NBA's Warriors get assist from Oracle

Larry Ellison's hooking himself up with one of the Bay Area's most downtrodden organizations.

No, not the Union of Laid-off Software Developers. Ellison's company, Oracle, announced a 10-year deal to rename the home of the NBA's Golden State Warriors as the Oracle. The Oakland arena, currently known as the catchy Arena in Oakland, hosts 41 Warriors games a season and numerous concerts and other events throughout the year.

Oracle President Charles Philips must not watch a lot of basketball. "This is a partnership between two major global brands, combining one of the best-known names in technology with one of the best-known names in sports, both with a strong desire to be the best in their prospective industries," he said in a press release on the Warriors' Web site Friday.

For those of you outside the Bay Area, or who aren't basketball fans, the Warriors haven't even been close to one of the best teams in the NBA, at least since the end of the tight-shorts era. The team is currently riding a 12-year streak of playoff futility, although the last couple of years have actually been mediocre compared to the last place finishes of 2001 and 2002.

Oracle's had a slightly better run, of course. The company is practically taking over San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood next week for its OpenWorld conference, which will draw industry leaders such as Michael Dell, Hector Ruiz and Ellison himself to deliver speeches to around 40,000 attendees, more than the basketball court now named the Oracle can hold.

Ellison has also been linked to the sports world many times, musing about buying both the Warriors and the San Francisco 49ers, and consistently popping up in rumors about an NFL franchise in Los Angeles. He's also been part of a crew in the legendary sailing competition, the America's Cup.