The NBA Champion Golden State Warriors, in partnership with private, statewide health foundation- The California Endowment, will unveil a newly refurbished basketball court at Rainbow Recreation Center in East Oakland (5800 International Boulevard, Oakland CA 94621) on Saturday, December 12 from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in honor of recently retired Warriors star Jason Richardson, it was announced today. Richardson and the Warriors Community Foundation will join The California Endowment, the Good Tidings Foundation, Oakland Parks & Recreation and elected officials to unveil the new courts and conduct a basketball clinic for 80 local youth.
The event is part of the Warriors Community Foundation’s Step Up Your Game program, and is being held in partnership with The California Endowment’s East Oakland Building Healthy Communities initiative. The new court will feature a 5,000 square foot indoor playing surface, two new NBA plexiglass hoops systems, and spectator seating.
The Warriors, working in collaboration with Good Tidings Foundation, have refurbished over 50 basketball courts around the Bay Area, helping to revitalize local neighborhoods and communities. Courts are resurfaced and receive new backboards, nets, rims, striping, and signage.
Originally selected by the Warriors with the fifth overall pick of the 2001 NBA Draft, Richardson averaged 18.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.27 steals and 35.5 minutes in 438 games (431 starts) with Golden State from 2001-07. The 6’6” swingman was a key member of the celebrated “We Believe” playoff run in 2007, when the Warriors ended a 13-year playoff drought and became the first eight-seed in NBA history to defeat a one-seed in a seven-game playoff series with a 4-2 upset over the Dallas Mavericks. While with the Warriors, the Michigan State product won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in consecutive years (2002, 2003) and currently ranks third on the franchise’s all-time three-pointers made list (700) behind only Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
Throughout the 2015-16 season, the Step Up Your Game program will hold basketball court refurbishments, additional Warriors Basketball Camps and Warriors Dance Team dance clinics that will address the need for youth-oriented programs in the Bay Area that seek to promote and reinforce positive lifestyle habits. For more information on Step Up Your Game, please visit warriors.com/StepUpYourGame.
About the Warriors Community Foundation
Established in 2012 with the new Lacob and Guber ownership group, the Warriors Community Foundation is dedicated to making a meaningful and lasting impact on the lives of underserved youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. This past year, the Warriors Community Foundation has donated over $1.5 million in grants for youth development and refurbished courts in Oakland, San Francisco and Richmond.
About The California Endowment
The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation, whose mission is to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians. In 2010, the Endowment launched a 10 year, comprehensive community initiative designed to advance statewide policy and transform 14 of California’s communities most devastated by health inequities into places where all people have an opportunity to thrive. East Oakland was chosen as one of these communities. The Endowment challenges the conventional wisdom that medical settings and individual choices are solely responsible for people's health. The Endowment believes that health happens in neighborhoods, schools, and with prevention.