Oakland ready to again celebrate NBA champion Warriors
Ben Del Fante crowd-surfs as Golden State Warriors fans celebrate outside Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., Friday, June 8, 2018. The Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-85 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Josh Edelson)
OAKLAND, Calif. — For the second straight year, throngs of Oakland fans will get to celebrate the Golden State Warriors with a parade for a team some are calling a basketball dynasty.
Hundreds of thousands of fans are expected to line downtown Oakland streets Tuesday to cheer Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors winning their third title in four years.
The NBA champions have gone back-to-back, beating LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-85 on Friday night to finish off a four-game sweep of these NBA Finals in the fourth consecutive meeting between these clubs.
Oakland city streets have been lined with gold and blue banners and shop and restaurant owners along the parade route say they are getting ready to open their businesses during the celebration.
Fasil Lemma, who owns De Lauer’s Newsstand, said he will be selling the new championship T-shirts and gear from past championships.
“It’s very exciting,” Lemma told the East Bay Times. “We want to serve the community.”
Officials say as many as 1 million fans are expected to attend the parade, which will start at 11 a.m. at Broadway and 11th Street, wind through downtown streets and end on Oak and 13th Street.
Unlike other years, the parade won’t end at a rally near Lake Merritt. Instead, there will be large Jumbotron-type screens set up along the route that will feature members of the team talking in real time and answering the questions of a few lucky fans.
“We wanted to make it more intimate, free flowing and, frankly, more exciting,” Raymond Ridder, the team’s vice president of communications, told the newspaper. “We will now have more fans along the parade route, creating more of a buzz, giving fans closer/direct access to players and, ideally, it will keep the event moving/flowing.”
