No mystery in Warriors-S.F. connection

Share

On the one hand, Joe Lacob picked a good day to announce he was flirting with moving the Warriors to San Francisco and leaving Oakland. Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Lakers had just been turned into victims by the new arm-twisters who run the NBA, so the nation wasnt paying a lot of attention to the petty concerns of one of its lesser noticed franchises.

But we noticed anyway, and there really isnt a good time to tell people who already feel like all their favorite amusements are looking to beat feet out of town. This was always part of Lacobs plan when he bought the team, and there was not going to be a good time to drop the news.

In short, Chris Paul couldnt provide enough cover. Now maybe if the Warriors had somehow cheated the laws of logic and physics and traded for Paul, he could have, but as it is . . .

Thus far, Lacob has not given the impression that he is long on patience, or that he can masterfully navigate the shifting winds of public relations. He has good days and bad days like all public figures, but his fan base is the East Bay, and the East Bay is probably going to lose the As and has no idea about whether it might lose the Raiders as well.

Then he throws this one into the wind -- announcing that he has been talking with Giants front man Larry Baer about the possibility of an arena near the baseball teams little business park that wouldnt be built until 2018 at the earliest. He just gave his East Bay fans, who are already on edge about having one of the games most nationally invisible franchises for most of the past 15-plus years, more reason to worry.

Of course this has always been the master plan. Lacob is a West Bay guy, he bought the team with a covetous eye toward San Francisco, and the idea of land by the bay never fails to put a glint in a wealthy mans eye.

But a fan base that has been nothing but faithful in the face of such remorselessly bad entertainment isnt interested in what puts a spring in Joe Lacobs step. He is trading in all his remaining good will on two huge gambles, and if he is wrong on either, he will learn what Chris Cohan learnedthe public eye isnt always flattering.

The first gamble is that the Warriors will win, and soon. The longer it takes for the franchise to be torn down and rebuilt, the less patience will be expended on his behalf. This is why the teams history mattersseven playoff appearance in 36 years, and one in 17, add up no matter who has the corner office.

The second is that Larry Ellison, the Oracle billionaire whom Cohan played into driving the price up on his franchise, may view the Warriors interest in San Francisco as the opening required to buysay, New Orleans, just to name a distressed franchiseand move it to San Jose.

This has been a popular stalking horse for awhile now, the Ellison card, but it has its flaws. The league may be interested in protecting Lacobs investment by not putting a team 40 miles to the south, and more to the point, the new nastier NBA owners may be reluctant to have a new big spender in their midst.

And even if they do like Ellison, whats to say he wouldnt prefer buying the Lakers from the ailing Jerry Buss? The new owner power base has made it clear that the Lakers are now a target for their jealousies and incompetences, and the family might be interested in cashing out for the right exorbitant price. I mean, if your choices are the Kings or the Lakers, what would you do?

In short, this is like everything elsea far more complicated process than it seems. But Lacob has decided to show a face card before the flop. The question whether he is paired, or bluffing, or whether he figured that since everyone knows he wants to be in San Francisco anyway, he may as well wait for the NBA to do something big enough to make his announcement seem small.

So no, there wouldnt be a good time for Joe Lacob to drop this little bomb on The Chronicles Rusty Simmons. And this is a long way from getting done, given what we know about the City and County of San Francisco. But it is an interesting new twist in the story of the Warriors, The Team That -- for the past 17 years at least -- Has Known How To Make Sure The Last Guy Got Blamed For Not Getting Anything Done.

Ray Ratto is a columnist for CSNBayArea.com.

Contact Us