Golden State Warriors’ 2026 Lunar New Year Celebration night came early this year on Tuesday, January 20th, although the 2026 Lunar New Year isn’t until Tuesday, February 17th. I guess within a month is still okay! The last time I had attended this annual Warriors celebration night was back in 2024.
It’s great that the Golden State Warriors and other NBA teams have such theme nights. San Francisco is 37% Asian and the San Francisco Bay Area overall is approximately 27% Asian American. The Warriors get local Asian organizations to perform in front of their audience.
The Lunar New Year celebration first started with a pre-game performance at 6:30 PM (the game started at 7:00 PM) with a terrific performance by Huaxing SF:
My photographer and I, as well as others, were truly impressed. We thought afterwards this performance was the best of the evening. It’s unfortunate that many attendees had not yet arrived yet to see the performance.
Right before the singing of the national anthems and introduction of the teams, Executive Director of Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, Linyi Nikki Yu, was the honorary Bell Ringer for the evening.
Before the start of the game, I believe it was Huaxing SF that did the pre-game performance that sang both the Canadian and the U.S. national anthem. The Warriors were playing the Toronto Raptors.
During a time out during the 1st quarter, acrobat Red Panda performed (note: she was schedule to perform at the end of the quarter, but I guess decided it was better to do it during a time out – thus my delay in capturing the whole performance):
During the game, the Chase Center promoted a free Pepsi if you had the special offering for the evening of dumplings. They had a game playing with the attendees to select which was the better sauce to go with the dumplings – Soy Garlic or the Spicy Chilli Crisp. Personally, I don’t think dumplings and Pepsi go together very well (or any soda for that matter).
I’m not sure if I had caught it, but towards the later part of the game, the Golden State Warriors named the “Impact Warrior,” presented by PG&E, for the evening, who was Chanthon Bun:
“Bun serves as the Exeuctive Director of the Asan Prisoner Support Committee, working tirelessly to support formerly incarcerated individuals, mentor at-risk youth, and advocate for Southeast Asian refugee communities.
After spending twenty-three years in prison for an offense committed at age eighteen, Bun transformed his life – becoming a mentor, educator, and restorative justice practitioner at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. Since his release in 2020, he has become a nationally respected leader in criminal justice reform and immigrant rights.”
Source: Golden State Warriors ; Instagram
During half-time, the U.S. Chinese Dance Association had a performance which I enjoyed, but I think I was more impressed by Huaxing SF’s pre-game performance.
I remember when the Warriors were doing this back in 2024, but this vignette was similar as to different Warriors trying to guess other Warriors’ Zodiacs based on that Warriors’ personality and the characteristics of a Zodiac:
The final Lunar New Year related item during the game was this video clip of Draymond Green’s visit to China this past summer.
You can watch the full YouTube video of his experience here (apparently it was Green’s ninth visit to China):
Unfortunately for the Warriors, this was the first game fter Jimmy Butler was injured and out for the rest of the season. The Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors 145 to 127.
There were many questions to Coach Steve Kerr after the game regarding Jimmy Butler and how that would affect the Warriors for the rest of the season:
The same with Draymond Green:
The game wasn’t sold out, but I suspect it wasn’t just because the game was on a Tuesday, I think even though right before Butler was injured, the Warriors were having quite a comeback compared to earlier in the season. I suspect it will be a challenge for the Warriors to make the playoffs.
Overall though, the Golden State Warriors’ Lunar New Year Celebration Night was a great experience (as always!)
