Warriors owner and CEO Joe Lacob always has one thing on his mind: Winning.
And four NBA titles later, he has done just that since he purchased Golden State along with Peter Guber. But with Father Time creeping up on the Warriors' championship core of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, Lacob really wants them to win one more ring -- both for themselves and for bragging rights.
“I don’t think people understand how important this is because, look, these guys are getting a little older, we all get that," Lacob told 95.7 The Game's Bonta Hill and Joe Shasky on Wednesday. "We’ve got a window here. We’ve got to try to win another title, and I really badly, really badly want to see Steph and our guys, Klay and Draymond, get another one.
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"LeBron’s got four, they’ve got four. Let’s get five! Let’s beat him to five!"
James has won four rings with three different teams -- two with the Miami Heat in 2012 and '13, another when the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Warriors in 2016 and his fourth with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2020 NBA Bubble. Curry, Thompson and Green earned three of their four rings by beating James and the Cavaliers in 2015, '17 and '18, while their fourth came in 2022 after a hard-fought series against the Boston Celtics.
A dynasty is nice, but Lacob clearly would love to see the Warriors trio pass James on the list of winningest players in NBA history. Currently, Curry, Thompson, Green and James, with their four titles each, sit behind Kobe Bryant (5), Tim Duncan (5), Magic Johnson (5), Scottie Pippen (6), Michael Jordan (6), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6), Robert Horry (7), Sam Jones (10) and Bill Russell (11) on the all-time list.
Golden State Warriors
James and the Lakers got the best of the Warriors in the NBA playoffs last season. But with an offseason full of veteran additions and the Warriors' young players ready to reach the next level, Lacob is confident as ever the 2023-24 Golden State squad can contend for another championship.
"If you're an owner of a team, the one thing you need to understand, you have to give your fans, who, I am one of them as well, hope," Lacob told Hill and Shasky. "We have to engender hope. Otherwise, there's no point."