Friday, November 13 (2:45 p.m.) Planes, Busses and Hotels With so much time spent in the air or on the road, the players find ways to keep themselves entertained when on the road. (photo: Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty) The Warriors embarked on a season-long five-game road trip on Tuesday morning, leaving for a journey that will include stops in Indiana, New York, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Boston. Fortunately, this equals the longest trip of the season for the team and it occurs at a time when the weather still might cooperate. During the excursion, the Warriors will log more than 7,000 air miles, sit patiently through at least 25 bus rides and fill more than 170 hotel rooms. Maybe not exactly "Planes, Trains and Automobiles", the 1987 movie starring Steve Martin and John Candy. More like Planes, Busses and Hotels, the 2009-10 roadie featuring Monta Ellis, Anthony Morrow and a cast of players and staff members. Like most long road excursions, the trip actually began the day before, when Equipment Manager Eric Housen, while still trying to prepare for a game on Monday against the Timberwolves, packed enough bags to fill a decent-sized boardroom with shoes, socks, jerseys, shorts, gum, basketballs, practice gear and just about anything else that he might need over the next 10 days. And when you consider that Housen would rather be safe than sorry when it comes to having everything at a moment’s notice, you can see why there was little room to spare in the cargo area of Delta flight #9938 as it left for Indianapolis on Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. When you toss in the luggage carried to the plane by the players and staff members, the total number of bags stashed on the belly of the plane exceeded the century mark and was probably closer to 130 – just enough to make the bellmen at the hotels scream (too much work) and smile (a nice little tip from Housen). Warriors Equipment Manager Eric Housen deals with up to 150 pieces of luggage on some road trips. (photo: Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty) “On a long road trip, we typically travel with well over 120 pieces of luggage and sometimes almost 150,” said Housen. “And, when you toss in some of the heavy items such as Nellie’s chair and a dry-eraser board, you can get a pretty good idea of the task at hand. Fortunately, we have a lot of good people that help us once we arrive at the hotel, both internally and with the properties.” For rookie Stephen Curry, the first long road trip of his career was one of anticipation. His father, Dell, had seen many airplanes and hotels during his 16-year NBA career, but not all of them included the amenities bestowed on the players in the 21st century. A former sharpshooter who played for Utah, Cleveland, Charlotte, Milwaukee and Toronto during his outstanding career, the elder Curry entered the league at a time when commercial airliners were still the preferred method of travel. He might have flown the same Delta airline that his son would some 20 years later, but some of those flights included an actual ticket in seat A-4, a long walk through an airport concourse and a check-in line with the business traveler from Apple and the crying 1-year old baby. Ah, how times have changed. By the time the team's current road trip concludes, the players and coaches will have endured upward of 25 bus trips. (photo: Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty) After spending three years at Davidson, Stephen was quite aware of chartered flights long before David Stern called his name on June 25, but not exactly those with more than one engine and 25 seats. And, no propellers. College teams frequently travel by chartered flight, although some of the planes are of the smaller, puddle-jumper nature. Tiny. Not much leg room. Not much aluminum. And, about as heavy as Manute Bol. A typical NBA charter such as the one the Warriors boarded for Indiana on Tuesday is an Airbus 319 that includes about 20 oversized seats for the players (up front), a special section with tables for coaches (in the middle) and another 30-plus first class-type seats for staff members (back). And, best of all, there are no hassles with an airport, no long lines and not much waiting. The majority of the players spend a good portion of these cross country flights sleeping, while others will read, spend time on their laptop or play a friendly game of dominos. And, some teams have players who spend a lot of time waiting for the flight to land, such as former Warriors Troy Murphy and Danny Fortson, who, shall we say, are not the biggest fans of aviation. After the Warriors landed in Indianapolis on Wednesday, the team was whisked away on a bus to a downtown hotel, passing many of the great city landmarks, including the infamous Steak N Shake, a favorite eating establishment of many NBA players. Housen, in addition to serving at the team’s equipment manager, also doubles as the travel secretary and is responsible for not only booking the hotels, but the busses that will help the team get from point A to point B in each city. Many of the coaches, who always sit in the first few rows of the bus, become friends with the bus drivers in various cities due to their familiarity. It’s amazing how many of the drivers actually remain the same year-by-year, especially in some destinations such as Dallas (Steve) and Los Angeles (Mike), where the same friendly gentleman have led the charge through the streets for many, many years. Hotels are yet another element that, in some cities, remains the same over the years. For instance, when the Warriors arrive in Milwaukee late tonight (around 1:00 a.m.), they will walk into the same hotel lobby they have for the last 20-plus years. There’s a chance, quite honestly, that Mr. Curry might actually get the same room that his dad occupied at some point in the last 20 years. This specific hotel is a staple on the NBA and Major League Baseball circuit and is a quick 10-minute bus ride from the Bradley Center. Most hotels are located within 15 minutes of the arena, although the journey to Madison Square Garden on Friday in New York could take 30 minutes, depending on the always congested NYC traffic and the friendliness of the cabbies. The Warriors typically book about 35 rooms at each hotel and are usually never at one location for more than two (2) nights. Milwaukee, however, will pose that quirk in the schedule that seems to occur once a year on the road, when the Warriors will actually remain at a hotel for three (3) nights. As noted, Golden State will arrive in Milwaukee late Friday night and will remain in Wisconsin on Saturday after the game. The team will stay in Milwaukee one more night, Sunday, and practice at nearby Marquette University before leaving for Cleveland on Monday afternoon. This is a rare occasion in a sport where back-to-back games litter the schedule. Sometimes the Warriors hold a team meeting over breakfast in lieu of a morning shootaround. (photo: Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty) The hotels, which are usually located near a downtown mall or shopping location, are typically equipped with large ballrooms that enable teams to hold team meetings and/or a team breakfast. The Warriors, for example, will have a team breakfast on Saturday in Milwaukee after arriving late from NYC the night before. This breakfast will be in lieu of a shootaround at the arena and will provide the team a chance to go through the game plan against the Bucks and get a little nutrition in their bodies. A typical breakfast will last about 30 minutes. Following breakfast, most of the players will retreat to their rooms, which are usually relegated to one or two floors in the hotel. In some instances over the years, members of the traveling staff have been known to request rooms on certain floors for superstitious reasons. In fact, the Warriors had an assistant coach several years ago who would never stay in a room that was higher than the second floor for fear of a fire and the need for a quick and easy departure. It was always a little strange to look at the rooming list and see 30-plus rooms on the 17th and 18th floors and one room on the second floor. Fortunately, he never had a reason for a quick exit from the hotel. When the 10-day road trip concludes in Boston next Wednesday and virtually all of the plane rides have been complete and nearly every hotel room has been deserted, one of the most amazing feats of the night will be accomplished by someone other than Monta Ellis or Kevin Garnett. Who, you might ask? The bus driver. The annual trip to Boston would not be official until the driver of the team bus pulls off the miraculous, just as he does each year when the Warriors visit the TD Garden. This “I can’t believe he just did that” moment occurs when the bus inches up an extremely narrow ramp – backwards – at the arena and pulls through a door that is no more than two (2) inches wider than the bus on each side. I could not do this driving FORWARD and if this maneuver was ever a part of a DMV driving test, I could assure you that our local highways would be empty. The foray up the ramp is greeted with much skepticism from the coaches and players, but is something they look forward to each season. Following Wednesday's game in Boston, the Warriors will board this Delta Airlines Airbus 319 and head back home. (photo: Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty) Likewise, the team eagerly anticipates returning home from the first long trip of the season. No more planes, busses and hotels – at least until the next trip.

2009 Draft Blog Throughout the next few weeks, the Warriors PR Blog Squad staff will be contributing their entries to the 2009 Draft Blog. Click the link below for full coverage of the team's preparation for this year's draft, including full coverage of the multi-team workout the team will host in June, behind-the-scenes stories, interviews, video, audio, photos and more. 2009 DRAFT BLOG

Friday, May 15 (2:39 p.m.) Getting Ready For Secaucus General Manager Larry Riley will be one of the Warriors' two representatives at Tuesday's Draft Lottery. (photo: Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty) Well, the NBA Lottery is scheduled for next week (Tuesday) at the NBAE Studios in beautiful Secaucus, New Jersey. The best thing about Secaucus? The bus stop in front of the Embassy Suites that enables you to make the quick 15-minute trip to the Port Authority in New York City. I have been the team's representative at the Lottery on a few occasions and have always utilized the route extensively. Don't get me wrong, Secaucus is a nice place, but I'd rather spend my free time in Times Square and not the movie theater on the other side of the Lincoln Tunnel. Larry Riley (General Manager) and I, Raymond Ridder (Executive Director of Public Relations), will represent the Warriors at this year's Lottery. Riley will spend his time with 13 other high-profile team executives at the made-for-TV event on stage. Meanwhile, I will be sequestered in a back room at NBAE, where he will have no communication with the outside world for about an hour after the actual lottery takes place (around 4:40 Pacific Time). No cell phones. No blackberries. No laptops. I won't need any of that; he just needs four lucky ping-pong balls and the right combination. The aforementioned back room is where the entire landscape of the NBA can change in a matter of seconds. Six years ago, I was in the room, saying a few Our Fathers and Hail Marys, hoping that the Warriors might get a little lucky and win the LeBron James Sweepstakes. Meanwhile, a representative from the Cleveland Cavaliers was sitting two tables in front of me. The Cavs, as you may recall, ended the previous season with the second-worst record in the NBA (17-65) and had the second-best chance of winning the Lottery. And, as fate would have it, the first combination of ping-pong balls dispensed from the hopper would match those assigned to the team in Ohio, LeBron's home state. The gentleman from the Cavs sitting in front of me - trying his best to remain calm and under control - gave out a little "yeah!" with a quick fist pump. He knew the fortunes of the Cleveland franchise had taken a quick turn for the better, but he wanted to remain somewhat reserved and not rub it in to his 13 peers from around the league. The future of some NBA teams will be dependent on the four-ball combination that this hopper produces on Tuesday. (photo: David Dow/NBAE/Getty) Could you imagine winning $20 million in Las Vegas and trying to remain subdued? If the Warriors' combination had appeared first, I probably would have jumped up, hollered "yeah!" six times, pumped both of my fists, broke through the locked door, grabbed my cell phone, my blackberry and, heck, even a bullhorn and called our offices in Oakland. And, Larry King. And Oprah. Other than that, I would have remained relatively calm and unemotional. In all seriousness, the back room is filled with nervous energy as a representative from the NBA office (usually Adam Silver) instructs each team on the rules of the Lottery and how it will unfold. A representative from an accounting firm, typically Ernst & Young, is provided the task of actually reading the ping-pong balls when they pop to the top of the hopper. There are 1,001 potential combinations that could evolve when you pluck four (4) ping-pong balls from a hopper that has 14 ping-pong balls numbered 1-14. The first four-ball combination that is recorded will be matched with a team and that team will earn the first pick in the 2009 NBA Draft on June 25. As this transpires, the 14 representatives write down the numbers on their NBA notepad and compare them to the 1,001 combinations that have been previously assigned to the various teams (each representative will be provided a list of all 1,001 combinations and which team owns those different combinations). As a result of our regular season record, the Warriors will have 43 possible combinations in this year's lottery; the Sacramento Kings, who have the best chance to win the lottery, will have 250 possible combinations. As an example, when I last attended the Lottery in 2006, the five combinations for the 14th team in the Lottery were as follows: 9, 12, 13, 14 10, 11, 12, 13 10, 11, 12, 14 10, 11, 13, 14 10, 12, 13, 14 Based on those numbers, the team with the smallest chance to win the lottery – the 14th team - in 2006 would have captured the first prize if any of those exact combinations would have appeared (in that order) when the four ping-pong balls were pulled from the hopper. This scenario (four balls drawn from the hopper) is executed three times during the lottery --- the first combination will select first in the draft, the second combination will select second and the third combination will select third. As noted, the Warriors will have 43 possible combinations in this year’s lottery. While that might not sound like many when you consider there are 1,001 combinations possible, remember this: Last year, the Chicago Bulls had 17 combinations and, despite those odds, the No. 1 pick, Derrick Rose, still ended up in the Windy City. And, for good measure, the last – and only – time the Warriors owned the seventh slot entering the lottery, the team darted up to No. 3 (1993). Probable? No. Possible? Yes. All NBA teams will have a vested interest in what happens at this television studio in Secaucus, N.J., on Tuesday. (photo: Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE/Getty) And, the myth about the Lottery being rigged is simply that - a myth. The 14 ping-pong balls are placed in a clear hopper and each ball and corresponding number is shown to the assembled team members one by one before the lottery begins. And, a few years ago, the NBA started to allow selected members of the media access to the back room where they could witness - and document - the entire event. There are no shenanigans. Impossible. It is all based on pure luck and odds. At the end of the lottery, the team representatives in the back room must remain there until the made-for-TV event is announced approximately one hour later. In other words, I will know the results of the lottery long before Larry Riley or any of the ESPN viewers at home. After this year's lottery, Larry Riley is tentatively scheduled to do interviews from Secaucus with various local Bay Area media outlets, including KGO-TV, KPIX-TV and a conference call with our two beat writers (news scoop: The Warriors have a new beat writer from the San Francisco Chronicle, where Rusty Simmons will replace Janny Hu). Riley’s post-lottery obligations will increase should Golden State move up and secure one of the top three spots. Of course, if we move up in the lottery, he won't need to head to the airport to catch a flight back to California; he'll simply fly home on adrenaline. Let’s hope for the best……… For continued coverage of the Lottery, including the history of the event and the Warriors participation in it, check out Warriors Draft Lottery Central.

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2008-09 PR Blog Archive
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2008 Offseason PR Blog Archive