Warriors co-Owner Joe Lacob "was not the first venture capitalist to buy a franchise, but he is the first to operate one according to what might be called Silicon Valley precepts: nimble management, open communication, integrating the wisdom of outside advisers and continuous re-evaluation of what companies do and how they do it," according to a cover story by Bruce Schoenfeld of the N.Y. TIMES MAGAZINE. None of that "typically happens in professional sports." Lacob "boasted that the Warriors are playing in a far more sophisticated fashion than the rest of the league." He said, "We’ve crushed them on the basketball court, and we’re going to for years because of the way we’ve built this team." But he said that what really set the franchise apart "was the way it operated as a business." Lacob: "We’re light-years ahead of probably every other team in structure, in planning, in how we’re going to go about things. We’re going to be a handful for the rest of the NBA to deal with for a long time." Schoenfeld writes the Warriors in the months since winning their '15 championship have "attained the status of a cultural phenomenon." More than any team "since the 'Showtime' Lakers of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, they’ve become famous not just for winning but also for how they win."
PAYING OFF: The $450M that Lacob’s group paid to former owner Chris Cohan in '10 "seemed so laughably expensive because of the woeful state of the Warriors franchise." There were "only 7,000 season-ticket holders," and the arena where the team played "was outdated." That $450M investment is "now worth" around $2B. The Warriors in '19 will move to a new, self-financed arena complex on the S.F. waterfront that "will include office buildings and commercial space." The move is "estimated to add" as much as $1B more to the club’s value. Bucks co-Owner Marc Lasry said, "I knew what [Lacob] had done. We're trying to do the same." Schoenfeld notes once he had his investors in place, Lacob "treated the Warriors like another of his fledgling companies in need of adept management." In '11, he hired Bob Myers as Assistant GM, and promoted him to GM a year later. Myers said, “The reason I’m sitting here now is because of that V.C. model. I had no track record. I had no past experience. If you only believed in past performance, you’re talking to someone else. I mean, I wouldn’t have hired me” (N.Y. TIMES MAGAZINE, 4/3 issue).
NO ORDINARY JOE: In S.F., Al Saracevic wrote Lacob's comments about being light-years ahead of the rest of the league are "not an aberration," as he "bootstrapped his way into the billionaire club." He is "not lacking confidence" or "arrogance." Saracevic: "So, what does it all mean? Not much. Lacob won’t have a lot of friends at the next owners’ meeting he attends. But, knowing Lacob, and his co-owner Peter Guber, the only friend they want to sit next to is the Larry O’Brien trophy" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/2).
