McKay, Ken, Shelli and Lily joined me today at the Warriors 2010 Draft Party at Oracle Arena. I was looking forward to hanging out with McKay and having him come with me to the Draft Party. He’s an avid sports fan, works on the NBA account and is just fun to be around period. I was also looking forward to it because McKay and I have always hung out or worked in groups. I was really looking forward to chatting it up with him 1-on-1 and finding out more of what he’s about, and the great thing about taking BART over is that it allowed me to do just that. When I think of McKay I tend to think of the clowning we do on and off the job. But since we usually hang out and work in groups, I suspected our time mano-y-mano would be have to be different. I was right. McKay and I had conversations on BART that we typically don’t on a normal basis. It was a refreshing perspective to gain on McKay. I’ve always respected his smarts as a strategist and his ambition as a professional, and it was great to finally get to see those same qualities come from McKay the man. We talked about lots of things, but the one topic of conversation that I really appreciated was around work. I don’t usually take work advice because I like to do things my way; I always have. But some of the sage knowledge McKay was dropping on me was too insightful and valuable to ignore. McKay has clearly seen and been through a lot and it was really helpful for me to have him walk through some of the my thoughts with me. We haven’t even reached Oracle Arena yet and my Golden Season project has already done what I knew it would do; bring me closer to people in my life.
When McKay and I arrived at the ‘Colosseum’ stop and the weather was just as gloomy as it was over in San Francisco. As we were walking to the season ticket holder BBQ, we were both impressed to see how many fans were in attendance on a late Thursday afternoon. The world famous Golden State Warrior fan base is alive and kicking. Instead of braving the weather, we grabbed some BBQ and headed into the arena and eat instead of braving it out in the cold. As we headed down the North Tunnel, the lights went out and music started blasting. It was an unreal experience as this is probably similar to what the players see and hear before they run out on court. We headed in to a dark arena with the Warrior Girls dancing, fans screaming and new court unveiled.
The lights went up and David Stern popped up live from New York was on the jumbo-tron as McKay and I shuffled to grab some seats. Ken and Shelli finally made it in and found us, but unfortunately they ran out of food by the time the three of them made it up to the serving station and Ken had to run the stroller back to the car because they didn’t allow them in the bleachers. So after all the madness, we were finally getting settled in anticipation of who the #6 pick would be. Ken and I have been speculating for the past several weeks who we would pick up or what we would do at #6 and like most people, we were hoping DeMarcus Cousins would be available. NOPE. Wishful thinking. So with Cousins gone, the Warriors front desk selected Ekpe Udoh. Many people were displeased, but I’m an optimistic person by nature (I think it comes with being a Warriors fan) and I’m hoping Udoh surprises people. Actually, I believe that he will.
So after the excitement of the 6th pick was gone, the new look and feel of the court hit me. It looks pretty amazing. The bright yellow hits and the classic colorway brings back memories of the Warriors of old that I was introduced to as a kid. It was really great that Ken and Shelli came and brought Lily. They are two of my best friends of and for life. Because of who they are to me, it was also great that they were a part of one of my first season ticket holder experiences. I’ve been through a lot with the both of them and having them bring Lily also made me realize that we still have a lot of friendship left in our tanks. There’s still more basketball, more events, more of life to live with those three. I can’t wait to be a part of it all as Lily gets older and they continue on in their storied relationship. There are few people I trust more than those two (now three) and having them with me and McKay during the unveiling of a new court and new Warriors season seemed fitting.
After a while Curry and Morrow came out to partake in some interviews and marketing contests. Although some of those contests were crazy cheesy, they were good sports and seem like stand up dudes. On the way out I snagged a sharp track jacket from the team store (Morrow’s wearing it below) and McKay and I headed back to BART on our way to Andy and Chris’s going away party at Cigar Bar. And since they are on their way out to go work on Nike at W+K and eager to go to Blazer games, I had to show up wearing some Adidas Warrior gear. 