Decade in Bay Area sports

Priscila Marinez, Sports Editor

Although the San Francisco 49ers and the Golden State Warriors both fell short on their most recent championship runs, the Bay Area has wrapped up what could be its greatest decade in sports.
The Golden State Warriors
Stephen Curry became completely revolutionary for the Warriors, leading the way in what became a transformative decade for the franchise. Curry was drafted right before the decade began by the Golden State Warriors with the seventh overall pick in the 2009 National Basketball Association Draft. In 2012, he signed a $44 million, four-year contract extension and came back after an injury during the 2013-2014 season. During this season, Curry was the first player from the franchise to be a starter in the All-Star game since 1995. The following season, Curry led the franchise to their first championship in 40 years while also being the league’s first unanimous MVP. The following year was no different in success for Curry as he won another MVP award, didn’t win the championship but did lead the team to win a league-record 73 games. Following the signing of Kevin Durant, the team won the 2017 and 2018 NBA championships as well before falling to the Toronto Raptors in 2019.
The Warriors became the team to beat this past decade, putting the team on the map with Curry leading the way.
Colin Kaepernick
During a 2016 preseason game for the San Francisco 49ers, Colin Kaepernick was noticed to be sitting rather than standing, which is the tradition, during the presentation of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Kaepernick says in a post-game interview, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
San Francisco Giants
Challenging the Warriors for the most successful Bay Area sports franchise of the decade, we have the San Francisco Giants. The G-Men captured three World Series titles over five seasons spanning from 2010-2014. The team was led to all three titles by their pitching staff. Opposing teams had to contend with electric arms like Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner, Sergio Romo, Ryan Vogelsong, Matt Cain, and Brian Wilson. Wilson was the focus of the “Fear the Beard” campaign that took the Bay Area by storm. Perhaps the only Giants craze that lasted longer was that of “The Panda” Pablo Sandoval. He, along with Hunter Pence, Buster Posey, and Brandon Crawford was at the core of the Giants for most of the decade.
San Francisco 49ers
Although the decade for the red and gold was not as successful as the Warriors or the Giants, the San Francisco 49ers still had a considerable amount of accomplishments. During Jim Harbaugh’s tenure as the team’s head coach, the 49ers advanced to two NFC Championship games and an appearance in Super Bowl 47. The latter half of the decade was a period of rebuilding, consisting of two coaching changes in two years before signing Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator and current head coach, Kyle Shanahan. Under his leadership and patience, the 49ers made their most recent Super Bowl appearance, falling short to the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb 2.