SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 On Wednesday, with all the hullabaloo swirling over a Warriors\u2019 part-owner shoving Toronto\u2019s Kyle Lowry<\/a> on the sidelines at Oracle Arena, Golden State executive Rick Welts was across the Bay Bridge, conducting his final tour of the franchise\u2019s pride and joy \u2014 Chase Arena.<\/p>\n It is a $1.4 billion sparkling, shining beacon by San Francisco\u2019s Mission Bay that could still sway free agent Kevin Durant to stick around a little longer.<\/p>\n Welts estimated he\u2019s led more than 100 of these tours \u2013 with players like Stephen Curry and Durant, to media, corporate sponsors, community Leaders and staffers.<\/p>\n In his hard hat and protective goggles, Welts spent an hour regaling a small group of national media in town for the NBA Finals. Welts expounded on its virtues and warned that their stories better include the phrase \u201cprivately financed.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n As Welts brought the media folk into a half-finished but spacious circular locker room, he noted Curry\u2019s first reaction. Curry darted straight to the locker cubicle he liked for its location and called it his own.<\/p>\n When the group left the future Warriors\u2019 dressing room, Brooklyn-based Bleacher Report writer Howard Beck cracked, \u201cI\u2019m surprised no one\u2019s made a joke about which locker will be Durant\u2019s?\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI hope so,\u2019\u2019 Welts responded.<\/p>\n With a Finals series turned upside down with injuries to Durant, Klay Thompson<\/a> and valuable role-playing big man Kevon Looney, the Warriors faced the prospect of Friday night\u2019s Game 4 being the last at Oakland\u2019s Oracle Arena, the NBA\u2019s oldest building.<\/p>\n The suburban barn was loud but lacking luxury, built amid a dreary sprawl 15 minutes outside of downtown Oakland.<\/p>\n Durant already has a place in downtown San Francisco and his intrigue regarding the new digs in the Mission Neighborhood has been cited.<\/p>\n The Warriors practice in downtown Oakland in a recreation center they own and will turn it into a kids basketball clinic facility next season.<\/p>\n In 2019-20, the Warriors are all-inclusive with a pristine practice court and a \u201cPlayers Campus\u2019\u2019 inside the arena. It\u2019s replete with almost everything \u2013 including a barber shop for the players.<\/p>\n Welts called this his final tour before it opens to the public with a Metallica concert on Sept. 6.<\/p>\n But if Durant wants another tour of the arena, he\u2019ll get one. Welts, general manager Bob Myers and owner Joe Lacob can even show Durant where his statue will stand \u2013 perhaps in the new park being built across the street on the Bay.<\/p>\n The Knicks\u2019 selling point<\/a> has always been about the grandeur of the Garden and the chance of reviving a historic franchise from the dead. But this Mission vs. the Mecca could be a contest.<\/p>\n![\"Kevin](\"https:\/\/thenypost.files.wordpress.com\/2019\/06\/arena3.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=300)
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![\"Rick](\"https:\/\/thenypost.files.wordpress.com\/2019\/06\/arena.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=300)
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