Golden State Warriors Parade 2015: Route, Date, Schedule, TV Info and More
Matt Fitzgerald@@MattFitz_gerald
Correspondent IIIJune 17, 2015
The Golden State Warriors claimed the NBA championship in Game 6 of Tuesday's Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 105-97 win at Quicken Loans Arena.
Now the party returns to Oakland for the victory parade, as Warriors fans prepare to celebrate their first championship in 40 years. Friday at 10 a.m. local time marks the start of the parade, per a news release through the Warriors' official website.
John Breech of CBSSports.com provided an image of the route:
Starting on Broadway at 11th Street and ending with a rally at the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, the Oakland parade permits fans to line up at the final destination as soon as 5 a.m. Friday.
The news release also indicates TV coverage will be available on local stations KRON, KGO, KNTV, KPIX and KTVU, along with rally footage from Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.
As for what Golden State accomplished in winning the Larry O'Brien Trophy, its run to pro basketball's pinnacle couldn't have been much more impressive.
The Western Conference is easily the better of the NBA's two, yet the Warriors managed to win it in the regular season by 11 games, posting a 67-15 record. A sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans in the opening round of the playoffs preceded a gritty six-game triumph over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Only five games were needed for Golden State to best the West's No. 2 seed in Houston, and it capitalized on a depleted Cavs squad to claim the NBA championship in six games.
Veteran NBA reporter Chris Palmer highlighted how far this Warriors nucleus has risen in a rather short span:
Point guard Stephen Curry was the league MVP and performed like it in the postseason when defensive schemes became more exotic and shots were even tougher to get off.
The turning point of the Finals, though, came when first-year head coach Steve Kerr inserted veteran Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup for the first time all year in Game 4. It helped Golden State climb out of a 2-1 deficit and not lose a single game from there.
Iguodala matched Curry with 25 points in Tuesday's closeout contest to win the Finals MVP. SportsCenter highlighted the uniqueness of the accomplishment:
It was Iguodala who set the tone on the defensive end and caused Cavaliers superstar LeBron James to struggle with shooting efficiency in the Finals—great as "The King" was otherwise.
CBS Sports NBA recorded Kerr's notable quote about how well rounded the Warriors were:
Golden State indeed played sensational defense throughout the regular season and the playoffs. The Cavs' supporting cast struggled to find their range from beyond the arc and ultimately couldn't score enough without the likes of All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to pitch in.
Kerr's point about the Warriors' prowess from three-point range is valid, but Golden State had its fair share of daggers from beyond the arc to stymie Cleveland's momentum for comebacks in the final three wins.
The reason Kerr was able to execute the bold strategy to sit such a key part of the Warriors success in center Andrew Bogut was because of how lethal his team could be from three-point range. It also showed how Golden State can win in a variety of ways. As long as the core of the team stays in place, there's plenty of evidence to suggest the Warriors can contend for titles every year for quite some time.
Cleveland has had a long championship drought of its own, and James will at least have Irving back. Love has the freedom to opt out of his contract, yet after seeing the shorthanded Cavs' run, he ought to be enticed to stay for at least another year.
Since the East is rather weak, a full-strength Cleveland figures to be the favorite to return to the Finals, while the Warriors face far stiffer competition on a regular basis in their conference.
For the time being, Oakland can partake in the jubilation of Golden State's title. Then the Warriors will return to a reality of dealing with immense expectations and quality teams vying to take down the reigning champions every night.