Damian Lillard’s native Oakland hardly resembles the thriving sports city he has so cherished since his youth.
Three major professional sports franchises, all gone in recent years.
So when the Milwaukee Bucks star came back home for the All-Star Game, you bet he hoped the East Bay would have a big presence.
The Golden State Warriors’ former home arena hosted not only the All-Star practices Saturday but also the NBA HBCU Classic featuring Morehouse College and Tuskegee University, which beat its Division II conference opponent 68-55.
“It was crazy. The NBA gave us an opportunity to come in on a big stage and play Morehouse,” Tuskegee graduate student forward Trey Crawford said. “It was just exhilarating being out there, being in front of all these fans, all this Black culture around us.”
Having the game in his hometown meant so much to Lillard, who has been sad to see the Warriors, Athletics and Raiders depart the city.
And it didn’t just matter for Lillard but stood to honor all of the Black greats to come out of Oakland — from Gary Payton and Jason Kidd to the late Bill Russell and Rickey Henderson.
“Growing up close by here, driving by and looking at the Coliseum and seeing Oracle and how dead it is, when there was so much energy in it when I was a kid with the Raiders, the A’s, the Warriors being here, concerts, AND1 Mixtape tour coming through here, Globetrotters. I remember a lot about this parking lot,” Lillard said after practice with his Shaq’s OGs squad.
“One of the first things I asked when I got here was, are they doing Saturday night at Oracle? Just because I would have loved to see that energy be here with the professional sports teams being taken away. So for us to be able to come here and do the practice, for the HBCU game being here … especially with how rich our history is with African-American athletes, I’m happy that they kind of took this stance and came this direction with it because I think the city needs this type of energy.”
This marked the fourth time a game was incorporated between two schools representing HBCUs — Historically Black Colleges and Universities — during All-Star weekend in order to increase awareness for these student-athletes and develop more chances for their programs and schools.
“It’s always good to create an opportunity for the HBCU programs to get some shine, get some love,” Curry said. “It’s an amazing stage and I love the fact that the NBA is invested in it. That’s part of what this weekend’s about.”
Curry still feels connected to Oakland, where he and his wife Ayesha do so much work through their Eat.Learn.Play.Foundation in the schools and community.
Former Warriors and Kings coach Keith Smart just took over a high school program at Utah Prep Academy in Hurricane, Utah, last month and his team participated in a game here Friday. But Smart made sure everybody stuck around to see the All-Star practices Saturday followed by the HBCU game.
“When you look at the demographics of the teams, all these guys, you give them hope. That’s what the NBA is doing is giving them hope,” Smart said. “Players that might have a chance or may not have a chance, but now they’ve got a big brother backing them with the NBA. So this event as well as now having a big brother for the most part behind you, it can only help.”
Veteran NBA writer and reporter David Aldridge so appreciates the efforts to put HBCU programs on the big stage during All-Star weekend.
“It’s been great,” Aldridge said. “For the NBA to intentionally lean into the HBCUs and to give them really an equal platform with the rest of the things going on this weekend, it’s so affirming, and it’s affirming to the kids. I’ve done a couple of the games over the years, and they really feel empowered. And it gives them incredible confidence that their league gets this kind of attention and this kind of platform to really showcase the kids’ skill level and their talent level and togetherness.”
Former Warriors forward Purvis Short traveled from Houston and proudly represented HBCUs — he attended Jackson State — at Saturday’s game with a group of NBA Legends.
“Oftentimes, HBCUs are overlooked, so any time there’s an opportunity for these kids and the universities to be on this type of stage, once they go back, it changes their whole outlook,” Short said. “And so it expands their dreams, if you will, so it’s really great to see things like this happen. I’m so happy that I was able to attend it. This is wonderful.”