Joe Lacob has a simple message to would-be team owners: Buy close to home.
“Like it or not, you are the public face of the franchise,” he said. “If at all possible, buy a team where you live, or within an hour’s flight. You may not think it is something you need to be involved in on a daily basis. But the idea that you shouldn’t be involved in the team’s vision or a big trade, I don’t agree with. You need to trust people, but you need to be there. People want to know that the owner cares.
“At the end of the day, I will get old and die and the team will still be here. They want to know that we are committed 100 percent to the success of the team and the experience. You have to be in the community.”
Lacob and Peter Guber bought the Warriors in 2010 for $450 million. Since then, Lacob has focused on making the team’s brand relevant every day.
“We are 365, 24/7, on all the time and live and breathe it,” he said. “And if you are not ready to sign up as a player or a business guy then just leave now because you will get fired anyway. We are maniacal about our dedication to implementation and execution.”
The relationship between fans and team ownership is one that Lacob embraces, though he learned how difficult it can be. Lacob said that while he may be a co-owner of the privately held franchise, the team is seen by fans as a publicly held asset.
“Every fan thinks they know better and that is what is cool about it,” Lacob said. “When you become an owner it is
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important to understand what fans are thinking and why. Or at least try.”
Lacob learned firsthand the difficulty in dealing with fans in 2012 when the team traded the popular Monta Ellis for Andrew Bogut, a move that drove fans to boo Lacob at Oracle Arena.
Lacob calls the booing one of the worst nights as a team owner.
“I got booed by 20,000 people and I had to go deal with it,” he said. “I was up all night. I answered 400 emails from fans. I addressed what happened. I got through it by looking at it through the lens of a fan. I would have booed me, too. It was hard for them to see what we saw. The fan reaction initially was what it should have been.”
Though Lacob was well-versed in team ownership given he was a minority partner of the Boston Celtics before buying the Warriors, he quickly learned that dealing with the media can be tricky as well.
“I have not experienced many surprises,” he said. “I have a very specific plan on the vision of what we want to create. The only surprise was that no matter how much you think you are prepared for the media issues, you have to experience it. The first year or two I made mistakes and I got trapped.”
As CEO of the franchise, Lacob takes a hands-on approach to running the team and is closely involved in league business matters.
“You can be involved in league business a lot or a little, and I choose to be very involved,” he said. “I want to learn how it works. I am on three major committees, which are very time consuming. For me, I decided that this is what I want to do at age 54.”
