2017: The Year of the Dubs

There’s no question that the Dubs are enjoying a golden era. Even with that context, 2017 sticks out as a banner year, and that goes way beyond what’s transpiring on the court. Yes, a second NBA title in three seasons is at the center of everything, but the Warriors’ success in 2017 stretches into the community and other business ventures as well. Here is a top-level look at all that transpired in one of the greatest years in franchise history.

On the night of June 12, gold confetti rained down from the rafters at Oracle Arena as the Warriors celebrated an NBA Championship on Warriors Ground. The Dubs beat the Cavs in five games, becoming the fifth team in NBA history with five NBA titles. The Championship was the second in three seasons for the Dubs, and it also concluded the third straight Warriors-Cavs matchup in the NBA Finals. The Dubs only lost once in the entire 2017 postseason – Game 4 in Cleveland – and their 16-1 playoff record (.941) was the best single-season record in NBA history. Furthermore, the Warriors’ finished their postseason run with a differential of +13.5, ranking second in NBA postseason history behind the 1971 Milwaukee Bucks (+14.5).

To the victor goes the spoils, and there were certainly a lot of those to go around during and after the Dubs’ championship season. See below for some of the top honors …

Stephen Curry: 2017 NBA All-Star, 2016-17 All-NBA Second Team
Kevin Durant: 2017 NBA All-Star, 2016-17 All-NBA Second Team
Draymond Green: 2017 NBA All-Star, 2016-17 All-NBA Third Team, Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year
Klay Thompson: 2017 NBA All-Star
Bob Myers (Warriors GM): NBA Executive of the Year

Additionally, there were countless transcendent moments on the court, but perhaps the lasting 2017 highlight that stands out from the rest was this shot from Kevin Durant in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, which earned the #BestPlayoffMoment at the first-ever NBA Awards show.

And while we’re on the topic of accolades, we can’t ignore the San Francisco Business Times naming Joe Lacob as the 2017 Bay Area Executive of the Year. » READ STORY

Of course, what good is a championship if you can’t celebrate it? Well, Warriors fans showed up in droves and partied their way through the team’s Championship Parade and Rally in Oakland. In fact, city officials estimated that more than 1.5 million fans attended the celebration of the 2017 NBA Champions.

And on Opening Night of the 2017-18 season, the Warriors got to celebrate the title once more as the players, coaches and front office staff were presented with their rings, and the Championship banner was unveiled in the rafters at Oracle Arena. For the second time in as many championships, the Dubs went with Jason of Beverly Hills to make the rings, and the result was a ring with more diamonds and carat weight (11) than any other championship ring in sports history.

Nike became the NBA’s official uniform supplier starting with the 2017-18 season, and along with that came a new uniform classification system. Gone are the days of traditional home white and road blue uniforms, and replacing that is five uniforms that the Dubs will wear for this current season. The Dubs have already worn their association (formerly known as home white), icon (formerly known as road blue), classic (throwback) and statement (The Town) jerseys, and the team this week revealed a fifth jersey that will be worn for nine games this season. This last jersey is the Warriors’ Chinese heritage jersey, a gold uniform adorned with ‘The Bay’, the Golden Gate Bridge and a dragon, all coming together as a nod to the strong Chinese culture in the Bay Area.

Additionally, for the first time in NBA history, the NBA approved the sale of jersey sponsorships, and the Warriors and Rakuten came together for a multi-year partnership that centers around this new sponsorship opportunity. On all Warriors uniforms, practice jerseys and Summer League jerseys, the Rakuten badge will be on the front left, opposite of the Nike logo. It is also worth noting that the only places to purchase the same jerseys worn by the players with the Rakuten badge are warriors.com and all Warriors Team Store locations.

Based on league-wide sales for 2017, Warriors guard Stephen Curry ranked first in the league for the NBA’s most popular jersey with the Warriors ranking first in most popular team merchandise during that same period. And the Warriors Team Store witnessed record sales of “The Town” merchandise since the line first launched in early November, accounting for 34 percent of all sales at warriors.com and 31 percent at Warriors Team Store locations.

The Warriors sold out – or are on pace to sell out – all 54 regular season and playoff home games played at Oracle Arena in 2017, extending the sellout streak to 259 straight games. Warriors fans are widely renowned as some of the best in professional sports, and a lot of that can be attributed to the team’s loyal base of season ticket holders, 97.4 percent of which renewed their seats for the 2017-18 season – the fifth straight season with a renewal rate north of 90 percent. Additionally, the team has grown its Season Ticket Priority Wait List to over 42,000. Yet even with the incredible demand, there are always single game tickets available via the Warriors Verified Ticket Marketplace.

With the Bay Area’s extraordinary support of the Warriors, it’s only appropriate that the Dubs give back to the Bay Area community. To that end, the Warriors Community Foundation announced $1.2 million in grants to 49 organizations working to improve educational equity in Alameda and San Francisco Counties, including flagship grants to Oakland Unified School District and San Francisco Unified School District. Additionally, , the team’s players and the community foundation refurbished 15 basketball courts around the Bay Area. When 2017 comes to a close, the Warriors’ efforts in the community will have impacted 1.3 million lives in the Bay Area and beyond. The organization certainly finished strong to get there, as Warriors players, coaches, legends, executives and front office staff volunteered more than 1,000 hours, helped serve more than 3,000 meals, and donated more than 2,000 toys and 750 turkeys via numerous events over the last two months during the team’s annual Season of Giving.

Nearly 6,500 kids participated in at least one of 64 sessions of Warriors Basketball Camp, powered by Under Armour, in 2017. Spanning the Bay Area and Central Coast, Warriors Basketball Camp attracted attendees from as far away as India, China, Italy, Turkey and the Philippines. And over the summer, all 28 sessions sold out.

Nearly five years after initially announcing plans for a new arena in San Francisco, construction finally began on Chase Center. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in January for the sports and entertainment venue in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood, and by year’s end more than 25 percent of the construction is complete. With the first event at Chase Center set to take place in the fall of 2019, project milestones will come rather quickly. And by this time in 2018, the outer-structure of Chase Center will be complete.

Video games have long been a part of the basketball world, and the Warriors are taking the next step in that evolution. A pair of Warriors-owned properties will compete in the professional egaming ranks. The Warriors Gaming Squad will be one of 17 teams in the inaugural season of the NBA 2K League, the first esports league operated by a U.S. professional sports league, and that season will begin in May 2018.

In addition, the Golden Guardians will participate in the North American League of Legends Championship Series (NA LCS) beginning in January. League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena game where two teams of five players battle on Summoner’s Rift with the goal of destroying the heart of the opposing team’s base, known as the nexus, to achieve victory. The Golden Guardians, like the rest of the NA LCS, will be centered in Los Angeles, where they will play weekly games in front of a live audience during the regular season for a shot at the North American championship and the chance to compete on behalf of the region on the international stage.

For the second time in five years, the NBA selected the Warriors to participate in the NBA Global Games in China. While there, the Warriors played two preseason games against the Timberwolves in October, but the trip was about much more than preparation for the regular season. It was a chance to give fans in China a first-person view of the Warriors. And even though the team was only there for a handful of days, the players and coaches took part in a number of fan appreciation and community events that brought the fans a little closer to the game, and the Warriors specifically.