Channel your inner Steph
Don’t think you have quite enough height — or hops — to throw down a rim-rattling slam dunk? Think again. There’s a brand-new basketball fantasyland in the Bay Area where your hoop dreams can come true. Fittingly dubbed Hooptopia and designed for fans of all ages, it’s a playful interactive experience brought to you by the Golden State Warriors and the creative minds behind Candytopia. The two-story pop-up adventure is located just outside the new Chase Center in San Francisco.
The idea behind Hooptopia is to give visitors a feel for what it’s like to live like Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and their fellow Warriors — minus the multimillion-dollar paychecks and ginormous shoe contracts. At the heart of it all is a slam-dunk room where guests don harnesses, grab a ball and are then propelled 40feet through the air, via cables, toward a basket. In a flash, they can make like Draymond Green and forcefully jam the ball through the hoop. (A triumphant roar and/or muscle-flexing is optional.)
It all begins with an NBA Combinelike experience where your wingspan, vertical leap and “leg force” are calculated. There’s also a short agility run as Warriors players on video root you on. From there, it’s on to NBA Draft Day, where you get the call you’ve waited for all your life. Of course, after you’re drafted by the Warriors, you need to “fly” to the Bay Area to meet your new teammates and the media. You do so aboard a partial airplane replica as the San Francisco skyline appears outside your window. There was never any doubt that you’re championship material, so naturally, you and your fellow “teammates” are given a massive confetti shower and then jubilantly spray “Champagne” all over each other. There are other attractions, too. Kids especially will love the Splash Zone, where they glide through an enclosed curvy yellow slide and into a giant pit of mini basketballs. There, they can heave the balls toward baskets affixed at various heights. It’s enough to leave you in a golden state of bliss.
Details: $27-$36. 7Warriors Way, Suite 100, San Francisco; www.thehooptopia.com