Oakland celebrates champions
OAKLAND, Calif. — For the second straight year, throngs of Golden State Warriors fans turned out for a victory parade to celebrate a team some are calling an NBA dynasty and got a treat when several players got off their buses to mingle with the crowd.
Hundreds of thousands of fans in gold and blue and holding signs that read “Dynasty” and “Back to Back Champions” waved from behind barriers set up along the route in downtown Oakland, California, as the Warriors rode by in the open, double-decker buses Tuesday.
Stephen Curry, NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors, who won their third title in four years last week, took turns raising the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the roaring crowd, which officials said could reach up to 1 million fans.
HEAT: Team President Pat Riley apparently served as a consultant for the Warriors’ third championship in the past four seasons.
Sports Illustrated reported that Golden State general manager Bob Myers sought counsel from Riley at the start of the postseason. “Give me some advice,” Myers asked Riley, according to the story.
Riley spoke of how such success has to be organic — or not at all.
“You cannot force people to do anything,” Myers said was Riley’s response. “You cannot move them in a direction. You have to let them be.”
LEBRON: Kyrie Irving is playing coy about the possibility of reuniting with his former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate LeBron James next season in Boston.
The Celtics guard on Tuesday deferred when asked about the prospect of the team pursuing James this summer. The 33-year-old James has a player option to remain in Cleveland next season but could opt for free agency.
“In this business, I’ve kind of experienced it all and I’ve seen a lot, so we’ll see what management decides,” Irving said when asked if he would be open to playing alongside James again.
Irving was drafted No. 1 overall by the Cavaliers in 2011 and played three seasons with James, from 201417. The duo made three straight trips to the NBA Finals, winning a championship in 2016.
RAPTORS: Nick Nurse has agreed to become the next coach of the Toronto Raptors, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday. Nurse will be replacing his former boss, Dwane Casey — under whom he spent the past five seasons as a Raptors assistant. Casey was fired after the Raptors were swept out of the second round of this year’s playoffs by Cleveland.