Does David Stern Know Where the Warriors Play?

by Atma Brother ONE on Jun 4, 2007 8:41 AM PDT in NBA

Although I've been very critical of NBA Commissioner David Stern's recent moves and think it's time for him to retire, there's no question that he's a brilliant man who has done many wonderful things for the league during his tenure. Having said that, I have to say I'm pretty disappointed in his seemingly bitter attitude about the Warriors upsetting the the 67 win Mavs in the 1st round of this year's playoffs and his unfair double standards for technicals and fines on the Dubs during this past postseason. But I'm even more disappointed in Stern's appalling ignorance about the Warriors [FoxSports.com- Ben Maller]:

NBA Commissioner David Stern, appearing as a guest on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period,"on the excitement surrounding Golden State's playoff run: "To see Golden State give a good account of itself, that was actually incredible -- I've never seen these laid back San Franciscans behave like they did. That was wonderful to see."

I sincerely hope that Stern spends the offseason catching up on these key pieces of information:

The Warriors don't play in San Francisco, they play in Oakland.
The entire Bay Area (plus the bandwagon fans from across the nation) filled up the Roaracle Arena, not just the good folks from SF.
People constantly complain that the NBA needs its big market teams to do well. Guess what? The Bay Area is a top sports market and infatuated with hoops. Instead of whining about how the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and New York Knicks stunk up the joint last season, how about celebrating the Bay Area's return to the NBA map? It makes both dollars and sense.

Is David Stern sleeping on the Warriors?

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Eh

Sounds like one of those things you say when you really don't know the area, like how "cool people" from outside say "Frisco." Bay Area people to them must all be San Franciscans, I mean god forbid they be from Oakland...

"The Dunk"

by orangino on Jun 4, 2007 9:27 AM PDT reply actions

Isn't David Stern

From New York? If so, I can see how narrow-minded they are about us "San Franciscans"...LOL. New Yorkers are just jealous because their basketball team sucks. Maybe if we have a choir boy like Tim Duncan on our squad, maybe just maybe Stern will let referees give us "benefit of the doubt" calls. I hope next season bids well for Stern as well. I hope that he gets better judgment in his decisions. The guy is getting pretty old and needs to retire and relax. Change wouldn't be such a bad thing in the NBA. Go Warriors for 2k8!

by Phil T28 on Jun 4, 2007 9:44 AM PDT reply actions

no biggie

I don't think laid back oaklanders has the same ring. He obviously knows where the warriors play. I live in SF anyway (work in oakland, and have lived in the east bay and the peninsula). It's not just about oakland.

by bol on Jun 4, 2007 10:24 AM PDT reply actions

Don't be so sensitive

You shouldn't be mad at David Stern, if you are going to be mad (i'm not), get mad at former owner Franklin Mieuli that our basketball team is called the "Golden State" Warriors, rather than the Oakland Warriors or SF Bay Area Warriors, causing confusion to the rest of the basketball world.

by vdozens on Jun 4, 2007 11:27 AM PDT reply actions

I'm not mad at all

Hope it didn't come out like that. I just think it's kinda funny.

by Atma Brother ONE on Jun 4, 2007 11:39 AM PDT up reply actions

amen

I gotta say, i dont think stern has done anything right since before the all star break. I've heard more people say they're done with the NBA than ever before. The all star game sucked, floppping is at an all time high, a ref stands up to timmy D and he gets fired. the list goes on. time to hang it up david!

by mydedgerbil555 on Jun 4, 2007 11:42 AM PDT reply actions

Crawford v. Duncan

Theres a big difference in standing up to someone and challenging them to a fight.

by SkipT on Jun 4, 2007 11:43 AM PDT up reply actions

Is Bay Areans

even a word/term? Is oaklander even the right word for people from oakland?

I grew up on the penninsula and now go to school at berkeley, and I could care less what people want to call me. Everyone in Santa Monica, Hollywood, and Pasadena considers themselves from LA.

The way I see it, San Francisco is just the predominantly known city and when celebrities, commisioners, etc. address the entire Bay, they'll say San Francisco.

by BingBluNT on Jun 4, 2007 11:44 AM PDT reply actions

He should've said

I've never scene those Yay Areans get so stupid doo doo dumb and hyphy in their yellow bus t-shirts. haha.

Cut him some slack

You'll be back.

by WHYarenasWHY on Jun 4, 2007 12:13 PM PDT reply actions

Chicago ignorance on my part

I did not spend much of my adolescent life in the United States so I'm a little ignorant on this but I was thinking of the whole small market vs. big market debate the other day and I have a question. Before Michael Jordan went to Chicago, were they considered a large market?

If a small market gets a Lebron or an Oden or Durant and takes that team to win multiple championships, couldn't that single handedly turn that franchise around into a large market? It's not about the size of the city, or is it?

by YaoButtaMing on Jun 4, 2007 1:36 PM PDT reply actions

Chicago?

Uhhh yeah, it's always been a HUGE market. Not only is it the third biggest city in terms of population, but that population is notoriously rabid about sports. They've traditionally had mediocre teams in baseball, hoops (before Jordan), and hockey (forever); if anything that only makes them more rabid.

In the end it is mostly about the size of the population, with a little extra something for cities like Chicago, Boston, and Philly whose fans are nuts.

Rankings of cities by population (metropolitan area) as of July 2006:

NY
LA
Chicago
Dallas
Philly
Houston
Miami
Washington DC
Atlanta
Detroit
Boston
San Francisco/Oakland (NB -- if you add San Jose's 1.7M, we move all the way up to #5)

by Sleepy Freud on Jun 4, 2007 4:22 PM PDT up reply actions

Thanks Sleepy

I think you def gotta add San Jose to the SF/Oak category and call it Bay Area. There's tons of Warrior fans in the South Bay.

Also, Dallas is really a bigger market than the Bay Area? That's surprising.

by Atma Brother ONE on Jun 4, 2007 4:38 PM PDT up reply actions

Got it off wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_metropolitan_areas

If you add up SF/Oak/San Jose, it's almost exactly equal to Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington.

by Sleepy Freud on Jun 4, 2007 5:13 PM PDT up reply actions

So

if OKC was a market, they'd be 2nd smallest next to Utah. And we'd beat the no longer existant Buffalo Braves, too.

Ugh, being in such a small city....

Tony aka Drawlz600 is AWESOME!!!!

by Zorgon on Jun 9, 2007 1:56 AM PDT up reply actions

it is the size of a city

but media also has a lot to do with it. Philly, Boston, and Washington get more coverage because they're on the east coast, and those cities would probably be labeled as large-market before the Bay by many Americans.

Chicago may not have been on the national NBA scene pre-Jordan, but it also has the third largest metropolitan population in the United States behind NY and LA. Unless there's a basketball fan exodus to Seattle or Portland, neither of those towns is going to ever come close in population to the other cities mentioned in this post or even Detroit or Dallas.

by BingBluNT on Jun 4, 2007 2:05 PM PDT reply actions

david stern is mad because...

Golden State fans chanted "bull*hit" every time the refs started making those types of calls. On national tv no less.

He had to put an end to that!
I'm more joking about that than being serious. But obviously calling ref calls bs is bad for the integrity of the sport.

by ballerjl on Jun 4, 2007 2:37 PM PDT reply actions

great post

lol. i wouldn't say oaklanders or any thing, i would just say it is great for the warriors fans if he wanted to he could say the bay area but w/e. Stern obviously doesnt care about us and i also admit that i am made at the way he acted at the end of the upset series.

by travisl212 on Jun 4, 2007 6:04 PM PDT reply actions

David Stern's Daughter

Side note and somewhat unrelated to this issue... but in Game 4 of the Dallas Series at home, This girl who I presumed was sitting a few rows behind me didn't know her GSW stats either... somewhere in the 3rd quarter she yelled out "GO BARON RICHARDSON!!!!" I'll never forget that night... it made my day! It's a stright violation yo- and to think, I sit in the upper level, us cat's up there are the rowdy ones... everyone around her straight looked at her and mean mugged her enough to shut up... maybe she was Stern's Daughter LOL!

by Tony.psd on Jun 4, 2007 6:24 PM PDT reply actions

On the flip side, not just SF and not just Oaktown

You are 100% correct Atma Brother One. We all know Warrior fans stretch from Oakland and SF to the South Bay and everywhere in between.

But to parallel your argument, I personally have always been irritated when the Warriors are associated with just the city of Oakland. Does it have anything to do with my being raised in SF? Perhaps. But on several occasions during the course of the Warrior playoff chase, I heard interviews with Warrior players (it doesn't really matter which player(s) said it) who have said something to the effect of "We're doing this for the city of Oakland," or "We want to thank the city of Oakland for their support." What! You're getting the support of the entire Bay Area, not just Oakland! I felt that a comment like that was a slap to the face of Warrior fans (albeit an unintentional one) that don't happen to reside in the East Bay.

Unlike baseball (Giants/A's) or football (9ers/Raiders), the Warriors unite the Bay Area. As a 9ers/Giants fan my entire life, I have never identified myself with or pulled for the Oakland A's or Raiders. (Well, maybe I was pulling for the Raiders a little during that infamous "tuck rule" playoff game vs the Pats. I'll agree with you Raider fans: the Raiders got a raw deal with the outcome of that game.) However, despite the Warriors playing in Oakland, I have been a loyal and diehard fan for 25+ years. If the Warriors were called the Oakland Warriors, would I have pledged my loyalty to them as a kid growing up? Probably. If tomorrow they were somehow renamed the Oakland Warriors, would I still cheer for them? Yes. Do I like the term "GOLDEN STATE" Warriors? I prefer that over the "Oakland" Warriors. Sorry, I guess I'm just too used to "GOLDEN STATE." Or maybe I'm just SF loyal.

I wonder how other Warrior fans would feel if the team were somehow renamed "The Oakland Warriors." Would they like it? Hate it? Tolerate it? I'm still relatively new to the GSOM community. So, is this question poll-worthy? No? Okay, never mind. Peace out. Go Dubs.

by sleepys29againstshowtime on Jun 4, 2007 8:37 PM PDT reply actions

Oakland Warriors? NO WAY!!

Great comment Sleepy! I agree with you 100%. I'm a SF guy who travels all the way to the Oracle to support our Bay Area team. I love the fact that we are called the "Golden State" Warriors ... not the Oakland Warriors because it encompasses the whole bay area. I think this fact alone brings our communities together instead of dividing them. Even the whole Giants vs. A's or 49ers vs. Raiders. While I love the Giants and 49ers, if the A's and Raiders are playing against any other team, I'll always root for them to win because I want to see our Bay Area succeed.

by YaoButtaMing on Jun 5, 2007 8:55 AM PDT up reply actions

heh

things bring up to my idea that we should be called the bay area warriors! and i know some poeple would hate ths but i think we should make the whole bay area one whole city and make cities like LA and NY look small! we are all one anyways!

by 24k state fan since 87 on Jun 6, 2007 1:25 AM PDT reply actions