The Town — Curry's Oakland Tribute Alternate

Oakland's Jersey

In 2017, the Warriors released a Statement Edition alternate that hit different. Slate gray with "The Town" wordmark across the chest instead of "Warriors." A stylized oak tree below. Minimal color — just gray, white, and a thin gold trim.

It wasn't about the Warriors as a franchise. It was about Oakland as a city. And everyone in Oakland understood immediately.

"The Town" is what Oakland calls itself. It's the local nickname — unmarketed, unbranded, earned through decades of local usage. For the Warriors to put it on a jersey was an acknowledgment that their identity was inseparable from that specific city. Not the Bay Area. Not California. Oakland.

Two seasons later, the Warriors moved to the Chase Center in San Francisco. "The Town" was retired. The jersey became an artifact of a relationship that ended — Oakland's team, wearing Oakland's name, playing in Oakland's arena, for the last time.

Why "The Town" Is Growing

The appreciation curve for "The Town" jersey is steeper than any other Warriors alternate from this era. Three forces are converging:

1. Geographic loss creates emotional premium. When the Warriors moved to San Francisco, Oakland fans experienced genuine cultural grief. The team they'd supported through 40 years of mediocrity — then celebrated through a dynasty — left. "The Town" jersey became a symbol of what was lost. Emotional attachment drives collector demand in ways that pure basketball significance doesn't.

2. Design excellence ages well. The slate gray is sophisticated. No busy patterns, no overwrought graphics. Just a clean colorway with meaningful text. Jerseys that rely on design quality rather than trendy gimmicks appreciate better over time because they never look dated.

This jersey is featured in our 2026 investment guide.

3. Production window was tiny. Only two seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19). Nike manufactured fewer alternates than primary colorways. "The Town" was a Statement Edition — produced in lower quantities than Association (white) or Icon (blue) editions. The supply ceiling is genuinely low.

“That jersey wasn't about basketball. It was about saying 'we see you, Oakland.' And then we left. I get why people hold onto those.”

— Anonymous Warriors front office source, on The Town's cultural impact

The Oracle Arena Connection

"The Town" can only be fully understood in context of Oracle Arena — the Warriors' home from 1971-2019. Oracle was old, loud, intimate, and distinctly Oakland. The arena was in a neighborhood, not a corporate district. The parking lot was chaotic. The fans were working-class diehards who'd suffered through decades of losing.

When the Warriors became a dynasty, Oracle became the loudest building in the NBA. And "The Town" jersey was created for that building — a visual representation of the arena's identity. Wearing it at Oracle felt like a statement of belonging. Wearing it at Chase Center would feel like cosplay.

That's why it was retired. The jersey belongs to Oracle Arena. It belongs to Oakland. Taking it to San Francisco would have diluted its meaning. The Warriors were smart enough — or respectful enough — to let it remain era-specific.

The Colorway

Slate gray base: Not charcoal, not silver, not heather. A specific mid-tone gray with slight warmth. Under arena lights, it read as almost metallic.

"The Town" wordmark: White block lettering, capitalized, replacing "Warriors" across the chest. The font is squared and industrial — referencing Oakland's port and manufacturing heritage.

Oak tree logo: Below the wordmark, a simplified white oak tree silhouette. Oakland is named for its oak groves. The tree is the city's official symbol, appearing on the flag and city seal.

Gold trim: Thin gold piping on collar and armholes — the only connection to Warriors' standard branding. Subtle, not dominant.

Compared to Other City/Statement Editions

Most NBA City Edition jerseys are forgettable — annual design exercises that try too hard and say too little. "The Town" succeeded because it wasn't trying to be clever. It was trying to be honest.

Compare to: Miami Vice (flashy, trendy, already aging), Brooklyn Basquiat (art-referencing, niche appeal), Milwaukee cream city (nice but generic). "The Town" has something none of these have: a genuine political and cultural context. It said "we are Oakland's team" at the exact moment that statement was about to become false. That tension — love and impending loss — gives it permanent emotional weight.

Authentication

1. Nike Statement Edition template: Nike Swoosh on right chest, NBA logoman on left shoulder. "Statement" jock tag designation on interior label.

2. Season markers: 2017-18 jerseys have the Nike "first year" template (slightly different collar construction). 2018-19 jerseys have the refined Year 2 template. Both are legitimate.

3. Color accuracy: The gray must be the specific slate tone — not too cool (silver), not too warm (taupe). Fakes frequently use incorrect gray values.

4. Wordmark: "THE TOWN" should be in a specific squared font. Letters should be evenly spaced with clean edges. Counterfeits often have slightly rounded letters or uneven spacing.

5. Rakuten patch: Present on left chest (2017-19). Absence on a claimed authentic from this era indicates a fake.

The Typography and Graphic Details

"The Town" wordmark uses a custom squared sans-serif typeface that intentionally departs from the Warriors' standard font. The letters are block-cut with sharp right angles — no curves, no serifs, no flourishes. The aesthetic reference is industrial signage: the kind of bold, no-nonsense lettering found on Oakland's port warehouses, rail yards, and factory buildings. It reads as utilitarian and honest, which is exactly the contrast the design was aiming for against the polished branding of the main Warriors identity.

The oak tree logo below the wordmark is a masterclass in simplified iconography. The silhouette reduces a live oak tree to its essential shape — broad canopy, strong trunk, spreading roots implied by the base width. It is printed in white on the slate gray, creating a ghost-like appearance that gets more visible as the jersey moves under arena lights. The tree is Oakland's symbol in the same way the Statue of Liberty is New York's — not because a marketing firm assigned it, but because the city literally named itself after the oak groves that once covered the landscape.

The back of the jersey carries "GOLDEN STATE" in small text above the player number, a concession to league branding rules. But the front tells the real story: this jersey belongs to Oakland, not to a franchise or a league.

The Gentrification Context

Understanding "The Town" jersey fully requires understanding Oakland in 2017. The city was in the grip of rapid gentrification driven by San Francisco's tech boom. Housing prices had doubled in five years. Long-time residents — predominantly Black and Latino communities who had supported the Warriors through four decades of irrelevance — were being priced out. And the Warriors themselves were planning to leave for a new arena in San Francisco, the very city whose economic expansion was displacing Oakland's residents.

The "The Town" jersey landed in this context as a complicated gesture. On one hand, it was a genuine tribute — the first time the Warriors explicitly claimed Oakland as their city on their uniform. On the other hand, the team was actively leaving. The jersey was both a love letter and a farewell card, and Oakland fans received it as both simultaneously.

This cultural tension is what gives the jersey its lasting emotional power. It is not just a retired alternate — it is an artifact of a specific moment in a city's economic and cultural history. Jerseys that carry this kind of weight beyond basketball do not depreciate. They accumulate meaning.

"The Town" vs. Other Retired City Editions

The NBA's City Edition program has produced dozens of alternate jerseys since Nike took over in 2017. Most are forgotten within a year of their retirement. "The Town" stands apart because it meets three criteria that almost no other City Edition satisfies:

Genuine cultural origin. "The Town" was not invented by a design agency. It was a pre-existing community term adopted by the franchise. Compare this to jerseys that reference vague "city vibes" through color palettes or abstract graphics — those are marketing exercises, not cultural statements.

Permanent retirement. Most City Editions are replaced annually by design. "The Town" was retired because the circumstances that created it ceased to exist. The team left Oakland. The jersey cannot come back without feeling exploitative. That permanence creates genuine scarcity in a way that annual design cycles never will.

Emotional stakes. The Miami Vice jerseys are fun. The Toronto North jerseys are clever. The "The Town" jersey makes people in Oakland emotional. That is a fundamentally different relationship between a fan and a garment, and it translates directly into collector loyalty and price resilience during market downturns.

Collecting Tips for "The Town" Jersey

Buy the Authentic tier if possible. The Nike Authentic version ($200-400) uses higher-grade mesh, heat-applied lettering, and the correct slate gray tone. Swingman versions ($150-250) are solid but use screen-printed graphics that can crack or peel with age. For a jersey designed to appreciate, the Authentic's construction longevity matters.

Season matters less here. Unlike the blue road jersey where championship patches differentiate seasons, both "The Town" seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19) carry essentially equal value. The 2018-19 season has a slight edge as the "final Oracle season" but the premium is marginal — perhaps 5-10%. Buy whichever you find in better condition.

Learn proper storage techniques in our jersey care guide.

Store carefully. The slate gray fabric shows dust and storage marks more visibly than darker jerseys. If displaying, use a UV-protective case. If storing, use acid-free tissue paper and a cool, dry environment. Gray fabrics can also yellow slightly with prolonged light exposure, so avoid direct sunlight on display pieces.

This is a Bay Area play. "The Town" jerseys command the highest premiums among Bay Area-based buyers. If you are buying from a national seller who does not fully understand the Oakland context, you may find better prices. The arbitrage between national market pricing and Bay Area demand pricing is real and exploitable.

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