The NBA (kinda) returns to Roar-acle for one night

“Shaboozey just packed Pablo Schreiber” were not words I’d ever thought I’d hear in an NBA arena. 

But then again the All-Star Celebrity Game is not an NBA game and Oakland Arena (previously known for its decade-long run as Roar-acle) has not technically been an NBA arena since the Warriors decamped for San Francisco’s Chase Center in 2019.

The roster for the two teams coached by Bay Area sports legends Barry Bonds and Jerry Rice featured the regular murderer’s row of B-list stars, TV actors, retired athletes, and musicians. 

Then there were the gimmicks: The Ruffles four-point line, the “Crunch Time” point multiplier also sponsored by Ruffles, and an incident where the gorilla mascot walked influencer Kai Cenat into a sideline penalty box.

If you cross your eyes enough or are inebriated enough to let the beer do it for you, the scene at the All-Star Celebrity Game presented by Ruffles was enough to provide an echo of what Oracle was like when it was pumping. 

The happy-to-be-there fans nearly filled up the inner bowl, the lights were bright, and a basketball-like game was being played out on the court. The biggest cheers were reserved for Chinese heartthrob Dylan Wang, whose Wang Gang fans were out in full force waving bright purple towels. 

The league has made a hover-hand embrace of Oakland a key part of its All-Star messaging, which lists the entirety of the Bay Area as its location. 

“I view the whole Bay Area as the home of the Warriors,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in an interview with The Standard’s Tim Kawakami last week. “Oakland remains part and parcel of the Warriors’ brand.”

The city is hosting a handful of the weekend’s events including the celebrity game, All-Star practices, and the HBCU Classic. Several community and volunteer events are also taking place in Oakland, and the expansion Valkyries WNBA team will be based out of the city. 

It makes sense. Oakland and the wider East Bay are full of diehards that have followed the Warriors through years of utter suckage, the brief glorious moment of “We Believe,” and the golden dynasty ushered in by a skinny sharpshooter named Steph Curry. 

Plus, even the most hardhearted fan feels pity for a great sports city that has lost all three of its major professional teams over the past decade — while also facing a host of unrelated challenges.

Back at the arena, there were no late-game Klay Thompson heroics as Team Bonds swept to a relatively easy victory with the help of an MVP-winning performance by actor Rome Flynn. But based on the smiles from little kids milling around miming a crossover, Roar-acle was still able to win a few new fans.