Cavaliers Arrive In Bay Area For Game 1 Of NBA Finals
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- The Cleveland Cavaliers touched down in Dubs territory Tuesday ahead of Thursday Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
KPIX 5 learned someone who will be spending a lot of time with the team is secretly rooting against them.
The team chose to be housed at the St. Regis Hotel in hopes of not bringing as much attention to themselves as they did last year when they stayed down the block at the Four Seasons on Market Street.
With the location of the St. Regis being on 3rd Street, the Cavs organization hoped for a smoother arrival in San Francisco -- and they got it.
The team that has held the title of Eastern Conference champs for three years in a row arrived Tuesday afternoon.
Led by LeBron James, the defending NBA champions are officially back in the Bay Area to defend their title. KPIX 5 spoke with man who will be the team's bus driver while they're in the Bay, Peter Hanritty.
The driver, who was born in Scotland, made no bones about where his allegiance lay.
"I'm a Glasgow Celtic fan, a soccer team, Hanritty said with a laugh. Warriors are my basketball team." while he's not a native of the Bay Area, Hanritty has been here for more than 40 years. He said his passengers were nice and not rowdy at all.
"I don't know who they are anyway. I don't know who they are," he said.
The driver said, if the Warriors win, he'll contain his excitement until he drops the Cavs off at the airport.
And if the Cavs win?
"I'll be lowkey. I won't say what I really want to say," said Hanritty. "But they won't win anyway. I hope they don't see this interview! I'll be fired!"
A few fans greeted the team as they arrived at the St. Regis hoping to get an autograph or a picture. Only one supporter was lucky enough to get a signature from Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue.
Online ticket resale site TickPick.com says the average ticket for Game 1 is selling for $1,850 for game 1. Prices for Game 2 are even higher.
The Golden State Warriors Senior VP of Business Development Brandon Schneider warned fans to be aware of fraudulent tickets.
"A lot of sites out there that you've probably heard of, they sell tickets and advertise fan protect guarantees, but there's only one site that guarantees legitimate tickets, and that's Warriors.com," said Schneider.
Hanritty said the team got a police escort, which was nice since he didn't have to fight through traffic.
Game 1 is at Oracle Arena Thursday night. Tip-off is at 6 p.m.