SAN FRANCISCO – Warriors vs. Lakers, NorCal vs. SoCal, Steph vs. LeBron.
For California fans, the tantalizing playoff matchup between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers was a long time coming, representing what will perhaps be one final chance to see Steph Curry and LeBron James face each other in a postseason series at or near the peak of their powers.
“I’m born and raised here. Diehard Laker fan, a Kobe tattoo,” said Shannon Reed, an Antioch native, at Chase Center before Game 1 on Tuesday. “But to be able to see the clash of the titans in our generation is what I’m most excited for.”
It’s also a rare opportunity to have some bragging rights over friends, family members, and even spouses who might wear purple instead of blue, as the two teams compete in their first playoff series against each other in 32 years.
“Admittedly, there’s some tension in the house, to say the very least,” said Warriors fan Matt O’Reilly, who went to Tuesday’s game with roommate Sam Thompson, who wore a gold No. 6 Lakers jersey.
East Palo Alto’s Monique Collins, who went to the game with friend and Warriors fan Andre Evans, said, “I’m so excited. When the Lakers come to town, I’m always going to be excited. I’m from the Bay and I’m a Laker fan for life.”
At least a couple thousand Lakers fans attended Game 1 – several alongside Warriors fans — and saw their team earn a 117-112 win. Just as many fans in purple and gold are expected to attend Thursday night’s Game 2.
“So many rivalries on different levels,” said Lakers fan Chirag Patel, who attended the game with his wife Deepika Bindal, a Warriors fan. “NorCal, SoCal, LeBron, Steph Curry, you’ve got a bunch of different things going on.”
The Walnut Creek couple bought tickets quickly after the series was set.
“I said this is only going to happen once,” said Patel, a Santa Barbara native, “and this may be the last time we get to see Curry and LeBron.”
The last time these two teams faced each other in a playoff series was in the 1991 Western Conference semifinals when Magic Johnson and James Worthy beat coach Don Nelson’s Run TMC Warriors four games to one.
Johnson and Chris Mullin had an epic duel in Game 2, with Mullin scoring 41 to lead Golden State to a 125-124 win, splitting the first two games at the Forum. Johnson had 44 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists.
The Lakers went on to win the final three games of that series, including two in Oakland, to advance to the conference finals and later the NBA Finals, where they lost Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.
Since then, any rivalry between the two teams has cooled off, as the Warriors and Lakers were rarely both good enough to be in the playoffs at the same time.
“I think the last time they matched up in the playoffs was (1991),” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said this week. “I don’t think that’s a rivalry.”
Now the, ahem, series has been renewed, largely because of the Lakers’ ascension with James. The four-time Most Valuable Player signed with Los Angeles in 2018 and led the team to a title in 2020.
“The early days with Kobe (Bryant) is a different story,” said Lakers fan and Sherman Oaks native Jorge Morales. “(The Warriors were) still a young team and Kobe was on his way out, so that rivalry didn’t really spark there. But now with LeBron having his past with the Warriors, I think it’s here.”
James, then with the Cleveland Cavaliers, was the Warriors’ foil in four straight NBA Finals between 2015 and 2018, breaking up Golden State’s run of four straight championships with his own title in 2016. James has four NBA titles, as does Curry.
O’Reilly and Thompson watched the team warm up before Game 1.
“One side was LeBron and one side was Steph,” Thompson said. “If you could just bottle that up, we could leave. That’s worth it right there.”
The Warriors-Lakers series doesn’t appear to have the type of animosity — or hatred — as other NorCal-SoCal sporting matchups like the Giants-Dodgers, although that might change if Draymond Green riles up the crowd in Los Angeles as he did in Sacramento, Memphis, and Boston.
For now, it’s about respect. Fans simply want to see a great series (and also earn some bragging rights).
“I’m going to be realistic,” said Antioch’s Tiffany Gray, who was at the game with Reed, the Bay Area native Lakers fan. “(The Lakers) are a great team and I would never minimize their talent, but Dubs in seven.”
“After a while, we really don’t care who wins, because we get a chance to hang out,” said Lakers fan Antonio Curiel, who was there with daughter Charlize and longtime friend Spencer Cowenhoven, a Warriors fan from Union City. “That’s the biggest part.”