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There can be no doubt about it: this is a difficult time to be a Golden State Warriors fan.
The Golden State Warriors aren't the first die-hard fanbase in sports history to invoke the mystical in order to explain their local franchise’s woes. However, many basketball fans in the 21st century’s technological mecca would argue that there is more data than usual supporting the interference of supernatural forces in Golden State Warriors affairs.
What is the 'curse of Oracle Arena'?
The arena — now known as Oracle Arena — was opened in 1966 in Oakland, California. The Golden State Warriors played there for a whopping 47 seasons, going all the way back to 1971.
With the advent of The Splash Brothers and ensuing title runs, ticket prices soared. Plans to open a new $500 million arena across the Bay Bridge quickly followed.
It was then announced that 2018-2019 would be the last season the Golden State Warriors played in Oakland. Many complained this also meant it would be the last season where the Golden State Warriors' original core fanbase could actually afford tickets.
This perceived abandonment is what, according to fans, summoned paranormal retribution upon the organization. Here are 5 reasons why Golden State Warriors fans believe 'The Curse of Oracle Arena' is real.
1) Injuries to starting players have increased far beyond statistical normality
Unfortunately, injury is an unavoidable part of professional sports, and basketball is no exception. The Golden State Warriors know this well. How often do players get injured on average, though?
One way of measuring this is by counting the number of games players miss. According to data compiled by the infamous JxmyHighroller, over the last 3 seasons of NBA basketball, that number was 30 games on average. In other words, from 2017-2020, the average NBA player missed 30 games total.
In that same 3-year period, Golden State Warriors' Steph Curry missed 110 games. Kevin Durant missed 104. Klay Thompson missed 79, and is now projected to miss at least another 72 in the slightly-shortened 2020-2021 season.
Counterpoints include that the Golden State Warriors made the NBA Finals in all 3 of those seasons — therefore they played significantly more games overall. It is also reasonable to expect starting players to get injured more frequently because, after all, they play more minutes per game by definition.
Yet even if you compare the Golden State Warriors’ stars with other playoff-making starters around the league, the difference is striking. Steph Curry alone missed more games than James Harden, LeBron James, Damian Lillard, and Giannis Antetokounmpo combined.
Also, having to play more games could just as easily be construed as an additional blow to the team. More games, not to mention more playoff games, mean more opportunities for a hypothetical curse to engage in its toiling.
Indeed, many of the Golden State Warriors’ most costly injuries have occurred during recent postseasons, after most other players were already home for summer.
2) The Golden State Warriors immediately flipped to the worst record
Change is the only constant for any basketball franchise, but dropping from top to bottom in the span of one season is highly unusual. Plummeting from a league-revolutionizing, multiple-ring-bearing dynasty to, well, the polar opposite of that, all in a single season? That has arguably only happened once before, to the Chicago Bulls in 1999.
In 1999, according to many, both the greatest coach of all the time and the greatest player of all time retired from the Bulls simultaneously. Hall of Fame forwards Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman also both left to go play for different teams. In other words, conscious decisions were made by all the key people to simply stop being the key people all at once. Nobody was surprised by the results this produced.
What conscious decisions were made by key people for the Golden State Warriors? Instead of following Chicago’s example and trading away or retiring all of their talented people immediately, they opted for an apparently much bolder and more cosmically perilous strategy: they moved to a new arena.
Of course, there are other obvious explanations. Klay Thompson was injured and out for the season. Kevin Durant was injured, out for the season, and on a new team, nearly 3,000 miles away.
Yet none of this can really be blamed on bad decisions. KD was out for the season whether he chose to stay with the Golden State Warriors or not. And in general, no one gets injured on purpose.
The only significant change made on purpose amidst all this misfortune was to leave Oracle Arena. Upon recognizing this, it’s easier than ever to understand the dark piety among the Golden State Warriors fanbase today.
3) It isn't just basketball
The Golden State Warriors aren’t the only Bay Area sports team to suffer a sudden anomalous burst of injuries and losing.
In an eerily similar fashion, the San Francisco 49ers made it all the way to the previous NFL season’s ultimate contest, only to be sent home without a trophy. Hungry for another shot at the title, the reigning NFC champions kicked off the 2020 season on September 13th.
Less than two months later, more than ten players were out with injuries, many of them key starters. The list included quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, as well as Richard Sherman, George Kittle, Raheem Mostert, and others.
Instead of dominating the league as favorites to return to the Super Bowl, the 49ers are still at the bottom of their division. According to Football Outsiders, the team currently has less than a 5% chance of even making the playoffs this year.
Meanwhile, the formerly-Oakland Raiders began the 2020 season by hastily fleeing the state and arriving safely in Las Vegas. Proponents hail this as a grimly wise move which may have narrowly thwarted the curse’s apparently trans-disciplinary grasp.
The Raiders currently have a winning record and are 2nd in their new division.
4) A deadly global pandemic making all large indoor events dangerous and illegal
Some of the more passionate among Golden State Warriors fans ranks go so far as to speculate whether the Curse of Oracle Arena has had truly global consequences.
They question the suspicious confluence of events. Though the threat was only fully recognized later on, COVID-19 first began spreading in late 2019, largely unbeknownst to humankind. This, some would argue, corresponds undeniably closely with the advent of the Chase Center.
As the Golden State Warriors began playing, so too did musicians, comedians, and other A-list performance acts. The brand-new arena, which seats 18,000 people and cost half a billion dollars to build, was all set to begin raking in the dough for owners and partners.
Soon enough, a wildly unprecedented global health emergency appeared and seemed almost meticulously suited to prevent the Chase Center from making money through any conceivable use.
Many would object to this line of thinking, pointing out the seriousness of the pandemic and the irrelevance of basketball compared with lives lost and serious economic turmoil across the globe.
However, those familiar with the religious and spiritual literature might counter that, unfortunately, curses are quite often imposed for precisely such petty and small-minded reasons. Paranormal actors indeed have a troubling record of casually whipping up global catastrophes in their myopic attempts to punish only a few mildly errant individuals.
Proponents of 'The Curse of Oracle Arena' wonder why this particular curse should behave any differently.
5) Large bolts of lightning striking without warning and setting the Bay Area on fire
Even the most skeptical minds among Golden States Warriors fans were taken aback by the downright mythological attack witnessed this past August. An unprecedented thunderstorm lit huge portions of San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties ablaze in the Golden State Warriors' homeland. This forced thousands of Bay Area residents to evacuate their homes and seek shelter elsewhere.
In ancient times, suddenly widespread diseases and surprise bolts of lightning were as unambiguous as a middle finger. Today, we live in a different era of science and technological innovation. Many would argue these are just unlikely coincidences, easily distorted by baffled and disappointed fans looking for answers. Others seem convinced, and ask what more needs to happen for the rest of us to be as well.
Also read: Golden State Warriors 2020-21 Season Preview & Prediction
