Joe Lacob never will sell the Warriors to purchase his childhood team, the Boston Celtics, despite the storied East Coast franchise being up for sale after winning the 2024 NBA Finals.
Instead, Golden State’s owner since 2010 remains dialed in on his Bay Area team.
Lacob hears all of the noise. But the Massachusetts native is adamant that he and his family forever are gold-blooded. Lacob shut down any talks of selling the Warriors for the purchasable Celtics on Tuesday in an appearance on "The Athletic NBA Show" with David Aldridge and Marcus Thompson.
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“No chance,” Lacob told Aldridge and Thompson. “No chance, sorry. That shipped sailed a long time ago -- a long, long time ago. I’m a Warrior, this is my identity, it’s our identity. I love what we’ve done. I love our fans, our arena, [and] the last decade, and I want to do more.
“I want to create an even longer and greater legacy for this organization.”
Under Lacob’s ownership, Golden State was -- barring a major turnaround next season-- a dynasty.
The Warriors won four NBA championships between the 2014-15 and 2021-22 NBA seasons spearheaded by multiple future-Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame selections, and recently they moved from 58-year-old Oracle Arena in Oakland to state-of-the-art Chase Center in San Francisco -- all results that encapsulate the franchise’s strides under Lacob.
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However, Boston is up for grabs, and Lacob, who initially grew up near and rooting for the Celtics in their most glorious days, understandably has received some stares from outsiders.
The Warriors are Lacob’s adulthood team, though. And that reality outweighs anything else for him and his family.
“I love everything about this. I love the difficulties of it. I love how challenging it is every day. Look, I know it’s challenging, I understand the challenges we’re up against.
“It’s too much fun for me, [and] my family, and we’re all in.”
California is different from Massachusetts, and Lacob won’t exchange his current situation for his childhood one anytime soon.
After all, Lacob loved his Warriors’ 2022 Finals win over the Celtics more than any other Golden State title during his reign, which sums up the executive’s stance on the Warriors-Celtics swap talk.