The Golden State Warriors held a press conference at the pier 30/32 location beneath the Bay Bridge on Tuesday morning to announce that they are indeed planning to move back to San Francisco
NBA commisoner David Stern was in attendance, as was Joe Lacob, Peter Guber, Jerry West, Mark Jackson, Rick Welts, Mayor Ed Lee, Lt. Governor Gavin Newson and San Francisco city officials, and for some reason Ahmad Rashad.
"The Warriors played in San Francisco for 50 years, and in my humble opinion it's time to bring them home," said Mayor Lee.
Lee would admit that the pier site would need enormous work, but is not using any existing 'green space' but instead creating it to draw more folks to the downtown area.
Joe Lacob spoke next, noting that that the Warriors explored all options for a new location, including Oakland, and that the W's felt that the pier site was the best location to give the fans the best experience
Lacob gave four main points about the new arena:
Intend to build the most spectacular arena in the country; an 'architecturally significant' venue. Do everything in our power to have a team that matches the scope of the building, the arena is about winning.
Completely privately financing the arena, the Giants have proven a privately financed stadium can work and be prosperous.
Have a venue that can be very accesable to public transportation.
Build a multi faceted venue with public spaces, retail, restaurants, bars included as well change this part of the embarcadero for the future.
Peter Guber spoke as well, talking about the necessity of having a digitally advanced stadium he deemed 'a 21st century campfire.' Team president Rick Welts even went as far to mention that Red's Java House, the long-standing restaurant at the Pier location, will not be forgotten in all of this and plan to work with them to keep their historic restaurant thriving.
NBA Commissioner David Stern spoke about the history of the franchise, recognizing W's legends Al Attles and Nate Thurmond, and the importance of the W's understanding of sports affect on the community. Jerry West brought up the Cow Palace, noting that 'The onus is on us to build a team worthy of this building.'
Mark Jackson and David Lee spoke as well, letting the fans know that the Warriors 'have a commitment now' and will continue to try and bring wining basketball to the Bay now, not in 2017.
No concrete details were really given during the formal press conference, though much of it did sound promising, especially in regards to making money and brining tourism to the City with the stadium.
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