Warriors/Oakland
Did you know that Stephen Curry spent a portion of his childhood north of the border? True story. So it’s no wonder that 15 years later, the back-to-back NBA MVP is excited about the chance to return to Canada as the Warriors open up their preseason with an October 1 game against the Raptors in Vancouver as part of the NBA Canada Series.
“As someone who spent some time as a kid growing up in Canada, I’m really looking forward to our preseason game in Vancouver as part of the NBA Canada Series,” Curry said in an NBA release. “The fans throughout Canada have always had a tremendous passion for basketball and the NBA, and to have the opportunity to visit such a beautiful city and play in that exciting environment is going to be a lot of fun.”
And speaking of fun, here are some fun facts about the Warriors’ history with Vancouver, which included several regular season games against the Vancouver Grizzlies over six seasons before the club re-located to Memphis in 2001.
The Warriors’ first game in Vancouver: Dec. 16, 1995 (116-85 win)
The Warriors’ last game in Vancouver: Feb. 15, 2001 (99-89 loss)
The Warriors’ starting five in their last game in Vancouver was Mookie Blaylock, Bob Sura, Antawn Jamison, Marc Jackson and Adonal Foyle.
The Warriors went 8-4 in regular season games played in Vancover.
The Warriors are 1-1 in preseason games in Vancouver (1997 and 2000).
Antawn Jamison had 35 points and 18 rebounds (both Warriors-highs for a game in Vancouver) in a 102-101 win for the Dubs on December 30, 2000.
Steve Kerr’s teams went 5-0 in games that he played in Vancouver (Spurs 3-0, Bulls 2-0).
No current Warriors players have played a game in Vancouver, though Curry’s father, Dell, played in Toronto’s last regular season game in Vancouver on March 11, 2001.
The Warriors were involved in the last regular season game in Vancouver’s NBA history – a 95 81 home loss to the Grizzlies on April 18, 2001.
