Thousands of Golden State Warriors fans flocked to Market Street in San Francisco Monday for the team’s NBA championship parade.
The Warriors clinched their fourth title in eight years and first since 2018 on Thursday, defeating the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game 6 of the best-of-seven NBA Finals.
Guard Stephen Curry was named Finals MVP for the first time following the team’s 4-2 series win after averaging more than 30 points per game in the series.
Toya Carnegie was among the thousands who lined up on the mile and a half parade route. She got up at 5:45 a.m. to drive from Pleasanton to Oakland where she hopped on the ferry to San Francisco.
“I’m here with three generations, me, my daughters and my granddaughter,” Carnegie said. “We’re making it an extra especial memory.”
Carnegie grew up in Oakland and remembers watching the Warriors throughout her childhood.
“We grew up with the Warriors, the Warriors seats were our daycares for me and my two brothers,” Carnegie said. “My mom worked there for 22 years at the arena. She passed in 2017 so this is also in memory of her, she would have loved to see this. She was a serious Warrior fan.”
For many attending the parade, the Warriors’ latest NBA Championship win is especially meaningful not just for basketball fans, but for the entire Bay Area as a whole. Jojo Sapida, from American Canyon, watched the parade with his dad. Sapida said the jubilation is about more than celebrating a sports victory, it’s about bringing people across the region together after the ravages of the pandemic.
“You don’t have to love basketball to be a fan of this, to come here, you know. Everybody gets to win this one,” said Sapida.
Brian Grace, from San Jose, agrees that the Warriors is a team that everyone can get behind.
“Even though the Raiders moved to Vegas, you have Raider fans, 49ers fans, A’s fans, Giants fans, but everybody in the Bay Area, everybody’s a Warrior fan,” said Grace, who attended the parade with family members. “Especially with COVID kind of having a damper on everything, it’s good that we all can kind of get together.”
San Francisco resident James Coker said the feeling of oneness should inspire people in the Bay Area to unite in other ways, like uplifting the region’s underserved communities.
“It just kind of says, ‘Okay, we are one, we should all come together as one and work together as one, and we can win,'” said Coker.
The coronavirus pandemic forced workers, residents and tourists to largely stay away from Market Street in the past two years. But during Monday’s event, the area was brimming with spectators.
“After two years of bankruptcy, this is great, brings business and people to the city and makes it alive again,” said Omar Idlabi, owner of Drumm Liquor & Deli, which is located on the parades’ route.
For some attendees like Joshua Sabater, from Vallejo, the parade is the first time he’s attending an event with such a large crowd since the start of the pandemic.
“We love it, man. We gotta enjoy it. We embrace it,” said Sabater.
Carnegie said her family had been cautious throughout the pandemic and was initially nervous about coming out.
“We’ve been pretty cautious and pretty reserved and this is our first huge crowd,” she said. “We have all of our vaccines and whatever we need, so we feel alright, we feel safe.”
Monday’s parade was also the first in San Francisco ever since the team moved from Oakland during the 2019-2020 season.
Joy Linn Cafiero and her family came to San Francisco from Petaluma. She said she was excited to be in the city for its first parade, but she misses the party in Oakland.
“It’s an adjustment. It’s not quite as easy to get in and out of San Francisco,” Cafiero said.
The Warriors have now won seven NBA championships since the team’s founding in 1946. Some fans said they’re looking forward to seeing what the future brings.
“Go Warriors!” said Rose Fisher, a San Jose resident. “I’m excited to see where my team goes from here.”
Bay City News contributed to this report.
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