Lillard: 'A lot of the real Warriors fans' can't afford to attend games

As an Oakland native who spent a lot of time at Oracle Arena as a child, Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard is sympathetic toward Golden State Warriors fans who have been priced out due to the team's success.

Lillard told Mark Medina of the Mercury News that, with the Warriors' pending move to San Francisco, a lot of Oakland residents have expressed disappointment to him about not being able to afford tickets.

"They're upset about it. It's one of those things where success comes and you're going to up and move," Lillard said. "A lot of the real Warriors fans, a lot of times they can't go to the games. They can't afford it. At that time, we were able to go to the games. Nowadays, a really good ticket is way more expensive to do everything. The people who are real Warriors fans aren't able to get into the games."

Lillard's father was a Warriors season-ticket holder during the 1999-2000, 2000-01, and 2001-02 seasons, when the team went a combined 57-189. Lillard recalled the tickets being "pretty cheap" at that time.

The Warriors had the most expensive tickets on the secondary market entering the 2018-19 season at $463, according to TicketIQ. There was an especially high demand for the Christmas Day game at Oracle Arena, with an average asking price of $1,292 - the highest in a decade.