The jerseys are cool, but there is much more to the Warriors’ Hardwood Classic Mondays than the classic uniforms with the old-school logos. The six games this season where Golden State will be wearing the blue "The City" uniforms from 1966-67 – starting with Monday, December 20 against Washington – give fans and players alike a chance to embrace their Warriors roots.
Like Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points, Nate Thurmond getting 18 rebounds in a quarter, the 1974-75 NBA Championship team, and Run-TMC.
"The history is there," said someone who has seen it all as a former Warriors player, coach and current vice president Al Attles. "This is an effort by the league and the Warriors to bring the history back, and last year you could sense that fans enjoyed it and got something out of it."
Hardwood Classics Mondays, presented by Verizon Wireless, will honor a different former star each Monday, starting with Attles on the 20th. There will be a video tribute and of the first 5,000 fans in attendance at each Hardwood Classics Monday, 50 of them will have a chance to win an authentic Mitchell & Ness Warriors Hardwood Classics Jersey. Each giveaway jersey will be an exact replica of one of the stars or teams the club will be honoring on each night.
The other featured stars this season are Thurmond on Dec. 27, Chamberlain on Jan. 3, Rick Barry on March 14, the 1974-75 Championship team on March 28 and Run-TMC (Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin) on April 18.
"It’s a chance for the league and the Warriors to say this did happen," Attles said. "People talk about Sleepy Floyd’s 51 points, but no one remembers Wilt’s 100. How many folks knew the biggest game in franchise history was Game 6 of the Conference Finals vs. Chicago. We had to win that one to get back home for Game 7 and then go on to the NBA Finals.
"How many people saw Rick Barry play? It’s easy to see the jerseys in the rafters, but Hardwood Classics keeps these events and the former players alive."
In addition to the 50 giveaway jerseys each Monday, fans can get half-off upper-level tickets as well as their groove on. Popular San Francisco band "Pride & Joy" will be performing at five of the six games on the schedule.
Golden State went 6-0 in last year’s Hardwood Classics games. Opponents are apparently checking out the cable car on the back of "The City" uniforms as the Warriors drive to the basket. (And it is something to behold – Gentleman’s Quarterly magazine recently ranked the Warriors "The City" jersey the seventh sharpest sports uniform of all time).
Current Warriors president Mullin played 13 seasons for Golden State in the 80's and 90's and is clearly a history buff.
"The Hardwood Classics are really important," he said. "It's important to know history, who these people are and what they've done. Older players have always had an influence on me. It's a great thing the NBA does."
Mullin has brought a lot of the 1990-91 Warriors back into the fold to help him return the Warriors to their glory days. Rod Higgins is the new general manager, Mitch Richmond assumes Mullin’s old special assistant role and Mario Elie is an assistant coach under Mike Montgomery. Hardaway, who helped Mullin and Richmond raise money for hospitalized former teammate Manute Bol at a recent fantasy camp, has a standing offer from Mullin to put on a Warriors polo shirt and sport jacket.
"Chris has done a great job of bringing people back," Attles said. "It is a step in the right direction. A lot of the fans are still connected to those guys and it’s great to see."
The winning Warriors combinations of years past, like Hardaway. Mullin and Richmond, had great chemistry. And while their winning ways won't magically rub off on Jason Richardson and Troy Murphy when they put on "The City'' jerseys next Monday, it will when they hang out with, learn from and see the fans’ reaction to Run-TMC and Attles and Thurmond.
"We all want the same thing," Richmond said. "We want to try to make this team a better team. (Run-TMC) didn’t win the championship, but we had the ability to play team ball. It was a fun and exciting time."
In addition to the Warriors, 13 other NBA teams will be wearing retro uniforms as part of the league’s Hardwood Classics nights: the Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers, Orlando Magic and Denver Nuggets.