Assessing Lacob and Guber

By: Rick Blaine

I withheld judgment on Joe Lacob and Peter Guber until I learned more about them.  Like many other fans, my immediate response when learning they, and not Larry Ellison, were the new owners was shock and reserved disappointment.  I thought that we had our George Steinbrenner in Ellison. But I was careful not to prejudge Lacob and Guber and react emotionally.  That was a good move.
Since Lacob and Guber emerged out of thin air to become the new owners of the Warriors, they have been impressively visible and accessible.  Fans have learned a lot about their background, history, and vision for the team.  Certainly Tuesday’s media blitz gave Warriors fans a lot to chew on.

I am excited about Lacob, though it seems that he and Guber make an odd couple. Nonetheless, he’s worked with Guber in the past and they seem to have a good history.  Guber will put Hollywood glitz into the team, and that is a good thing, not just because of marketing, but because his unique talent to package the team’s new identity will attract the attention of the national media helping to make the team more relevant, and, in the process, attract free agents.  A little Hollywood Showtime never hurt the Lakers image.  It can’t the hurt the Warriors either.

Fans should be excited that Lacob, the primary owner of the team, will take a Mark Cuban/Maloof brothers type of interest in running the team.  While he has a more reserved personality, he has indicated that he will have the same kind of visibility.   You’ve got to love this guy’s intellect, passion, and experience. Warriors fans, who have been battered by a never-ending cycle of losing and mediocrity, will have to adjust to the culture of winning that Lacob is promising.

Based on what’s he said about building a winner, I believe that Lacob will take measured steps to bring the team along to his vision.  His formative experience with the Celtics will help shape his vision and philosophy.  Though he has spoken about patience and has emphasized repeatedly that it is not his team yet, I’m sure he is chomping at the bit to get in there and make his changes.  If he is serious about making the Warriors a winning organization—and I believe he is—there will be wholesale changes in the front office sooner than later.

He said on Tuesday that the timing of the sale of was unfortunate.  Making changes in late September is really cutting it close. My best guess is he will work hard behind the scenes to assemble his front office team, and the dominoes will fall rapidly once the transition becomes official.  Lacob was virtually invisible during the entire sale process, (Good for him) and I think he likewise will make his personnel moves with stealth.  If his careful approach to building his front office team reflects the approach he took to buying the team, we won’t have a clue who the front office personnel will be until the names are formally announced.

I found something that Lacob said in his interview with KNBR’s Ralph Barbieri and Tom Tolbert on Tuesday very interesting. In bidding for the team, he said he was the only one who made personal contact with Cohan.  He established a relationship with Cohan, and he felt that that made all the difference.  That’s just good business.  A team is not just a material possession; there is a lot of sentimental attachment, even for Chris Cohan.  Sometimes people who sell their house will sell it to a buyer who made a lower bid but was kinder.  They feel that that owner would take better care of their home and would be a better fit.  Ellison didn’t deal with Cohan the way Cohan wanted to be dealt with. Lacob was much more respectful and personable (in spite of the personal frustrations I’m sure he had as a season ticket holder), and that probably went a long way in sealing the deal.  I believe that this kind of wisdom, foresight, and approach to people bodes well for the future of the team.

Lacob has made it clear that he will be involved in the key decisions that are made.  This will invite fan criticism, but if he is a good decision maker, fans will be pleased.  Mark Cuban has been very active in making decisions for the Mavericks, and they have been 50+ game winners for the last ten seasons.  Warriors fans would be happy with that kind of record. Of course, there is also the danger of the Warriors becoming the Washington Redskins of the NBA.  But given Lacob’s record with the Celtics, I don’t think that fans should worry that Lacob will become another Daniel Snyder. In final analysis, Lacob will be his own man, and one thing is already certain:  he already has one more championship under his belt than either Snyder or Cuban.

Lacob says he learned a lot about his experience with the Celtics. He mentioned that the Celtics had an effective model of shared decision-making among certain members of the ownership group and the front office.  He has intimated that he would bring a facsimile of this model to the Warriors. This then might preclude bringing in a giant personality to fill the GM or head coach spots.  Ballyhooed figures like Kevin Pritchard and Don Nelson might be a thing of the past, as the cult of the personality is replaced by a culture of collaboration and shared decision-making.

Lacob and Gruber have said all the right things, and they have the gravitas that should give Warriors fans optimism heading into the future.  Fans can rejoice in the fact that the Warriors have exited a dark age in their history, and a new ownership group that promises a winning tradition has arrived. Though Lacob and Guber may not have the financial wherewithal of Larry Ellison, they bring with them an excellent track record in business, a strong basketball background, and a vision that we all look forward to seeing materialize before our eyes.