Portland Trail Blazers guard and East Oakland native Damian Lillard recently returned to Oracle Arena to face off against the Golden State Warriors in the same building where he grew up cheering for them.
The long legacy of NBA players that have come out of Oakland goes back more than half a century and includes all-time greats such as Bill Russell, Gary Payton, and Jason Kidd. In the late '60s and early '70s, one former ballplayer from Oakland played for the Warriors. His name was Joe Ellis.
"We weren't transferring back and forth across the Bay like they are today. People from San Francisco generally didn't go to Oakland, and people from Oakland didn't come to San Francisco, so it just gave people on that side a chance to follow me a little more closely."
