With the Warriors seemingly at a crossroads, owner Joe Lacob still confidently believes the franchise will never experience the bottoming out so common at the end of other NBA dynasties.
Lacob spoke exclusively to ESPN's Baxter Holmes for a recent feature on the Warriors' "two-timeline" approach, where he explained why he does not envision Golden State ever rebuilding, even after the dynastic trio of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green retire.
“We are the Golden State Warriors,” Lacob told ESPN. “I believe in the culture. I believe that word gets out. I could go on and on. I'm not trying to brag. I'm just saying, that's who we are.
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“We're never going to bottom out. I won't settle for that. We're not doing that.”
Lacob has stood by this approach and has the utmost confidence Golden State will be a perennial contender even after its current stars retire.
“It's the reason that I don't think we will ever, ever try to bottom out," Lacob added.
Since buying the team in 2010, Lacob has presided over the most successful run in franchise history, with the Warriors winning four championships in six NBA Finals appearances. The Warriors' future Hall of Fame trio has elevated the team to the upper echelon of basketball, leading to skyrocketing revenues and a shiny new arena in San Francisco.
Golden State Warriors
Lacob and partner Peter Guber purchased the Warriors for a mere $450 million in 2010, and now the franchise is valued at an astonishing $7.7 billion, second only to the Dallas Cowboys in terms of valuation among North American sports franchises.
There have been plenty of setbacks along the way, however, and currently, the Warriors are in a tough position in terms of keeping their title window open while Curry still is in his prime.
Lacob has made waves for his past comments about the team's future, including his infamous 2016 quote about being “light years ahead” of every other franchise in the league along with his 'two-timeline' approach drawing the ire of many around the NBA.
Golden State has had an extremely volatile 2023-24 NBA season up to this point, with a rash of injuries along with Green’s multiple suspensions casting doubt that the Warriors still can compete for a playoff spot, let alone another championship.
“It's possible we'll get caught with our pants down,” Lacob said. "I can't make everything work all the time. There's no way to predict that. But the only thing is we'll never sit around and accept mediocrity. We're not going to sit around and let this happen to us.”
The team also has been hit-or-miss in recent drafts, hitting big on Jonathan Kuminga, but whiffing on the likes of James Wiseman. Much like previous dynasties, the Warriors face an uncertain future as they attempt to replace their vaunted championship core of Thompson, Green and Curry.
The development of Kuminga along with stalwart rookies Trayce Jackson-Davis and Brandin Podziemski are good indicators that the team still will be one of the league’s best, but it would be an almost unprecedented feat for the franchise to continue to have the same level of success as they’ve had the past 10 years.
Now, the Warriors push ahead towards the second half of the season, and while they have the sixth-easiest schedule moving forward, they still face an uphill battle to secure a top-six seed and an automatic playoff spot.