Why are the Warriors called dubs?

Question

I know there are going to be fans out there that will be shaking their heads in disgust at my lack of knowledge, BUT, this has been driving me crazy. So my boyfriend is from California and he is mildly obsessed with the NBA team the Golden State Warriors. Whenever the Golden State has a game, all of his friends come over and scream out things like “Go Dubs!” and “Come on Dubs!” What is a dub!? Is this some kind of obscure basketball reference that I don’t understand? Why are the Warriors called dubs? And are all teams called dubs? Or is it just the Warriors?

Answer 1

Don’t feel bad. I too spent several years cheering on the ‘Dubs’ without actually understanding what it meant. It’s easier to just cheer along with everyone else and pretend you know exactly what’s going on. Basically, it’s short for ‘W’. Basketball fans like to call their teams by the first letter of their names, but ‘W’ is kind of a cumbersome letter to be yelling (same amount of syllables as the actual word ‘warriors’). So ‘dub’ is short for ‘double-u’, which is short for ‘Warriors’.

Answer 2

It’s short for ‘W’ for ‘Warriors’. It’s like how the name Volkswagen (German brand of car) is often abbreviated to ‘V-dub’ (for ‘VW’).

Answer 3

Humans just can’t go past a good abbreviated nickname. Almost all countries seem to do it to some extent. The British have ‘LFC’ for Liverpool Football Club, the Americans have ‘Dubs’ for Warriors. And the Australians, they abbreviate abbreviations! Case in point: the Melbourne Cricket Ground (famous sporting arena). Tourists will call it the ‘MCG’ – a fair abbreviation. Australians will call it the ‘G’ and then wonder why you don’t understand them! Ever heard an Australian says they’re “going to the G, in the arvo, to see the footy, have a sanga and a frothy”?!? According to researchers, one possible reason why we love slang is because we think it makes us sound less “pretentious”.

Answer 4

I agree with the above answers. It’s just slang. Similar to how George W. Bush is often referred to, particularly by comedians on late night TV, as ‘George Dubya’ or just ‘Dubya’, because of his middle name which is Walker.

Comments

I see why are the Warriors called dubs now. Thanks!