♪ oh, happy day ♪ in his rejoice [singing] ♪ ♪ in his rejoice

[singing] ♪ oh, happy day ♪ oh, happy day ♪ oh, happy day ♪ oh, happy day ♪ ohhhhh ♪ oh, happy day ♪ oh, happy day ♪ oh, happy day ♪ oh, happy day ♪ oh, happy day

♪ oh, happy day ♪ oh, happy day >> announcer: ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage former all-pro nfl player-turned emmy award-winning broadcaster, ahmad rashad. >> wow. thank you. thank you. hey, how about another round of applause for the open interfaith gospel choir. rock out pretty nice. [applause] good morning, everyone. what an incredible day. and it is really -- i really feel honored to be able to say,

for the first time in history, welcome to chase center. cheer khaer [applause] [cheering] i'm honored to be the official host of the beautiful arena press conferences. it seemed like just yesterday we were standing on a giant pier just a couple of miles from here on a picture-perfect day announcing the warriors' return to san francisco and the intention to build a spectacular, new, 100% privately-financed sports and entertainment center here in the city by the bay. [applause] and as i sort of look at it, it's actually 2600, 23 hours and 30 minutes ago. but who's counting? [laughter] it was around that time that the leaders of an up and coming basketball team decided to chase a dream. man, they chased that dream so hard that they actually named that dream just that -- chase center.

[laughter] you can't make these things up. you can't make 'em up. it sounds like something straight out of a peter guber hollywood movie script. how did this happen 2600 days, 23 hours and 31 minutes ago? here's my perspective on that. many decades ago, legendary ucla coach john wooden created a pyramid of success which in his mind were the steps necessary to achieve greatness and fulfillment. now based on the results, i think we'd all agree coach wooden was pretty damn successful. well, back in 2012, they decided to follow in the whims of his footsteps and created their own pyramid of success. after several long brainstorming session, here's what joe and peter came up with as a recipe, or pyramids, for success when trying to build the greatest sports and entertainment venue in the world. first off, seven straight trips

to the playoffs. >> whew! [applause] five straight appearances in the nba finals. [applause] three nba championships. [applause] [cheering] two nba most valuable player awards. [applause] and at the top of that pyramids, one incredible, astonishing, staggering, phenomenal, spectacular, remarkable, unbelievable, magnificent, outstanding, impressive, extraordinary, gorgeous, breathtaking, stimulating, world-class, beautiful fantastic masterpiece, chase center. [applause] [cheering] that simple. it's that simple. so here we are today, september 3, 2019, ready to cut the ribbon on a new arena, chase center. a 18,000-seat venue that will include more than two dozen

restaurants and retail locations. two office buildings, a 5 1/2-acre park and incredible public gathering place called thrive city. not only will it rival any destination in north america, but any arena in the entire world. this will be the new home of steph curry, draymond green, klay thompson following nick berry, nate thurman and al adels and, by the way, inducted into the basketball hall of fame friday night in springfield. [applause] so that is not it, though. of course the new home of every conceivable concert including shows that will feature metallica with the san francisco symphony, elton john, janet jackson, phil cold lynxer chance the rapper, dave matthews all in the same night. you talk about all-stars. not in the same night. not in the same night. check your local listings. but they're coming here. enough from me. now it's time to hear from the

people who are actually responsible and making it a place to become a reality. let's introduce our esteemed panel starting with warriors president and chief executive officer chief executive officer rick welsh. [applause] the 45th mayor of the city and county of san francisco, london breed -- [applause] warriors co-executive chairman and chief executive officer chief executive officer, joe bagham. warriors co-executive chairman peter guber. [applause] the 40th governor of the state of california, gavin newsome. [applause] j.p. morgan chase c.m.o. kristen limcow. now our first speaker is a man who provides incredible inspiration to anyone who

dreams and aspirations of becoming involved in professional sport. in high school and college, he sold peanuts at anaheim stadium in an effort to put his way through college. now here today and lifting the golden state warriors into one of most successful franchises in professional sport, he is opening a world-class sports and entertainment arena in the city of san francisco. ladies and gentlemen, the warriors co-executive chairman and chief executive officer chief executive officer, joe lacob. [applause] >> ahmad, thank you. you've said it all so i'm not sure we have to say much more. that was quite a talk. thank you very much. this is -- honestly the first words i can use are just wow. wow. unbelievable that we're here today. this is fantastic. i almost can't believe it's true, to be frank. oh, boy. i started out myself in a new

towned new bedford, massachusetts and the first time i saw an indoor basketball court was the boys club. and i was like 9 years old and i tell this story often because it is the first hardwood floor that i ever saw. and i feel like my entire life i've been trying to build hardwood floor basketball courts. i once started a court in our home on the peninsula. it took me six years to build it and they had to call it a barn when it was done. we're not going to call this a barn, though, right, rick? no. but little did we know that in only one more year than that, we could get this done! not so hard. well first, i'm not going to do a lot of thank yous. i do have to thank very briefly just a couple of people. first peter guber, my partner. man, did i choose right. when we hooked up a number of years ago, we didn't have any idea what it would be like to build a venue like this and

become an entertainment company and he just had the perfect experience for it. he has been invaluable. thank you, peter. former mayor of san francisco, ed lee who's not here unfortunately today and our current mayor london breed. san francisco has welcomed us. it's not been easy. [laughter] but it's been a great process and we so appreciate being here and thank you for all of your help and for ed's inspiration as well. [applause] i don't know if he is here today, but mark veniov. i have to call him out. without him, making a phone call, as has been well-chronicled to me and to us, we would not have this site. they were going to build $40 or $50 million architecting what they were going to build and decided to go to sales force tower at the last minute and we were the beneficiaries of that and we were able to go ahead and buy this land and build

this building. which is pretty amazing. thank you, mark. [applause] rick welts. i have to just say -- i'm sorry, rick, i have to do this -- we met about eight years ago. he came to my house. he'll probably tell the story because he likes telling it. meet peter and i and we had a three or four-hour conversation. i said rick, you've done this two times before so i can be hard. we'll turn around this basketball team and turn around the business of basketball here because it wasn't doing all that great. no big deal. by the way, we might try to build a new arena. that, none of us knew, would take so long or be so hard. eight years. he has done an unbelievable job. deserves so much credit. so much credit. everything you see here today. all the people that are hired, it all comes from rick. phenomenal job. i'm not sure there are many people on this plan -- plan thaet -- planet that could

have done it. and i want to thank my wife nicole. [applause] she not only had a lot to do with a lot that went on in this arena, decorating and various things, but frankly she had to listen to me complain and moan for seven years and that is not something you'd want anybody to do. so, thank you very much. [applause] bigger applause. bigger. so, what was the vision of all of this when we started? you know, we purchased the team in 2010 and it was a team that really wasn't doing very well on the basketball court and missed the playoffs in 17 of its 19 previous seasons. the business, while people think it was doing pretty well actually wasn't doing so well. a lot of, frankly, free tickets that were being given away. we had a lot of work to do. so, the vision was to turn the business of basketball around and turn the basketball part of it around. thank you to steve kerr and bob

myers and our players, particularly that we drafted and some we brought in. they did an incredible job. five finals, three championships. [applause] motor than -- more than we could have expected. [applause] we also had the oldest arena in the nba. now it was a great place to play and still is. and we loved the oracle in many ways. great sightlines. in fact, we replicated the lower bowl of the oracle to this building for the most part. but it was the oldest overall building in the league. i had one kitchen. one kitchen to serve 19596 people. not so good. not easy. very narrow concourses and all the modern amenities just, unfortunately, weren't there and we had to make that change. we set out with that vision of trying to do that. and to be equally [inaudible] doing that as we ultimately were with building the team. we loved oracle. but at the end, food matters. [laughter] food matters. and all the other stuff that goes along with the arena matters and so here we are and

you are going to love this arena for those purposes. great seating for all. we have to have great seating for everybody. it can't just be about the suites and the people on the floor. it has to be about everywhere. one thing i love about this building, and you will experience it, modelo cantina, in the upper most reaches touching the caoelg kind of part at the end of the arena is a spectacular place to see a game and every part of this arena we wanted to make so that everyone had a unique experience. if we didn't do that, then we will have failed. we think we've done it. you be the judge. the arts. this is san francisco. s the bay area. i think you're going to find the art in this arena to be truly spectacular from commissioned paintings that were done by local artists to sports and the arts which came in here and did an incredible job. down every hallway, you'll see memorabilia from the paths of the warriors. and you'll also see a phenomenal, new piece of art in

a world renowned artist on the other side of this building that seems fierce. and how many of you have seen it yet? not even half of you. you have to go around to the other side of this building today to see it because it will become someone that comes to san francisco is going to want to see. it is an amazing piece and it fits in with our arena so well. intimacy. growing up, seeing new basketball buildings and concert buildings built around the world. the one thing that i have noticed from our first meeting, peter and i talked about this, do we want to see a building that was some giant building where you got lost in it and the sound wasn't as good in an older building. there is some great about older buildings, the way they were. we think we've tried to achieve that. we think maybe we've done it. the roof of this building inside is like the second or third lowest of any building in the nba. including all the new once. that means greater sound, reverberation, more of an intimate viefrments and you

will find every seat in this sbllg as close to the court as the existing seat in oracle. which is pretty amazing thing to try to achieve. intimacy, very important. player experience. we had to have a great player experience. we want to be able to recruit free agents. great players want to play for the warriors. they want to play with a good organization and we won a lot and enjoy where they're going to be living and playing and if any of you have seen some of the practice facilitis in this building, it is all in the building, under the building. two full-length practice courts and a locker room that is amazing. unlike any other maybe in the world and also, by the way, pays a tribute to oracle. the ceiling of it is the same ceiling that is in oracle arena. structurally. and it is a really exciting thing to see. so i encourage you. and also these guys have chefs and all kinds of great things that help keep them very happy. that had to happen and we think we've achieved that as well. private financing. very, very important to have private financing.

because the truth is we didn't want to be the guys that come into town and say we need public money. it would take away from police, fire, all the city services. we took none. we asked for none. we took none. 100% privately financed and we're very proud of that. [applause] the final thing i want to spokesmensing that all of our employees are basketball players, our staff, everybody that works for this organization is located in this building. one building. and work together. it's about teamwork, not just on the basketball court, but in an organization in its entirety. everybody will hopefully provide all of you with customers with a tremendous experience because they will be working together every single day and every single night in this building. and we're proud of that. [applause] that was the vision for it. you will be the judge as to

whether we have achieved all of those things. i think we've done a good job. the journey, i'll just say very briefly, one of hardest things i have ever done, i know peter feels the same. maybe the hardest, it's just an incredibly complex building and building something this big in san francisco is not an easy thing to get done and we all know why. it's just a tough environment to do it. we did it and we're very proud of that. the journey has been difficult. 2500 days, maybe it is a little more than that, started up here 3032, was a spectacular venue. but we think this is better and so many contributions by so many people and what i'd like to do now is to show you some of those contributions by all those people by teeing up this video we'd like to show you. ♪

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[music playing] ♪ [applause] >> thank you very much. you know, i went through a tour yesterday through the locker room. and it is the most remarkable place i've ever seen in my life. they have tvs in everybody's locker and their own shower. and a place where you can eat. two basketball courts. a place you can get a massage. a place you can get a haircut. i think the biggest problem is trying to get these guys to go home. [laughter] i'd never go home.

i'd live right down there. it's so wonderful. thank you, joe. now our next speaker is a person, no pun intended, who simply has the golden touch. when it comes to building an empire in the sports and entertainment business. his basketball team, the golden state warriors, has appeared in the nba finals five consecutive seasons. his basketball team, the dodgers -- [laughter] respect, respectful, ok, baseball team -- [laughter] they've advanced to the world series each of the last two years and his soccer team, which opened one of the most premier stadiums in this sport, currently sits in first place in its division. other than, that his teams have really struggle. co-executive chairman peter guber. [applause]

>> the last time i had this feeling was a bunch of years ago. and i glanced at my watch, ran up to the bank and said thanks, thanks, thank you and sat down. i glanced at my watch. wow! the whole thing was less than 15 seconds. and i worked four years start to finish for those 15 seconds? nah, that would be a horrible life. so, today when i look around, the journey that we have when all done will be a decade and i'm going to get a little more than 15 seconds. look around. suck it in. because your life is a series of moments strung together. i want to just enjoy this moment, seeing friends and colleagues and people that contribute to the success. my great pleasure and honor to share this day with you. yes, it will be a decade from the first whisper of joe, my great partner, who i adored, to me. just two words -- what if?

and so it began. so it began. yes, it will be a decade from that first whisk broom, joe. and our personal journey of discovery began and healed by so much more and so much more to do that will fill out the decade. the calling was to build a state-of-the-art venue which required a state of the heart mission. in a world seemingly more divided than ever, our intention was to create a modern-day campfire. not just a brick and mortar building, but a place to make us all dream to be physically together, laughing, cheering, crying, being delighted and astonished. not in individual cacophony, but experiencing the best talents in all fields together in the world and celebrate we have more in common than divided us. all of the folks who tirelessly

contributed to this equation and made this happen have my utmost respect and gratitude for their talents antenasty. rick, our super, super, super, super duper leader and the best part of rick is his friendship. he comes from his heart and all the -- [applause] challenges and problems and he allows us to be the best we can be. all of you here, so many more with a cast and crew on an uncertain journey that somehow never on budget -- and that was certainly a big source of our angst here -- but in the end, like any big movie, however expensive, no one says let's go down to the mession theater, i hear the film came in on budget. it will be the audience, you all and our public, who will determine our enterprise's true fate and value.

not the cost of its brick and mortar. the audience will be shaped by your warriors, artists and performers, content aimed at the heart. this is where hits are born. not in the brick and mortar. it's in your heart. if we succeed, our audience will share their experience, telling their story which will determine the true fate and value of our entertainment. and the edifice at the center of it all. so i shout out to our new bright and shiny, make us dream again and again. thank you, all. enjoy today. it's the only one you'll ever have. [applause] >> thank you, peter. our next speaker is someone who said 2600 days, 23 hours and 41 minutes ago when the warriors first made the announcement they were moving to san francisco that they were going to need the state of california and they were going to need him. all of that was very, very true

and we thank you very much. ladies and gentlemen, the 40th governor of the state of california, gavin newsome. [applause] >> thank you very much. by the way, it's not just ahmad. haircuts and massage ?aibl they have a damn manicurist and pedicurist. i hope this team is not going soft, folks. this is a little disconcerning. five nba finals does that to you. my purpose today is twofold. one is to express gratitude and also to make a personal point. i want to first acknowledge the extraordinary work the mayor, the mayor's office to do what she needed to do to make this date real and thank mayor willie brown for envisioning mission bay as it is today and to thank -- [applause] anita lee, who's here, on behalf of ed lee. ed lee, two and a half years

ago, was just a stone's throw away at the groundbreaking. and he ended his speech talk about how much he looked forward to this day. as you know, he lost his life, but his passion is demonstrable here today and i just want to express, on a personal level, my deep gratitude to him. it was his faith and devotion to this cause that led to this moment. [applause] thank you, anita. and let me also just express on a personal level the loss and, rick, you were kind enough to do this at the groundbreaking of jen macs. these are folks that 90% of you don't know who the hell i'm talking about. but everyone sitting here for the mayor's office, we lost jen in 2014 and she was one of the principle leaders of this effort as well. there is an old saw about san francisco that says san francisco is nothing more than

47 square miles surrounded by reality. which is a wonderful way to describe this whacky and wonderful place we call home. a city, not dissimilar to our state, of dreamers and doers and entrepreneurs, a city that prides itself on being on the leading and cutting edge. but what it was messing is what every american city in the united states had all right. and that was a venue like this that can hold 10-plus thousand people. that was the missing ingredient. so, let me just acknowledge and applaud the extraordinary commitment the warriors come back home to make real their vision, we need to build housing like we're building arenas in this state. [applause] so let me thank you for your perseverance and for peter's passion and enthusiasm and all the community that made this real.

rick, i saw meanie silver jumping up and down. she is just happy it's not at 3032. she's just happy it's down the road. so many people that made it possible, the planning commission over here and, you know, the day after labor day, the organized labor for building this arena and for all of their extraordinary talent displayed here in scale. [applause] i'll close with the final words. peter, you're right. you talk about shared experiences. we're living in a world where people are talking down to each other, talking past each other. people are watching, you know, different tv. what i love about something like this is everybody can come together across their differences. no one cares what your position is on tariffs. no one cares what your position is on tax reform or gun control. they're just here to share that magical moment and it is to t sum total of all of those magical moments that makes life

worth living. final words -- eat your heart out, madison square garden. thank you all very much. [applause] >> and any other arena that might want to think that way. [laughter] thank you, governor newsome. our next speaker is beyonce! no, wait. hold on. hold on. that's just the next speaker's favourite performer and once beyonce starts touring again, i'm told chase center will do whatever they can do to get beyonce here. all right. ladies and gentlemen, the 45th mayor of the city and county of san francisco, london breed. [applause] >> good morning. i'm so excited to be here today to open up this new, incredible center for so many san franciscoans to enjoy for generations to come. you know, here in san

francisco, we always talk about the future. well, the future is here right now and this ribbon cutting today of the world-class championship-winning golden state warriors who are going to bring the championship to san francisco. [applause] as governor newsome mentioned earlier, the vision of mission bay came forth when mayor willie brown was mayor at the time, although i still think he believes he's mayor. you remember that from when you were mayor, right? he had a vision. and the vision was to create a new neighborhood in mission bay. and this is just really the icing on the cake. never did we imagine we would have such an incredible center. but let me just tell you a little bit about the warriors and what they did to not just come to san francisco and build a facility. they decided to come home and

continue to be a part of this community. by focusing on making sure that this center was not only built by the hands of labor, but it was built by san franciscoans. [applause] and that was so important because there are people right in this community who were looking for job opportunities and they, with j.p. morgan chase, created a training academy like citiville. but it was specifically for chase center. in fact, i was walk down the street in the tenderloin last years and ran into someone who was struggling. someone who needed a job opportunity and needed housing. the next day, josh arsay from the workforce development office picked him up personally in his car and brought him to the chase center training academy. he, along with 32 other people, graduated from that academy and

i was able to go to that graduation. and on the same day, not only tell a.c. that starting next week he would be working on the chase center, but also his fellow graduates would be working on the chase center. [applause] it was absolutely incredible. this project and the doors that it opened, for opportunities to build but also for our small business community to succeed. in fact, you will enjoy the old school cafe, which is an incredible training ground for our young people in the bayview hunter point, working at former supervisor malia cohen worked on when she was supervisor to help provide opportunities for folks right in this community. small businesss that will be located right here at the chase arena. but they went even further and they made sure that local artists were a part of this incredible facility.

not just in the bay area, but in san francisco. the incredible mosaic founded in the mission in 1977. it's just really a true testament to what makes san francisco so incredible. but they went even further because they knew that transportation was going to be at the forefront of everybody's thoughts. with 18,000 [inaudible] and thousands of employees and incredible basketball players that needed to get in and out of this space, what were we going to do to make sure that happened as efficiently as possible with over 200 events and games and all kinds of activities that would happen here? they put forward a $29 million investment in transportation, providing four new trains, providing an expanded platform, providing opportunities to work with us so that we have a ferry land, and ways to get people in and out of this space as

efficiently as possible. [applause] and i want to thank all the folks who work on the transportation plan because what came out of our effort from last year is an incredible opportunity. with your ticket to any event, whether you are going to see beyonce or you are i don'ting to see the warriors, you can hop on muni for free. and i think that is absolutely outstanding and a commitment that the warriors have to making sure that this has been a successful center and it's open and available to all san franciscoans. that's what's absolutely incredible. so, i want to thank joe and peter for their leadership and their vision and i also want to really thank them for hiring rick. because let me tell you -- mimi is jumping up and down. she only jumps up and down for rick and that is because, i

remember when me and jane kim and malia were here today, we were on the board of supervisor she only jumps up and down for rick and that is because, i remember when me and jane kim and malia were here today, we were on the board of

supervisors and the work that we had to do and the process and what happens here and how rick in every single instance was basically actively engaged with wanting to be a part of the community. i'm so excited about the future. [applause] and last but not least, i want to say a few words about mayor ed lee because he was a real basketball fan and a true warriors fan. and this arena was something that he wanted to happen for san francisco. and so the work that he did, the obstacles that were overcome to allow something of this magnitude to happen and as was said before, you all know that with san francisco it is very challenging sometimes to get things done and get things built. but 100% privately financed, the work that had to go into the approval process, both state and locally, all that had to get done in order to make this a reality. every step of the way, mayor ed lee pushed for this project to

happen and i know that we would not be here today had it not been for his incredible leadership. [applause] and i know he's smiling down on us today, anita. and we want to thank you so much for being here. and at 5 '7," you couldn't tell him he wasn't taller than any other basketball player on the court. and we are truly missing him today, but we know that he is here with us. thank you to all the city departments, all the different public safety officials, all the labor folks, all the people who worked hard to make this happen. this chase center will be an incredible asset for san francisco for generations to come and we're proud to make it a reality for so many people who deserve this incredible space. and i'll definitely be here when beyonce is performing. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much, mayor breed. our next speaker is a person i've known for about 50 years, which is almost impossible because i'm only 39.

[laughter] i'm actually surprised she is even here. according to my unconfirmed records, he has attended 91486 meetings about the new arena over the last several years working his magic behind the scenes and paving the way for this incredible moment today. he has been a part of many transformative events and league history during his hall of fame career. yes, i said hall of fame career. [applause] probably none more gratifying than the opening of chase center. ladies and gentlemen, warriors president and c.e.o. rick welts. [applause] >> you know, by my count, i think this is the 215th time we've been together in an nba event. we never really had one like this, though, have we? oh, my.

former mayor, senator dianne feinstein took a special interest in this project. mayor willie brown, thank you

for your guidance. your advice. mayor mark farrell, a wonderfully unapologetic warriors fan. now you greet me with your trademark big greek kifmsz i'm not sure which is more challenging. [laughter] to our friends in labor from day one, you saw the impact this project would have on jobs and the quality of life in our region and you gave us your support. as many as 1600 union workers a day brought their talent, dedication and pride to this project. [applause] thanks to each of you and thanks to the president of the san francisco labor council. so many legendary leaders in san francisco helped me, this fairly new bay area resident learn the impossible nuances of

politics in this place we call home. in particular, don burton and mimi silver. thank you for befriending me and sharing your wisdom. [applause] thanks to ucsf for your spirit of cooperation and community. we want to be great neighbors. we needed critical state legislation to get this project completed and that was a heavy lift. thanks to assembly member phil chang, mark leno, assembly member david chiu. then senator pro tem and now mayor of sacramento, daryl steinberg and speaker of the assembly john paris. they worked together and showed incredible leadership in sacramento when we needed it most. back here in san francisco, we needed the support of the entire board of supervisors and, in particular, former supervisor jane kim. who always provided invaluable advice while looking out for all of her constituents here in district six.

and supervisor matt haney who, today, represents district six. to the attorney dennis serara and his staff, especially jesse smith. [applause] san francisco travel. you were with us from day one. san francisco police department and chief bill scott. the san francisco fire department and chief janine nicholson with a special shout-out to the recently retired chief. [applause] the sfmta is key to us fulfilling our promise to be a transit-first destination, lead by director tom mcwater and his predecessor. virtually every city department and every member of the leadership team touched this project in so many ways. thank you all. we're very proud of the community process today. thanks to the business and residential neighbors who attended countless meetings and provided feedback.

thanks to the ocii commissioners, the staff and thed executive director and her staff. the mission bay citizens advisory committee. thank you for your tireless work. to the san francisco giants for welcoming us to the neighborhood. thanks to david manicka and will hoff for designing this incredible building and to our general contractors for building it. and just thanks to steve codda, jason elliott, p.j. johnson, sean elsburn, seth boxer and mary murphy. and then there is our amazing staff, my teammates. enjoy this day. every one of you should be proud, knowing that you have a piece of this moment. i'm proud to be your teammate. in a city that doesn't spend tax dollar on sports facilities, founding partners take on an even more important role. building a privately financed arena would not be possible without them. at the top of that list is j.p.

morgan chase. more than three and a half years ago, chase and the warriors had a shared vision and resulted in a 20-year partnership to call this building chase center. in addition to chase, since then, we have announced a list of our founding partners who, without them, this simply would not be possible. we gather here today as part of our kaiser permanente community-based partnership. our founding partners, google cloud, h.p.e., oracle, pepsi, rakuten, ticketmaster, united airlines and verizon. together, with all of our other partners in attendance, we wants to thank you for creating this community gathering place and this performance venue that

will transform the bay area. now in closing, i'd like to acknowledge a few individuals who began this journey with us that are not here to see the ultimate success of their contributions. just this past april, we lost corinne woods, the legendary community advocate and chairperson at mission bay citizens advisory committee. all of us live half in fear and half in awe of corinne. she shaped so much of this project with her efforts. [laughter] the governor mention 2014 jennifer macs lost her heroic fight with pancreatic cancer. she was the point guard for this project and the city. and her energy, intellect and personality left an indelible impact on all of us who knew her. when that new bayfront pack opens next year, jen will be remembered with a trail named in her honor. [applause] faintly, it seems to be on a lot of our minds today.

i want to acteneding no j -- acknowledge our friend and leader, san francisco mayor ed lee. it was ed lee who invited the warriors back to san francisco and it was ed lee who called this his legacy project. without ed lee, we would not be here today. his warmth, smile, his laughter made him so approachable and so genuine. he loved san francisco and the people here and we love mayor lee. let's take another look at his life. >> the san francisco mayor ed lee continues to live on and thrive. it's a legacy that extends far beyond politics and reaching far beyond the bay area. even if you're unfamiliar with the beloved san francisco mayor, chances are his life has affected your life. for many, ed lee is remembered for being the first asian-american politician elected mayor of a major

american city. but this accomplishment overshadows a long and productsive career spent advocating for the rights of everyday people in the city he loved with all his heart. his sudden death in 2017 was an unbearable loss to the entire city. today, we proudly remember his early days as a human rights activist fighting for the very city he would one day represent on issues like workers' rights, immigration and affordable housing. mayor ed lee was also a passionate, dedicated warriors fan and while the original champions of the golden state warriors moved back to san francisco. without his support, the opening of chase center may have remained a pipe dream. ed lee always saw chase center as more than a building. he envisioned the values that a gathering place like this would bring for the entire community.

understood the importance that it would have on the future of san francisco. throughout his career, ed lee always handled himselfs with grace and dignity. his guiding principle, no matter what the issue was evident. empathy for the less fortunate. empathy for the underrepresented. and empathy for his city. while it is impossible to replace his humor, work ethic and compassion, we're proud to honor his example has been left on each of our lives. [applause] >> thank you very much, rick, for those inspirational words and such an important tribute to mayor lee. we're honored to have his wife anita lee with us here today.

[applause] our final speaker is from an organization who's not only the naming rights partner of the arena, but also has the same vision and innovation as the warriors. together they have been in sync throughout the journey. ladies and gentlemen, j.p. morgan chase c.m.o. kristen limcow. [applause] >> thank you, ahmad. thanks to joe, peter, rick, all of our partners at the warriors and all the j.p. morgan chase employees who came out here today. governor newsome, mayor breed. when j.p. morgan chase announced our partnership with the warriors and to become the naming rights partner for the chase center three years ago, we didn't just sign up to be the partner to a basketball team. even the winningest basketball team over the past five years. and we didn't just sign up to be partners with the best owners in sports or with rick, the best president in sports

and we didn't just sign up to put our brand ton side of this gorgeous, most technologically advanced, most fan-friendly and all tho* those things ahmad said arena and the one worthy of being san francisco's first. we signed up to be a partner to the bay area. we get to look at a lot of these sports naming rights fields and not with what made this undeniable for us. j.p. morgan chase has been here for 130 years. we have 3,000 employees who work here. we've doubled our branch network here over the past 10 years. the c.e.o. of our consumer bank is here today. the two of us were running around taking pictures inside like two little kids. we serve 2.5 million customers and last year we financed more than $2 billion in projects in transportation, health care and housing in san francisco and oakland alone, including 6,000 affordable housing units that were preserved or created. when we announced the chase center three years ago, we committed $25 million to the city for jobs, jobs training,

small business growth, financial health and this is just the beginning for us. joe, if you remember three years ago when we announced this partnership, you said to us that this would be the best investment that we ever made. it is day one and you are already right. so i will say to you and to peter and to rick and to the fans and to the team and to the mayor and the governor, we will be the best corporate partner that you ever had. thank you so much for having us here. thank you and here's to many new memories and championships in the chase center. it's a privilege. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much, kristen. as she was speaking, i couldn't help but think -- because i'm old enough to remember back from what i believe was the first nba arena to have integrated naming rights partnered with like the fabulous form or the great western form.

but those words, great and fabulous, don't even come close. because as i said earlier and i want to leave you with this. when i say this place is incredible, astonishing, staggering, phenomenal, spectacular, remarkable, unbelievable, out standing, impressive, extraordinary, gorgeous, breathtaking, stimulating, world-class, beautiful fantastic masterpiece, it is chase center. [applause] one more round of applause for our speakers. [applause] and now the fun really begins. let's do what we came here to do again and cut some ribbon on this magnificent gift. ♪

[applause] ♪ whoa, oh, oh, oh ♪ whoa, oh, oh, oh

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♪ >> whew! [guitar solo]