The $1.4 billion Chase Center anchors an 11-acre village of eateries, shops and waterfront spaces, with all the amenities a San Franciscan could want: an extensive wine list, a bike valet, an art collection, and ample locally sourced food, including multiple Bakesale Betty’s, an Oakland favorite. At the May 20 game, my first at Chase Center and the team’s 426th straight sellout, I enjoyed myself immensely lurking in the stadium’s lounges and mezzanines and cheering another come from behind victory.
It was a different kind of pleasure from the old days, when the simple joy of cheering the team had to take the place of basking in championship glory. The Warriors won roughly one out of every five games in the particularly cursed 2000-01 season, the nadir of a years-long losing streak, and the franchise had to get more creative to keep butts in seats than they do today.
Before the Splash Brothers, there was Thunder, who served honorably as the Warriors’ mascot from 1997 to 2008. Thunder, who looked like a roided-up member of the Blue Man Group, did dunks off a trampoline and camped for cheers from dedicated fans who gritted it out through the team’s worst years. At one point, the Warriors installed a cover band in unused seats to play some combination of “Love Train” and “Ladies’ Night” on repeat during breaks in play. Who wouldn’t show up for that?