The Golden State Warriors were a league laughing stock for the better part of the late '90s early 2000s, consistently at the bottom of the barrel and one of the few Western Conference teams that represented no imminent danger. It soon became evident that a complete change was needed to turn their fate around. Enter Joe Lacob, a business executive and venture capitalist that has been a partner at Kleiner Perkins since 1987.
Lacob and a coalition of investors that included Peter Guber (CEO of Mandalay Entertainment) bought the Warriors from owner Chris Cohan in 2010 for $450 million — a move that was met with some hostility from the fans.
Warriors fans didn't like Cohan, but they also had their reservations about deep-pocketed magnates buying their way into the franchise.
Lacob had been a decade-long season ticket holder and a familiar face at Oracle Arena. When he was first introduced as the majority owner, one could guess he had never been seen at Warriors ground before.
He was first introduced on March 19, 2012 — out of all nights, during Chris Mullin's jersey retirement — saving him as the special treat of an otherwise joyous, packed-house ceremony. Needless to say, it didn't go well.
Warriors fans booed him as hard as I've ever heard a person be booed before. I would know, I was there that night.
Golden State had only mustered 35 points in the opening half and was already trailing the Minnesota Timberwolves by double digits. The boos engulfed every bit of the arena, making it impossible to ignore. All that negative energy focused on one man — Joe Lacob.
Mullin, who was being celebrated by the franchise, took time out of his own ceremony to defend Lacob, put an arm around him, and pleaded fans to stop.
But they didn't. Not until Rick Barry, the Warriors legend, played the role of being the voice of reason.
Barry took the mic and said:
Via ESPN's TrueHoop:
“C’mon people. You fans are the greatest fans in the world, as everybody said that. Show a little bit of class. This is a man I have spent some time talking to. He is going to change this franchise. This is crazy! Seriously. C’mon. You are doing yourself a disservice. All of the wonderful accolades being sent to you, for you to treat this man who is spending his money to do the best that he can to turn this franchise around — and I know he is going to do it. So give him the respect that he deserves.”
I got home that night to see if it had made the news. SportsCenter had it but didn't make much of it. NBC Sports Bay Area (then Comcast Sports Network Bay Area) showed a good amount of it, but nothing did it justice like hearing a sea of boos so loud your ears rang well into the third quarter.
Warriors fans were mad. And it was understandable.
Lacob was synonymous with trading away Monta Ellis, the franchise star, only to get a mediocre Andrew Bogut in return. The Aussie was nowhere to be seen that night, and neither was Stephen Curry, who sat out for the fifth straight game with yet another ankle injury. Yeah, those were the times…
To see Barry, one of the most notoriously controversial legends in Warriors lore, give a get-off-my-lawn speech to silence the crowd was eye-opening. Barry was drafted by the Warriors and then left to join the rival ABA due to contractual differences, then returned to help the team notch an NBA title.
If there was ever a prodigal son, Rick Barry is it.
When the most controversial individual is telling you you're going overboard, then there's something really wrong with you. Warriors fans would learn that over the next few years.
It was under Lacob's watch that the Warriors fired beloved coach Don Nelson, hired Keith Smart for the 2010-11 season and eventually gave Mark Jackson the job to succeed the longtime assistant. At the time, Jackson was a charismatic but also puzzling choice to lead the team with no previous coaching experience.
Jackson's time came soon enough when he was fired at the end of the 2013-14 season after three years at the helm. Not many understood the move, as the Warriors had been in an upward trajectory since he took over — but Joe “Light Years” Lacob knew there was something missing.
Everything eventually turned around when Steve Kerr, another name without previous coaching experience, was hired. He surrounded himself with veteran assistants and plenty of know-how personnel.
Kerr tapped into the full potential of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and turned them into the league's best backcourt, as Jackson had predicted years before. He gave Draymond Green a chance to prove his worth after an untimely David Lee injury and asked longtime starter Andre Iguodala to take a sixth-man role.
Under Kerr, the Warriors won titles in 2015, 2017, and 2018 — making the NBA Finals five years in a row. That allowed for the unavoidable move to a new arena, the Chase Center in downtown San Francisco at the start of the 2019-20 season.
Lacob's $450 million investment is now worth $4.3 billion, according to Forbes — nearly tenfold what it cost him a decade ago.
The Warriors are now the third most valuable team after the New York Knicks ($4.6 billion) and the Los Angeles Lakers ($4.4 billion).
Three championships later and those boos are a distant memory for Lacob — ones that have been long burnt away after the many victories his team has racked up since he bought the franchise.
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