Golden State Warriors Owner Joe Lacob Puts Himself First With Hiring Of Steve Kerr

<![CDATA[Golden State Warriors Owner Joe Lacob Puts Himself First With Hiring Of Steve Kerr (Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chornicle)

Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob paid $25 million to placate his sensibilities.

Less than two weeks after firing a coach with whom he could not find common ground, Lacob hired one he already counted as a friend, in making Steve Kerr the Warriors’ next head coach.

During Golden State’s short coaching search, reports surfaced that one of the reasons the team was so interested in Kerr was his established relationship with Lacob.

The Warriors owner downplayed the connection to Sam Amick of the USA Today following the hiring, but there’s no escaping it.

Kerr’s hiring had everything to do with allowing Lacob more control of the team he and his ownership group paid $450 million to buy, four summers ago.

“I knew him through friends — and through golf, quite frankly,” Lacob told Amick, “I’ve been on golf trips with Steve before, so I know him socially for many years. He’s best friends with one of my best friends and some other people, so I’ve known him, but not necessarily that close or that professionally as has been portrayed.”

A number of factors played key roles in the firing of Mark Jackson, but probably none more than a prevailing disconnect between coach and owner.

Radically different racial, regional and religious backgrounds, along with a pair of large egos, ended with Jackson leaving the team after leading the Warriors to 51 wins.

There’s plenty of evidence out there for you to make your own decisions about their relationship and a handful of authors have already offered their take, including Marcus Thompson, Stephen A. Smith, and Jacob Greenberg.

Lacob’s comments regarding Kerr are worrisome, if only from the perspective that Jackson, an African-American coach, was pushed out for someone straight out of his owner’s “good ole boy” network.

“Look, we did pretty well with Mark Jackson,” said Lacob in the Amick interview, “In the end, it wasn’t working out, which only we can probably totally appreciate on the inside. No one is ever going to understand it. I get that (people) see the win total, and they think that’s all that matters. But we have an organization that’s 200 people, and everyone has to get along and work together and that’s just the way it worked out.”

Lacob doesn’t use the word “I” when discussing Jackson and even suggests a large portion of the organization didn’t get along with the former coach, but his words do little to further sell the company line.

It becomes more clear that Jackson’s firing was never about basketball, but personal sensibilities and likely something Lacob will never take ownership of.

Instead, he spoke on behalf of Stephen Curry and the rest of the roster, not one of who has publicly welcomed Kerr to the team, “(Curry) is extremely supportive. That’s all I can tell you. We got Steve Kerr because of our players. We have great players, great character individuals. They all want to win, and I can just tell you that they’re very supportive.”

Take Joe’s word for it, I guess.

Heck, the closest thing we have to even a recognition is when Andre Iguodala, who in his typical cryptic fashion, tweeted “When the grass is cut…”, just after the announcement.

Of course, the end of the phrase goes “the snakes will show.”

Andre isn’t necessarily directing negativity towards Kerr, but it’s naïve to think it didn’t have something to do with his hiring.

If the team’s players are so supportive of the move, their social media silence is unusual.

Both Brandon Jennings and Andre Drummond were ahead of the curve in welcoming Stan Van Gundy to Detroit.

At least three Warriors, Iguodala, Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut, have tweeted since the announcement without so much as a hello to the guy they’ll be spending most of the next four years with.

Whether there’s meaning to the silence or not, it’s an awkward start to Kerr’s relationship with the players, especially given their strong support of Jackson before he was let go.

Kerr may eventually win players over in his own way, but it’s unclear if the players will forget Lacob putting his sensibilities before theirs.

Not to worry. Lacob will have five years to prove himself right.

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