Warriors fan reflects on her long history with the team
As Dub Nation gears up for the Golden State Warriors' crucial play-in game, some of the team's most dedicated fans are reflecting on the journey that brought them here—none more passionately than Judge Patricia Miles.
For Miles, a lifelong basketball enthusiast, her view of the court looks a little different than it did during her childhood in Philadelphia. But as she tells it, she wouldn't have it any other way.
The die-hard Warriors fan has been supporting the team since the days of Wilt Chamberlain—long before the team ever made its way to California.
"In my mind, they were still related to my hometown, and reminded me of my hometown, Philadelphia," Miles said. "And I'm just a big hoops fan, no matter what."
Now a Bay Area resident, her fandom has come full circle. After nine years on the waitlist, she eventually became a Warriors season ticket holder. But Miles emphasizes that her loyalty was cemented well before the team's championship era.
"The Warriors have always played with heart," she said. "Now we have folks who have gotten on board, and we are happy to have them, now that they are winning. But the Warriors have always played with heart. So even when you'd go to a game and you knew they were gonna lose, it was still a game where you know they were gonna play their hearts out, and that's what made it entertaining."
Each game day brings more than just basketball. Miles says the community inside the arena has become just as important as the action on the court.
"The energy is, unmeasurable," she said. "There's so much that goes on that you don't see on TV."
From her regular greetings with the usher in her section to texting fellow fans between games, Miles describes a unique bond that has shaped her Bay Area experience.
"The crowd at the games, used to, and still does, feel like a big family," she said. "I know the people who sit in my section. The row in front of me. The row in back of me. We text when there are not home games, about the games. It's just like a little self-made family."
And it's that sense of connection—and devotion—that keeps her coming back, season after season.
