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Sam Amick: But I mean—yes—like, it’s Steph’s party. It's right next to Chase Center at the Splash restaurant and bar that they have there. It’s a Warriors evento. Yes, and it’s almost midnight. And Giannis and his wife Mariah—they come to the party. They go up the stairs, and the room kind of stops. Like, I’m literally talking to Joe Lacob in that moment, and it was pretty entertaining to see Joe kind of turn and start having—you know—kind of hearts in his eyes as he looks up the stairs. But that being said, the Warriors—and my colleagues at The Athletic just put this out yesterday—all signs point to them being all-in on the Jimmy Butler era. Major changes are not the focus right now. They want to build around their new Big Three. So, we’ll see where it goes.
But Lacob’s sentiment is notable when attempting to get a read on the front office’s planned path forward. The lead decision-makers — Lacob, general manager Mike Dunleavy, assistant general manager Kirk Lacob — don’t plan a major shakeup, team sources said. They’re plotting a retooled middle of the rotation below Curry, Jimmy Butler and Green, still believing that veteran core can contend. “It’s in some ways kind of a win to get here, to get (to) the second round,” Lacob said. “Yeah, we lost four games to one. Not good. But to a team that is playing very well. They took the Lakers out four to one also with two of the greatest players in the world on their team. We didn’t have one of ours. So we can all sit here and make what-ifs, judgments, but I can’t be really upset with what happened, given that we just didn’t have our biggest force.”
Warriors owner Joe Lacob: If we had Stephen Curry, we'd have won this series
Five minutes after the final buzzer, Warriors controlling owner Joe Lacob slid into a courtside club down the tunnel of a celebrating Minneapolis arena, complimentary of the home team but more willing than others in his organization to voice what many believed. “Disappointing,” Lacob said, settling into a 10-minute conversation with The Athletic. “I really hoped we could extend the series and I’m …” This is where he paused, understanding his next statement would come off as a discredit to the Timberwolves, but he fired it off anyway. “I am pretty positive that if we had Steph, we’d have won this series,” Lacob said.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob: There were concerns about Jimmy Butler, but he's worth every freaking penny
What mattered, and what Joe Lacob acknowledged in our chat afterward, was that the Warriors’ choice to strike that balance between desperation and calculation that led to adding him had clearly paid off. “Yeah, there were (concerns about Jimmy Butler),” Lacob said. “But you do your analysis, you make your choices, and, yeah, it was a little bit of a risk. But we’ve got to take risks in this life. And he’s worth every freaking penny. That’s all I can say. He’s fantastic.”
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It didn’t even matter to Lacob that Butler wasn’t the star this time around. What mattered, and what Lacob acknowledged in our chat afterward, was that the Warriors’ choice to strike that balance between desperation and calculation that led to adding him had clearly paid off. “Yeah, there were (concerns about Butler),” Lacob said. “But you do your analysis, you make your choices, and, yeah, it was a little bit of a risk. But we’ve got to take risks in this life. And he’s worth every freaking penny. That’s all I can say. He’s fantastic.”
Andrew Bogut on Jonathan Kuminga: I know Joe Lacob loves him. Joe drafted him. Joe does have an infatuation with players he's involved with during the draft process, so I think that's a big reason why there's a push for him. I think Steve [Kerr] might see it differently, where he doesn't think Kaminga is a big rotation-minutes guy.
Draymond Green was very close to joining Grizzlies in 2023
So much has been said in the war of words between Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and the Memphis Grizzlies organization that it's hard to believe just how close he came to signing there as a free agent in the summer of 2023. "Very," a source close to Green told ESPN, when asked how serious Green was about leaving the franchise he'd won four titles with to join the young upstarts he'd feuded with so publicly during a heated six-game playoff series a year earlier. Green had even called Warriors coach Steve Kerr and teammates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to warn them that he was close to joining the Grizzlies via a lucrative sign-and-trade deal, sources told ESPN, before Warriors owner Joe Lacob and new general manager Mike Dunleavy swooped in with a four-year, $100 million extension to keep him in the Bay.
After wrapping up a long weekend of activities throughout the Bay Area with the All-Star Game on Sunday at Chase Center, Lacob spoke exclusively to NBC Sports Bay Area's Bonta Hill after the game, where she shared his thoughts on the festivities, specifically in San Francisco. "Everything just came out so great," Joe Lacob told Hill. "By the way, I want to say this: San Francisco is back, OK? Let's just make it very very clear, it is back. The city looked great this weekend. People delivered, there were parties all over the city. I had people talk to me constantly [about] how much they enjoyed the city and they were surprised. Well they shouldn't be surprised. It's back, and that's a great thing."
One of San Francisco's notable detractors, TNT analyst Charles Barkley, changed his tune on the city after visiting Glide Memorial Church on Saturday and pledging to donate $250,000. Lacob appreciated Barkley's gesture, and believes new San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie played a part in turning the outspoken Barkley into a supporter. "I don't know how we did that, because that guy kills us. He always predicts we're going to lose, he trashes the city," Lacob said of Barkley. "But I've got to say, that's a very nice gesture of his. He went over to Glide, I heard all about it.”
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Lacob then, without directly mentioning the team’s recent pursuit of Kevin Durant, alluded to the idea that Kuminga might’ve been needed to acquire him. Kuminga, drafted No. 7 in 2021, has long been a Lacob favorite and mostly protected in trade talks. “Anybody can be traded,” Lacob said. “Anybody. Well, almost anybody. But we would never do that unless it was something incredibly significant. Incredibly significant. I think players understand that.”
Joe Lacob on Warriors' intention to keep Jonathan Kuminga: 'Absolutely, 100 percent...We love him'
In a recent interview with Golden State owner Joe Lacob, The Athletic asked if Butler’s addition would complicate Kuminga’s future. “Why?” Lacob said. Because Butler’s salary next season is $25.9 million more than Wiggins was scheduled to make. “Yeah,” Lacob said. “So?” So Lacob and the Warriors are still committed to paying what it takes to keep Kuminga, who will enter a thin market as maybe the most intriguing wing target? “Absolutely,” Lacob said. “One hundred percent. Are you kidding me? I love that guy. We love him.”
In the aftermath of what Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob called the “most arduous, strenuous, complicated” trade deadline of his tenure, his entire front office showed up in Los Angeles before Friday night’s game against the Lakers to welcome their only acquisition: Jimmy Butler, the player they deemed worthy of a four-for-one consolidation deal and a two-year, $112 million contract extension. “I’ve always loved him,” Lacob told The Athletic, waiting outside the visiting locker room for Butler to arrive. “I love Draymond (Green). So we’re dealing with something similar. Incredible competitiveness. My kind of guy.”
Butler was the backup plan. General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the Miami Heat’s front office have a sturdy business relationship. When the Warriors pivoted back to Butler in the 48 hours before the deadline, it was wrapped up relatively quickly. “Him?” Lacob said. “Not at all. Easy. Had that all set up to go. Other aspects of the deadline were very involved for quite a period of time.”
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