In a twisted turn of events (events of not much substance but still) Andre Iguodala revealed some of the reasons he was so excited to come to the Bay Area. Aside from joining Stephen Curry, 2013 All-Star/3rd-Teamm All-NBA member David Lee, et al. Iguodala is excited about the opportunities provided by being so close to Silicon Valley. As mentioned in a recent ESPN interview (which was conducted for the October 14th, Bay Area special issue of ESPN the Magazine) Andre Iguodala not only expressed his respect for Joe Lacob’s rise to fame and his astonishment of being so close to the Facebook and Twitter headquarters, but he specifically mentioned his respect for former potential Warriors owner/Oracle head-honcho Larry Ellison
Guys like Larry Ellison sit courtside at all our games. Dude, Larry Ellison! I’m his biggest fan.
The irony in that short sentence probably means more to Warriors fans than Iguodala might ever imagine. Back in 2010 when Chris Cohan finally decided to release his death grip of the Warriors franchise and sell the team fans, media, everyone expected billionaire/Oracle CEO/Warriors fan Larry Ellison and his $26 billion to be the one to take reign of the franchise he loved and allowed to play in his arena while sitting courtside every night. Things didn’t turn out that way and he was shockingly outbid by former Celtics minority owner Joe Lacob and Hollywood producer Peter Guber.
Warriors fans, one of if not the greatest and most loyal fanbases might have had this in thought when they decided to boo Joe Lacob during the infamous Chris Mullin retirement ceremony. It was expected that Ellison would come in and save the franchise with his love for the team and limitless, Prokhorov-esque bankroll. That wasn’t to be and 3 years later the Warriors are doing just fine coming off a trip to the Western Conference semifinals and a Summer where they not only signed Iguodala (the 3rd most prized free agent), but also were able to court Dwight Howard.
It can’t be spoke of how an Ellison lead Warriors franchise is operating in another universe, but the Lacob/Guber lead Warriors are doing just fine and Larry Ellison can watch in awe as his biggest fan, Warriors newcomer (former All-Star and Olympic Gold Medalist) Andre Iguodala helps lead the Warriors into a bright future.
You can read the entire ESPN interview with Iguodala here, http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9748900/golden-state-warriors-andre-iguodala-plans-financial-wizard-espn-magazine
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