Dear Kirk Lacob: An Open Letter from a Warriors Fan
Dear Kirk Lacob,
I feel like Warriors fans don’t know who you are. If you were a standard NBA Assistant General Manager my research on you would stop at your Twitter bio, but you happen to be the future owner of my beloved Golden State Warriors and that’s open letter worthy.
For those people who don’t cyber stalk the Assistant GM of their NBA franchise, I’ll provide some background on exactly who you are. We’ll divide these Kirk Lacob fast facts into two categories: the “We’re up 20 in the 4th quarter and David Lee is posting up” category (this will be the relatively mundane stuff) and the “Draymond just eyeballed Blake Griffin with a three and now he’s sticking his tongue at him” category (the more exciting stuff).
“We’re up 20 in the 4th quarter and David Lee is posting up” Category
You’re Joe Lacob’s son, approximately the same age as Mo Speights (27), and the future owner of the Warriors.
You’re one of us: you were raised in the Bay Area, went to high school in Menlo, attended Stanford, and most crucially have been a Warriors fan throughout our futile history.
This isn’t your rookie season in NBA management. You interned with the Celtics (when your Dad was a minority owner there), served as the Warriors’ Director of Basketball Operations, and honed your skills in the D-League as the General Manager of the Santa Cruz Warriors.
“Draymond just eyeballed Blake Griffin with a 3 and now he’s sticking his tongue at him” Category
You were named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Sports List. Your contemporaries on that list include, Usain Bolt, Gabby Douglas, and some guy named Lebron!
You already wield real influence within the franchise. How do I know? Like normal people do, I went back and watched the tape of the Warriors’ draft war room during the 2011 and 2012 drafts. During both drafts you were sitting next to chief decision maker, Warriors’ GM Bob Myers.
Your father is currently approximately 59 years old. There are only seven NBA owners older than 70. It’s likely that within 10 to 15 years you will become the face and head decision maker of the Golden State Warriors - hopefully you won’t also inherit your father’s hairline. By virtue of your young age your inherent comparison is to Jed York - another owner’s son born into the culture of Bay Area professional sports who attended a prestigious university and worked numerous jobs within his father’s franchise before becoming the face of the team (which is currently prioritizing grudge matches over wins but this isn’t a 49ers story so I’ll stop). But I hate that analogy. If your father Joe Lacob is the Steph Curry of owners, Jed York’s father, John York, was the Acie Law of owners. Unless you’re Keith Smart, the two are incomparable and as such, I find you and Jed incomparable.
Now that we’ve rewinded a little bit of your history let’s get proactive with a couple questions to send your way. With Warriors fans currently in a state of basketball euphoria previously unknown to the Bay Area, there’s never going to be a better time to get proactive. Unless you’re Gregg Popovich & Friends, NBA success is assured like Chipotle wrapping your burrito properly is ensured -it is not. Here are three long-term questions I consider integral to the future of this franchise and your future role as its leader.
1) Will you have the same willingness to spend in places where there isn’t a salary cap?
Basketball’s salary cap makes championships less buyable, but through the coaching staff and front office an owner is provided an avenue to forge a competitive advantage through spending. Your father currently employs the highest paid coaching staff in the NBA. This team’s league leading defense is a prime example of the power of spending, as the Warriors wouldn’t have the NBA’s stingiest defense without their expensive defensive coordinator Ron Adams. The same can be said for front office consultant Jerry West. Scouting and coaching expertise don’t come cheap, but they will come for the right price. Will you be able to stomach an extra $3 to $6 million from the bottom line to purchase yourself the best chance at championships?
2) Will the new arena turn into the basketball version of Levi’s Stadium or Oracle 2.0?
Each NBA franchise has a defining characteristic. For the Celtics it’s championships. For the Lakers it’s superstars. For the Pelicans it’s a terrible mascot. For the Cavaliers it’s some guy named Lebron. For the Warriors it’s home court advantage. Oracle’s the Rucker Park of the NBA. I worry that the team’s new bay-front palace will create an environment comparable to the one at Levi’s Stadium -dead. Warriors tickets are already the most expensive in the league; don’t price out the most loyal fans in the NBA and cost us what defines our franchise -that atmosphere at home games.
3) In times of adversity, will you emphasize continuity?
Dominant NBA franchises are synonymous with stable organizations. San Antonio, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Boston. Those are the only franchises to have won a title in the past decade and what commonalities do they all share: their GM was with them throughout that decade. With Bob Myers and Steve Kerr the Warriors have the opportunity to form a special GM-Coach relationship to last decades. You must emphasize continuity.
With these legacy defining questions lingering I’m comforted by your lifelong fandom. I look forward to decades of partnership in bringing championships back to our home. And hey, it must be comforting to know that when you become owner you literately can’t be the worst because Sacramento’s own Vivek Ranadivé has that spot locked up.
A Warriors fan,
Jared Williams