The four-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors may have left Oakland in 2019 for the Chase Center in San Francisco, but a big chunk of the franchise's heart still lies in Oak Town. On Tuesday, the Warriors unveiled a refurbished basketball court at legendary
McClymonds (Oakland, Calif.).
The school that featured such legendary players such as Bill Russell, Paul Silas, Joe Ellis, Nate Williams and Antonio Davis over the last 70 years now shares a piece of a franchise that has won six NBA titles overall, two with Philadelphia (1947, 1956) and the last four while residing in Oakland (1975, 2015, 2017 and 2018).
Part of the rebuild features the Golden State "We Believe" script across center court along with the school's slogan "The School of Champions." The NBA team and the school share the Warriors mascot. Many of the legendary names who have starred at Mack are inscribed on the floor.
McClymonds, a resourceful school of 383 students in West Oakland, won a California Interscholastic Federation Division I (largest classification) boys basketball championship in 2008 behind future Montana standout
Will Cherry and pro
Damon Powell. The school also won three straight state football titles starting in 2016.
In a ceremony Tuesday attended by the boys and girls basketball teams and former Golden State standout Jason Richardson, Warriors chief revenue officer Brandon Schneider said: "The McClymonds basketball program legacy is legendary. The basketball court is a foundational piece of any team's home court advantage and success. We are honored to collaborate with McClymonds to refurbish the court and look forward to watching the next generation of student-athletes build their academic and athletic careers."
The project, co-sponsored by Japanese electronics group Rakuten, also features the creation of a $10,000 college scholarship for a McClymonds senior. According to a press release, this was the 85th court the Warriors and the Good Tidings Foundation have restored over the last 25 years.
