Warriors fly to Las Vegas, will attend Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev fight

ByArash Markazi ESPN logo
Monday, June 19, 2017

LAS VEGAS -- The Golden State Warriors' victory parade didn't stop after their championship celebration in Oakland, California, on Thursday.

It continued to Las Vegas, and it will extend into the weekend.

After the Warriors celebrated their second NBA championship in three years in Oakland, team owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber boarded one of MGM Resorts' private jets along with Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala and other Golden State players and flew to Las Vegas.

The Warriors were greeted by MGM Resorts chairman and CEO Jim Murren as they got off the plane, and the group conducted a champagne toast before boarding buses for the Aria Resort & Casino. When the Warriors arrived at the facility, they were greeted by the UNLV men's basketball team, cheerleaders and school president Len Jessup.

The Warriors will be in Las Vegas through the weekend and will attend Andre Ward's light heavyweight championship fight against Sergey Kovalev on Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Ward, an Oakland native, recorded hype videos for the Warriors that were played at Oracle Arena during the postseason. Ward and Durant both are represented by Roc Nation, and Durant has visited Ward's training camp in Oakland.

"Those guys always come out and show love," Ward told ESPN. "It's a very close-knit community. Even though the Bay Area can be considered big sometimes, in some cases, it's really not. The love is mutual. They put on for me and show me a lot of love and respect, and I do the same."

One Warriors player missing from Las Vegas was Stephen Curry.

The star guard and his wife, Ayesha, went to Hollywood on Thursday night. Curry might join his teammates Saturday for the fight.

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