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Janie McCauley: Joe Lacob to AP on WNBA Finals Atlanta games moved: "I put quite a bit of pressure on the commissioner of the NBA & the WNBA. I felt, look, it's not really about us it's about the league. The look would not be too good to have Ballhalla & 18,000 fans here and 3,500 over there."
For the second year in a row, it was a quiet offseason for the Warriors’ front office. Stephen Curry addressed the criticism and whether the front office has built a competitive team around him. “I mean, I’m not an idiot. I know what it means in the sense of that window we had where coming off of ‘22, there were opportunities to get better, add new talent, and some worked out, some didn’t. And the jury is still out on how we end this entire journey with a competitive mindset,” Curry said to NBC Sports Bay Area.
“We knew there’s never really going to be a scenario where you’re going to be in the favorites conversation from a championship-contending perspective. There’s so many great teams out there. But for us to go through a year like we did last year where we had, and the year before in the playoffs, I get hurt, we take an early exit in [the] second round. “Last year, I missed 40-whatever games. Availability was the biggest theme, and we’re still one game away from getting to a playoff run and who knows what happens. So, all that to say, I’ve had a really amazing career and journey. I want to win. All the other chatter doesn’t necessarily matter to me in terms of how I grade our seasons.”
Lacob embraces the financial flexibility, though he offered few clues about how the Warriors might take advantage of it. He did make one thing clear: He never feared Curry would leave. “We were going to take care of him and make sure he stays, no matter what,” Lacob said in a Chronicle interview. “Fortunately, we were able to convince him if he wanted to help out … he saw the benefit of that. And we’re very appreciative, obviously. If he would take even less, we’d be happier (smiling). “But we appreciate what he’s done. Most players don’t ever take less, and he didn’t have to — if he had demanded to take all of it, we’d have paid it. He deserves it. … The most important thing is he stays a Warrior for life, because he’s so important to this franchise.”
Kerr dismissed the issue during his news conference in May, saying it didn’t come up during his discussions with Lacob and Dunleavy. Kerr then told the San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami that Lacob has always given him license to say what he wants, but Lacob also “rightfully doesn’t want any controversy.” And what does Lacob think about all this? “Steve knows there are times he has said things which I did not agree with,” Lacob said. “But I do trust him to say the right things, do the right thing. Now sometimes he goes a little far and I have to go back and say, ‘Hey, Steve, maybe that was a little far.’ (laughing) … “But we don’t have to agree on everything. Steve’s a really smart guy and we’re lucky to have him as our head coach. I really love our relationship, so I would not make anything more of it than it is.”
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Oh No He Didn't: Anthony Slater on how involved Steph is in personnel decisions: "He's heard, his voice matters. Mike Dunleavy will call him at various points. And obviously, anytime Steph Curry calls, Mike Dunleavy, Joe Lacob, they will pick up, and they'll hear what he has to say. But he doesn't want to be too involved, he never has wanted to be too involved. He called LeBron James this summer as a recruiter, he'll do that, but I'll give you an example. A couple of years ago, the Warriors were deep in trade talks for several players. They ended up trading for Jimmy Butler, but Steph Curry very much values his place as a leader in the locker room. And he doesn't wanna be viewed as moving chest pieces around. He was very friendly with Andrew Wiggins. They had to trade Andrew Wiggins to get any of those trades done. So Steph Curry, I think always is wanted a separation between front office and him. And that's how he's always kept it"
Most people I know in basketball ops absolutely hate dealing with their owners. Basketball guys want to be left alone to do basketball things. There’s nothing worse than that morning phone call from a tech titan or equity lord asking for progress. The owner knows little of this convoluted NBA world, because how could he, and is often confused as to why reality isn’t matching his vision. I could see this most prominently in former Golden State Warriors General Manager Bob Myers, who left in part because he could no longer bear owner Joe Lacob’s persistent pressure. But Steve Ballmer is different. The mail on Steve is that employees actually enjoy working for him. Other owners like him as well, though some have clocked what they perceive as a decadent softness to the Clipper operation. A lot of basketball ops guys made money with the Clips. Rarely does anyone get fired. The scouting report on Ballmer was that he perhaps believed success could be achieved by just throwing small fortunes at management, absent his own scrutiny.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob talked about missing out on the four-time MVP on “The TK Show,” and he acknowledged that they were in the running to snag James after he left the Los Angeles Lakers to become a free agent. “I don't know how many discussions there were, to be honest, but he was available to go somewhere. We certainly were in that narrative and that discussion,” said Lacob. “I think if he had chosen to come to us, that would have been great. I think it would have been very entertaining for the world at large, for basketball. Look at the Olympics, with him and Steph and all that stuff. But he chose to go a different route, and I can't tell you why because I don't really know why.”
Speaking on "The TK Show" -- a podcast hosted by Tim Kawakami -- Lacob and Kawakami talked about the Warriors' draft picks this offseason and whether or not having these young guys develop for the future is more valuable than getting guys who can help them win now. And Lacob's answer suggests that the Warriors are always open to making moves that will help them return to the championship conversation. "It's like anything, it's like any other trade," Lacob told Kawakami. "We have to make a good trade, we have to make a trade that makes sense. If we thought we had a great trade in front of us, and by the way, without talking a little bit too much more than I should about secret dealings that went on in the offseason, we made at least two very big offers in the last six months, let's put it that way. Between the trade deadline and the summer, at least two. There were multiple draft choices. So it's not like we wouldn't move them if we thought it was the right thing to do.
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Pressed further on whether he could envision Stephen Curry ever raising the idea of leaving, Lacob's answer sharpened considerably. "No, no, no. I don't think that is even a thing," Lacob said. "This is just a clickbait thing from all these people that do this kind of thing these days, and there seem to be a lot of them. I don't believe any of that is true. I'm very close with Steph — he lives right near me, he's incredibly happy with the organization, with his life… I've never heard a word about that, and I can't imagine it. We certainly don't want him to go anywhere. I just think people are completely making a bunch of crap up."
In the NBA arms race for the best facilities that seems to get more competitive each year, the Warriors’ decision to pour money into a facility in Las Vegas that was a go-kart track just a few years ago is a reminder of team owner Joe Lacob’s investment in the pursuit of every possible competitive edge. “I don’t know what the other 29 teams are doing,” Harris said. “I’ve told people that will ever listen, ‘No,’ just doesn’t come out of his mouth. (He’s asking) ‘what can we do to be better? What can we do on the margins to do something that’s a little bit different, gives us an advantage?'”
Draymond Green: "I've also seen that Mike Dunleavy and Joe Lacob have gotten a lot of criticism for their lack of risk taking over the last few years, playing it for the post-Steph era. And listen, there's always going to be backlash when you're not winning. It happens to everyone. That's just what comes with the territory. But I don't think going to trade for Jimmy Butler would be considered lack of taking risks, especially signing him to a two-year $121 million extension. I don't think that would be considered a lack of taking risk. I also don't believe that trading for Dennis Schroeder, trying to make something happen, is a lack of taking risk."