There was a time when having the league’s worst record would have triggered doom and gloom for Warriors fans. Now, it’s little more than a blip, an aberration easily explained by injuries.
That is how much things have changed under Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, who on Thursday will celebrate their 10-year anniversary of owning the team.
Warriors fans can raise a glass.
“I want to win more championships,” Lacob told the Bay Area News Group in a recent interview. “We have the opportunity to be really good and competitive for 20 years.”
Lacob’s bold proclamations and Guber’s penchant for forward-looking business strategies have been a hallmark of the Lacob-Guber era that includes three NBA championships, five straight trips to the Finals and a $1.2 billion arena in San Francisco.
“The ability to think big and bold and, to a certain extent, do better than your predictions, they’ve done that,” said Andy Dolich, a long-time sports business consultant whose career includes stints with the Oakland A’s, San Francisco 49ers and Warriors.
Dolich’s time with the Warriors was brief. He spent little more than a year in the mid-1990s as COO under Chris Cohan, whose 15-year tenure as owner produced just two winning seasons.
“The only thing that was missing during Chris’s ownership,” Dolich cracked, “was teamwork, leadership and trust.”
In 2010, Lacob and a group of investors agreed to buy the Warriors from Cohan for $450 million. The Lacob-Guber group beat more than a dozen other bidders, including Oracle CEO Larry Ellison by $50 million.
Shortly after the sale, Lacob stood before an amused crowd at Oracle Arena, pointed to the team’s only title banner, won in 1975, and predicted they would hang another. While fans conditioned to have low expectations may have shrugged off the claim, Lacob and Guber — a decorated Hollywood executive (“Rain Man,” “Batman,” “The Color Purple”) — grown accustomed to success.
When Lacob was a 30-year-old entrepreneur starting out at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, he learned a lot sitting next to one of the venture capital firm’s founding partners Tom Perkins: Toughness, discipline, accountability. Most importantly, he learned how to judge people.
“Just analyzing people as to whether they can do a job,” Lacob said. “He was a very strategic and very smart person.”
Another investor, John Doerr, imparted optimism.
“I try so hard to stay positive, stay optimistic,” Lacob said. “Nobody wants to hear how bad it is. They want to be led.”
So when he took control of the Warriors, Lacob did as he learned at Kleiner Perkins and committed to making the right hires. Long-time NBA executive Rick Welts was hired as team president and COO. Bob Myers, a successful sports agent, was named general manager. In 2014, Steve Kerr became head coach.
“It comes down to the top leadership,” Lacob said. “And you have to be willing to pay for those people. Sometimes people don’t want to pay for that. It’s the wrong decision. It’s short-sighted. We’re willing to shoot to be the best, which means hire the best people and let them do their job.”
Added commissioner Adam Silver: “They take their human resources extremely seriously,” he said. “They put in the time to not just hire great people, but to make sure that they’re trained and that they become part of a common culture at the Warriors. I think their formula would lead to success in any industry.”
Part of Golden State’s success over the past decade has been a shared philosophy from the top down: Speak up, don’t be a jerk, and win basketball games.
This is what informed the win-now acquisitions of Andre Iguodala and Kevin Durant, and the decision not to trade Klay Thompson for Kevin Love. (As the story goes, Jerry West in 2014 threatened to leave the executive board if the Warriors traded the up-and-coming Thompson.)
Last summer’s quick-trigger sign-and-trade for D’Angelo Russell is a prime example of the Warriors’ foresight, planning and willingness to spend. In the hours after Durant’s decision to sign with Brooklyn, Myers and the front office had to crunch salary cap figures and agree to trade compensation.
“Our feet, our tongue, our heart, and our wallet, all better be perceived and experienced as going in the same direction,” Guber said, echoing a common saying among Warriors employees across basketball and business operations.
That synergy will be important a year removed from Durant’s departure. The Warriors have the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft next week and a large trade exception they can use to rebuild around their core.
Thompson and Stephen Curry, who will return from injuries that sidelined them for all or most of last season, will join Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and a highly-talented draft pick. The Warriors also have two first-round picks in 2021, including a top-three protected pick from Minnesota.
With these assets, the Warriors are positioned to compete with the Lakers, Clippers and Nuggets in the Western Conference next season and beyond.
An obvious obstacle: The franchise lost $50 million in gate and TV revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to Lacob, and beginning next season, on Dec. 22, without fans will further dig into expected revenue. Lacob, who has a master’s degree in public health from UCLA, has worked closely with the NBA league office on protocols that would eventually allow fans to safely attend games.
Several revenue streams have the Warriors as well-positioned to bounce back as any organization in the league. Not only do they own Chase Center, but they also own the land it’s built on and will make money from the restaurants, hotels and office spaces that will open over the next few years. Chase Center’s 136 suites will also factor into their projections.
Of course, a return to the playoffs is the best way to ensure basketball and financial success. The Warriors have the draft pick, and ownership is willing to spend on the right people. Reasons for optimism abound.
“They’ve established a winning culture,” Silver said. “They are resilient and innovative, and they would find a way to make it work regardless of where they’re drafting.”
