For the second year in a row, the team that won the NBA Championship visited San Quentin State Prison during the playoff finals. This time, it was the Cleveland Cavaliers’ staff.
“The key to winning an NBA championship is to come to San Quentin,” said SQ Warrior and resident Anthony Ammons.
On Saturday, June 18, the evening before game seven between the Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland’s coaching staff toured San Quentin.
Several incarcerated men said they saw Lt. R. Luna lead Tyronn Lue, Chancy Billups, James Posey, Rod Strickland and others into North Block during the 4 p.m. institutional count while the incarcerated men in the building were locked inside their cells.
After count cleared and North Block released the population to go to dinner, several incarcerated men spotted the Cavaliers’ coaches walking by the chow hall.
Some prisoners looked on with awe while a Warriors’ fan heckled the Cavaliers staff, letting them know they were in Golden State’s backyard.
San Quentin has a huge Golden State fan base. Not only is San Quentin located in the Bay Area, but also Golden State’s coaching and management staff has been coming into the prison to play the SQ Warriors in an annual basketball game since 2012. Golden State stars like Draymond Green and Maurice “Mo-Buckets” Speights have come with their staff.
Last year Golden State came inside San Quentin for the first time during the NBA playoffs. First, Golden State Assistant GM Kirk Lacob and Golden State accountant Ben Draa came in to play against the Kings after Golden State defeated Memphis and clinched the Western Conference finals in six games. They had just arrived back in the Bay Area at 4 a.m.
Then, on June 6, 2015, the day before game two of the NBA finals between the Warriors and Cavaliers, Golden State General Manager Bob Myers and Lacob were on the San Quentin Lower Yard’s outdoor basketball court playing with the Christian Sports Ministry’s Green Team against the San Quentin Warriors. That year, Golden State won the NBA championship over Cleveland in six games.
This year, only Lacob visited San Quentin after game two of the Western Conference finals when Golden State tied 1-1 with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Golden State went on to recover from a 3-1 deficit by winning three straight games.
However, this year only Cleveland staffers visited San Quentin during the NBA finals, and the next day LeBron James and Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers to their first NBA championship, recovering from a 3-1 deficit for the first time in NBA history.
Could visiting San Quentin be good luck for winning an NBA title?
“I think it might be; it worked last year,” said Lacob.