The Golden State Warriors’ championship parade on Monday could prove to be one of BART’s busiest days in history — a one-day godsend for the transit system that’s struggled throughout the pandemic. The parade also is turning a spotlight on one of San Francisco’s most important arteries, Market Street, amid hopes that putting its best foot forward may help the downtown business artery on its path to pandemic recovery. Starting at 11:20 a.m., the parade is to wend its way from Market and Main. Here’s what you need to know about what and where, and how to get there.
“This is what it’s about,” says Steph
Warriors standout and Finals MVP Stephen Curry had a big-picture point to make in all the jubilation a about the Warriors’ NBA championship victory. In comments to Monday’s parade rally, he said, “This what it’s about — entertaining you guys, giving you something to be passionate about. It’s giving us the opportunity and platform to do things that haven’t been done in history and represent the entire Bay Area in the process.”
Green: just trying to be “controversial”
“I’m just trying to think of the most controversial thing I can say,” a smiling Draymond Green said to cheers from fans assembled at the start of Monday’s Warriors parade route. Green promised to continue his social media antics and said it was special to see his teammates like Andrew Wiggins win their first championship. “Thank you guys, and as always f— everybody else, I love you.” Green said. “Real mature Draymond,” teammate Klay Thompson deadpanned afterwards, taking the microphone.
Kerr: “We kinda stunk the last two years.” But that was then
TV announcer Bob Fitzgerald asked Warriors coach Steve Kerr to reflect Monday on the team’s surprise win. “The reason it was a surprise is we kinda stunk the last two years,” Kerr told the rally ahead of the parade on Market Street. “To be able to bounce back from where we were is pretty incredible and testament to these guys.”
Warriors revel from the Embarcadero
“We came back from the abyss,” Warriors owner Joe Lacob said Monday from a stage on the Embarcadero, backed by the championship Warriors team alongside their four Larry O’Brien Trophies. He called out the team’s continuity, with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green playing together for a decade or more. “We have incredible continuity,” Lacob said.”
Televised Warriors rally under way ahead of parade
A live televised rally Monday that started just before 11 a.m. features the Golden State Warriors team members, coaches, executives and staff members on a stage in front of the Ferry Building before a small crowd prior to the parade. Mayor London Breed rallied the crowd then sat down next to Steph Curry. TV announcer Bob Fitzgerald ran the show as emcee.
“It’s time to celebrate Dub Nation!”
Mayor London Breed greeted the championship Golden State Warriors at the start of their Market Street Parade. Clad in a long-sleeved Warriors T-shirt, the mayor noted the city has been through a couple of tough pandemic years. Then she yelled to the crowd gathered around the bandstand where the team members were seated: “It’s time to celebrate Dub Nation!”
Clipper app processes some purchases amid heavy demand slow-up
Clipper said Monday that people struggling to add a card or value to their mobile app should keep trying as some attempts are going through. The agency said its app was experiencing huge demand because of people taking public transit to the Warriors parade Monday. Many were struggling to add value or a card to their mobile app, Clipper and BART said Monday morning. BART said a long line at its Dublin station for Clipper cards had been cleared up.
BART like it used to be, for a day
Here’s something we haven’t seen for a couple years — and most of us haven’t missed — BART passengers packed like sardines. Though passenger traffic remains way down from pre-pandemic levels these days on BART, the trains were packed Monday morning heading to the Golden State Warriors parade in downtown San Francisco, the transit agency tweeted. Unlike their commuting counterparts, these train passengers look ecstatic.
Downtown business is back — at least for some, at least for the day
If the line at GNG liquors on Fifth Street was any indication, Monday was going to be a good day for a lot of beleaguered downtown San Francisco businesses. The line was a dozen deep at the liquor store a block away from the Warriors’ celebratory parade route just before 10 a.m. Downtown businesses have struggled to recover from the economic blows of the pandemic closures and restrictions, and returning to the office has been a slower than expected process.
It’s “about to be insane!”
In the stream of fans pouring out of the BART and Muni trains at the Powell station an hour ahead of the Golden State celebratory parade, were a group of friends in their 20s excitedly chattering. As they approached the escalator, one exclaimed, “This is about to be insane,” and they headed up. Once they were just high enough to see outside of the station, his friend chimed in: “This is awesome.”
Clipper card app malfunctioning just when fans are trying to use it
The Clipper card app on Monday morning was having problems with payment and purchasing, the transit card company said on Twitter, just as people were massing on public transit to get to the championship Golden State Warriors parade in San Francisco. The agency said users should load their cards before entering BART or moving away from crowded stations for better phone service. BART has been encouraging people to use Clipper on their phones, and long lines of Warriors fans stretched out from Clipper card purchase points at stations. Clipper said a team is investigating the issue.
Flamingos, blue-and-gold garb, mark Peninsula trains to S.F.
Rows and rows of Warriors fans heading to San Francisco gathered early Monday morning on the Caltrain platform in San Mateo — fathers and sons, friends, young couples, older adults. Joined by the rare commuter, they packed the train more than full. Some sported garb emblazoned with “2015 champions.” A lucky few had 2022 Warriors jerseys fresh off a days-old win, or Number 30 for NBA finals MVP Steph Curry. One fan had an inflatable flamingo in sunglasses, with the words “Poole Party” and a cartoon figure of Jordan Poole, sporting the number 3, drawn on its neck.
Traffic snarls are beginning
As the stream of people heading into San Francisco for the championship Warriors’ parade picked up, the Bay Bridge traffic westbound into San Francisco was beginning to slow near Yerba Buena Island, a Caltrans map showed. Parade-goers were encouraged to take public transit to downtown, but Highway 101 into the city was backed up in SOMA and Van Ness Avenue near Market, slow in both directions. Much of the Embarcadero was stopped up from about 2nd Street to Market Street.
Drumbeats, pot and hot dogs are sensory celebrations of the morning
A thin line of blue and gold stretched along Market Street early Monday morning, fans forming the front rows along the Warriors’ parade metal barricades. With bacon-wrapped hot dog smells mixed with marijuana wafting through the crowd, live drums beat along with music pumped out by fans’ own speakers. Street vendors sold Warriors hats for $10 and “Gold Blooded” T-shirts for $15 — their wares folded on blankets along the sidewalk. One woman brandished an “Ayesha Curry Can Cook” sign, referencing a back-and-forth Steph Curry had with Boston fans about his restauranteur wife. Police vehicles shuttled back and forth on Market, as port-o-potties got transported and media members mingled.
Can I live-stream the Warriors’ parade?
For fans who can’t make it to downtown S.F. to see their Warriors heroes parade down Market Street, the celebration is available for viewing via live stream and TV. Live coverage of the parade started at 9:30 a.m. from NBC Sports Bay Area and was set for 10 a.m. on Fox 2, along with radio coverage from 6 a.m on 95.7 FM. The parade streams on the MyTeams and NBC Sports apps and NBCSportsBayArea.com. Read what you need to know about seeing the Warriors’ parade in person or virtually.
Red line on BART now up and running from Richmond
After shutting down its red line on Sunday to fix a power cable issue, BART said Monday morning it was dispatching trains to Richmond for service into San Francisco as thousands of fans headed to the Warriors’ parade. The red line direct was running Richmond to Daly City and back, Bart tweeted. The agency had said earlier Monday morning that a trackside power problem had knocked out service to San Francisco on the Richmond line, advising those headed into San Francisco to board a Berryessa train and transfer at MacArthur station to a train at SFO. BART said Sunday its trains would run to and from Richmond every 15 minutes until 8:00 p.m., on the red line and orange lines. After 8:00 p.m. trains will run every half hour.
Caltrain braces for “real busy” flow by blocking off half of station
Dozens of fans poured out of San Francisco’s Caltrain station just after 9 a.m., funneled out by San Francisco Sheriff’s deputies. One entrance was gated off, as deputies directed the streams of people to Fourth Street, where they started moving towards Market Street in a steady wave. Asked why half the station was blocked off, the deputy raised his eyebrows and said “It’s for when everyone goes home — it’s going to be real busy.”
“What they gonna say now!”
Standing at Market Street near Fifth at 7 a.m., settling in for the eventual parade passage of the Golden State Warriors on Monday were Terry Collins, 55, of San Francisco, and his children, Terry Jr., 36, Jada, 14, and Teiari, 8. “This is their first championship parade for San Francisco,” said Collins, “so I gotta be here to represent.” Compared to the Dubs’ previous championships, he proclaimed this one “better cause they were the San Francisco Warriors.” His lasting memory of the title run was Stephen Curry counting one, two, three, four on his fingers representing his team’s titles. “What they gonna say now!” he exclaimed.
Thousands flood downtown San Francisco, stake out space for Warriors’ parade
Downtown San Francisco was awash Monday morning in Warriors’ blue and gold, hours before the scheduled 11:20 a.m. start of Golden State’s championship celebration. Thousands made their way to stake out parade viewing spots along Market Street, as Cal’s pep band kept everyone entertained. On BART train from East Bay, early morning fans outfitted in Warriors’ garb mixed with commuters and the occasional airport traveler. While not yet packed, the trains around 8 a.m. were filling up with parade revelers. At the Powell Street station a few dozen police officers held a pre-parade briefing.
Podcaster Green teases he might not show up
Golden State Warriors power forward and budding podcaster Draymond Green tweeted Monday morning that he might skip the team’s championship parade in San Francisco over the lack of a rally with speeches. “Nobody speaking at the parade? Yeah I think I’m going to stay at the crib,” the loquacious guard wrote. This, however, might be a case of Draymond being Draymond and stirring the pot, because he missed the typo in his next tweet: “So just rude and wave?”
BART bracing for a very big day
With hundreds of thousands of transit riders expected at San Francisco’s championship parade for the Warriors, Monday could prove a bonanza day for the BART system — maybe one of its busiest ever, despite recent ridership being a fraction of what it was before the pandemic. Nine of the top 10 days with the highest ridership on BART happened either on days the Warriors or Giants held a championship parade or in the days leading up to Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Read more about how BART is bracing for a surge in crowds as its downtown San Francisco stations take riders directly to the parade.
Will the Dubs throw another parade next year?
While the Warriors and San Francisco were preparing for Monday’s Market Street celebration, Chronicle basketball writer Connor Letourneau was writing up this offseason primer on the team’s challenges — including a payroll that may exceed $400 million, decisions on free agents like Gary Payton II, and the health of young center James Wiseman. Check out what the Warriors’ offseason holds.
Market Street hopes the parade attention will signal some new buzz
Market Street, which has fallen on pandemic hard times, is playing a supporting role in the Warriors’ glory parade day. City officials and local business groups spent a hectic weekend preparing for the arriving masses, while crossing their fingers in hopes that the moment would boost the long struggling boulevard in a bigger way. Read more about San Francisco’s preparations for the big Warriors day and why it’s important for the beleaguered downtown.
From Beantown to Sin City for the champions
No sooner did the Golden State Warriors touch down in San Francisco on Friday after dispensing with the Boston Celtics than a dozen members of the team boarded another jet — and flew to Las Vegas. The celebrants’ itinerary included Zouk, a nightclub north of the fabled Las Vegas Strip, where the Las Vegas Review-Journal described how teammates led by Klay Thompson entered the floor as the team’s logo flashed on the club’s huge LED screen. With them was the favorite DJ of Dub Nation, DJ Shabazz, who took over the controls on the stage. According to the Review-Journal, pretty much every Warrior of note except Steph Curry was on hand to cut loose after a grueling season and 22 postseason games. The group included Jordan Poole, who also was celebrating his 23rd birthday over the weekend. Poole marked the occasion in part by “spraying champagne across the console at Zouk Nightclub’s DJ booth,” reported the as Review-Journal. The newspaper then then took pains to point out that “Any professional DJ (and even any novice champagne drinker) knows this is a bad combination.” Even in Las Vegas, apparently, some things are taboo.
A note to the boss from the Warriors
The Warriors sent a mass email Sunday to fans on their email list, hawking 2022 championship merchandise such as a $199 “Varsity Full-Snap Jacket.” The team also included a helpful, pre-written form letter that fans eager to attend the parade could use to get out of class or work. The note from the team “To Whom It May Concern” is intended to be flashed at any skeptical boss, and requests that the bearer be allowed to head to Market Street for the midday festivities. “We would hate to miss a crucial part of Dub Nation as we celebrate,” the team explains, since the Warriors “couldn’t have done it without our fans, and we need to celebrate with them.”
What’s next for the Warriors? Free agency is about to start
With Bay Area jubilation over the Golden State Warriors’ NBA championship nowhere near an ebb, it’s already time for the Dubs to look ahead. Free agency is set to begin at the start of the new league year on July 1, and significant decisions regarding the retention of key role players are imminent. Golden State, which had the highest payroll in the NBA last season, projects to have a record-breaking luxury tax payment next season. With that said, it might be difficult for the team to match any high offers for their top free agents, but majority owner Joe Lacob and general manager Bob Myers aren’t afraid to spend when necessary and will be looking to bring back as much of the championship roster as possible. Read more about what the future may look like for the Golden State Warriors.
Klay Thompson has a sideline in the wine business
Klay Thompson has been busy with more than helping the Warriors cinch the NBA championship. He is now in the wine business. He and St. Louis Cardinals All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado, a childhood friend, have just released Diamond & Key, a Napa Cabernet. Their venture came about in partnership with Joe Harden, a winemaker at Nickel & Nickel, and Joe McLean, wealth manager for both Thompson and Arenado. Harden played basketball himself before going into the wine business, which he had studied at UC Davis. Thompson has been developing his palette in recent years and became intrigued with the process and culture of winemaking. Read more about how the 32-year-old Warriors’ guard got into winemaking.