In June 2018, when the Golden State Warriors were on the verge of winning back-to-back championships, one of their sponsors, the champagne brand Moët & Chandon, had a request.

Could it put a gold bathtub filled with champagne bottles in the locker room for the celebration?

The Warriors were playing the Cleveland Cavaliers that year, and the first opportunity to clinch the series came in Cleveland. The management for the Cavaliers’ arena said no to the bathtub. So Eric Housen, the Warriors’ vice president of team operations, decided to employ some subterfuge.

He and his team put the bathtub on a dolly, covered it with a tarp, put cases of celebration-ready beer on top and wheeled it into the visitors’ locker room undetected.

The Warriors won that day. When the players and coaches returned to the locker room after their trophy presentation, a bathtub filled with three dozen magnum bottles of special-edition Moët & Chandon champagne (ranging from $1,250 to $1,500 each) greeted them so they could shake, pop and spray it all over one another in front of television cameras and media hordes.

This week, the National Basketball Association will crown a new champion, and regardless of whether the Oklahoma City Thunder or the Indiana Pacers win, the players, coaches, team staff and even some family members will be doused in bubbly alcohol. Mostly champagne, but some beer, too. It’s a tradition that goes back decades, fueled by the overwhelming emotion associated with winning a championship.