After colleague’s long-winded Warriors speech two years ago, Wilma Chan keeps it short

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and MC Hammer at the Warriors victory parade Thursday.

ALAMEDA COUNTY
On a similar sun-swept afternoon in Oakland two years ago, Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty stepped to the lectern and addressed an estimated 1 million Warriors fans at Lake Merritt following the Warriors’ first NBA championship in 40 years.

Haggerty’s speech, though, became infamous not for the congratulatory words he offered the new champs, but how many there were.

As possibly the most knowledgeable sports fan among East Bay elected officials, Haggerty, nonetheless, had much to say. But sunburned Warriors fans that day were in no mood for a salutary speech from anyone outside of Stephen Curry and company.

Some booed Haggerty to get off the stage and others lobbed catcalls at the supervisor before he finally ended his remarks to a round of applause.

Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan traveling down Broadway at Thursday’s Warriors victory parade in Oakland.

Nearly two years to the day, Warriors fans again flocked to the streets of Oakland and Lake Merritt to celebrate another championship.

This time, Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan, as board president, had her turn to praise the team’s accomplishments, and she cut it short, but not before teasing the throng.

When Chan asked fans whether they wanted her to read a proclamation from the area’s federal and state officials, they resoundingly disapproved. “Please, don’t,” added Warriors television announcer Bob Fitzgerald.

Similar to 2015, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf rode her ubiquitous flaming snail car down Broadway, along with rapper M.C. Hammer. Schaaf reportedly heard a scattering of boos at various points along the parade route.

Later, Warriors owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber announced they would be footing the bill for Thursday’s victory parade, a noteworthy gesture in a city currently grappling with how it will close a large fiscal budget shortfall this month.

However, there was no mention of how the Warriors’ owners intend to pay their share of the $60 million debt leftover from the remodel of Oracle Arena nearly two decades ago.