About nine years ago (yes, it’s been that long, Bay Area natives), it was the famous Golden State Warriors “We Believe” season. This was the first time in 12 seasons that the Warriors did not clinch a playoff spot, and once they did, the entire Golden State fan base began to say, “We believe.” Posters were plastered all around the Bay Area, showing the excitement for the Warriors to go all the way.
Around the “We Believe” era, I was at the young age of 11. I had gone to a Warriors game probably one time before, and I knew some of the notable stars (Baron Davis, Monta Ellis, and Stephen Jackson to name a few). Probably the most memorable thing I experienced was high-fiving the Golden State Warriors mascot Thunder. (Yes, we did have a mascot, and he was the coolest guy. Oklahoma City may be called the “Thunder,” but you can make your decision which is the cooler one.)
After the “We Believe” era, the Warriors hit a slump in performance and failed to make it to playoffs for the next three seasons. Fans still kept the “We Believe” mantra, and after trades and losing the star players of the “We Believe” era, the Warriors were ready to transform their team into one to believe in once again.
Welcome the “Splash Brothers,” Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, two fresh NBA draft picks who were ecstatic to join the Golden State family. Coach Don Nelson saw potential in these long range shooters, despite Curry’s below average height (for the NBA, at least) of six feet three inches. After Nelson’s retirement, Coach Mark Jackson worked Curry and Thompson to be the greatest backcourt shooters the NBA would ever see. And great they were. Curry went on to win the NBA three-point shootout with Thompson placing second. The year after, Thompson came out victorious. These same years were the ones that the Warriors went on to win playoffs, and eventually, become the 2015 NBA champions.
Now, enough with the history. What's the truth about being a long-time Warriors fan? The truth is, we've seen greatness happen once. We waited for greatness to come again. We believed once, and now we keep on believing that something even greater could happen. We see stars arising fresh out of college and we think to ourselves, “One day, they’re going to make us believe again.” Fans who joined during the Splash Brothers era or even the second playoff era have not seen where greatness was before. Sure, the Warriors had a slump. Sure, we weren't a sellout team. But did that ever stop us from believing? No. And that's what makes sports stories so exciting. We root for those who are the underdogs, who will rise above the rest and be hailed as the greatest team. If you are just joining us, then the classic “underdog” story is nothing but a figment of your imagination, a story that only exists in newspapers. For the rest of us, it's a memory that we lived through and a dream that's starting to come true once again.
