I am not sure how many of you would remember the Warriors being received by a swarm of fans in the airport at 2:00 A.M. after the underdog Warriors swept the heavily favored Bullets in four games, to take the title in 1975. From ‘Cardiac Kids,’ ‘Destiny’s Darling,’ to finally, ‘NBA Champions,’ it surely was an exceptional year for Oaklanders. But Oakland was home to not just one, but four major professional teams. All of which have now moved on, with the A’s being the latest in the exodus.

As an Oakland staple and the Bay Area God, Stephen Curry naturally would be asked about his feelings on the matter. And he didn’t bother hiding them. “It’s a sad situation,” he admitted to Ann Killion of the SF Chronicle. “It’s unfortunate there aren’t any more professional teams representing Oakland, because of how much history there is around sports and that sense of pride of being from Oakland,” Steph further added.

Amen to that! Take, for instance, the Raiders. Born in Oakland in 1960, the Raiders established their identity in that very city. It was in Oakland that the legendary football coach John Madden built his career. And subsequently, helped him get on the path of being the voice of the sport and the face of the video game. But perhaps, more importantly, it was in Oakland that the Raiders emerged as a true cultural symbol, representing and uniting the working-class community the team came to personify.

Of course, the A’s and Dubs also have similar stories. But that’s for another day. But you understand what Stephen Curry meant, don’t you? It was as VP Kamala Harris described. “The Bay Area is a melting pot.” But what else did this fellow Oaklander have to say about the whole thing?

Needless to say, when the Athletics owner, John Fisher’s decision to move to Vegas, was approved by co-owners, it naturally brought attention to VP Kamala Harris. Born in Oakland and raised in Berkley, she joined thousands of heartbroken East Bay fans as she expressed her disappointment.

In the ALL THE SMOKE special episode with Kamala Harris, she fondly recounts those days. “Remember, we used to have all of them. We used to have all of them!” she reiterated, like she just couldn’t accept the reality. The Bay Area girl in her, though, just seemed to have revived, as she went on to further detail certain aspects that Oaklanders would certainly connect with.

“When I go to Oakland, when I go to the bar, and you know if like land at Oakland Airport and just pass Coliseum and it breaks my heart! And good good teams, yeah?” she said to Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. The latter, though, brought attention to another point – the economic implications.

“As players on our time, we [were] more worried about the workers and the people that were there because that’s who made us feel good. … To see them lose them jobs to San Francisco? That really didn’t sit right,” Jackson pointed out, as the presidential candidate nodded her ascent.

“It was part of the economic engine of Oakland. And then the vendors, local folks, small businesses.” Clearly, the presence of a sports team in a city completely changes its face. No wonder Camden practically offered themselves in a silver plate for the 76ers to do as they wished! But I digress. However, at the root of it all, it is the purest of the reasons.

One that Stephen Curry completely understood. “Sports franchises in any city are, to borrow a line from a good friend, a sense of hope and inspiration for a community … a way to galvanize that hope and unity and togetherness.”