introduction of Steph Curry. And everyone is standing in the room: whether it is the wealthy stars of the first row, like the legendary rapper of the Bay Area E-40, or the Lambda fan located at the top of the arena. Regardless of social status, regardless of its origins, everyone has the same identity within the Oracle. That of being a superfyment of the warriors.
In unison, the Golden State audience pushes his entrance team. And Steve Kerr’s men make it good for him.
The Dubs send a 28-13 in the first quarter to the poor Pelicans, disoriented by the overheated atmosphere of the Oracle Arena. As a symbol: the young star of New Orleans Anthony Davis is in a hassle in the face of the defense of Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green, while Curry sets the tone on the other side of the field with the help of Harrison Barnes. It does not take more for fans to chant “war-ri-ors!“ War-ri-nors! ”.
Golden State widens the gap a little more in the second quarter under the leadership of Klay Thompson, who continues the banderles. But it is at the very end of the first half that the room will really explode: in transition, Stephen Curry succeeds an improbable And-1 on the head of Anthony Davis, left hand please.
The oracle turns into “roaracle”, and there is so much noise in the room that it hurts the ears. “I’m not sure that the level of decibels is legal here, it becomes uncontrollable” said the coach of the PELS Monty Williams after the match. For the anecdote, the highest level of decibels recorded at the Oracle Arena is 118.1 (during the playoffs 2016), the noise of a helicopter taking off.
Widely in mind, the Warriors will control their advance after the break while continuing to do the show. Klay Thompson lets go of a Dunk with a hand on counterattack, in the same place where Baron Davis-Star of the Warriors “We Believe” version-dropped one of the biggest posters in NBA history in 2007.
Anxiety nevertheless begins to seize the Californian public in the last quarter, when the Pelicans make a big run to return to a dozen points. But Stephen Curry plays the firefighters by planting the shoots it takes. Sometimes it is the Dub Nation that transcends players, sometimes it is the players who reassure the public. The magic of the oracle is also it!
For the 40th time in 42 games this season (!), The Warriors end up winning (106-99) in their breathtaking fortress.
“We were excited, we had been waiting for this day for a long time. The guys who have already played a playoff match at the Oracle are aware of the atmosphere, the atmosphere in the room. There was a lot of adrenaline.” – Stephen Curry
At the exit of the room, some fans make the pleasure last with a few inspired dance steps, while others rely on the scenario of the meeting with a smile and a good beer in hand.
An experience at the Oracle Arena in the match day is all that.
On April 18, 2015, Oracle Arena was the heart of Oakland, as so many times in the past. A heart that beats very hard for its warriors. It has been almost 45 years since it has lasted, through the tops but especially the stockings. In a city that has often suffered from its poor reputation (crime), and a franchise that mainly experienced the lose from the late 1970s, Oracle Arena remained a benchmark for bay fans.
Few rooms in the NBA have such a meaning for the community which it brings together. Few NBA teams can boast of having such a connection with their audience.
This is undoubtedly why the Oracle Arena will remain forever a separate arena, even after the departure of the Warriors to San Francisco in 2019.
