Rick Barry shares joke he told Joe Lacob about fans who booed Warriors' owner

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It's been a little over seven years since Warriors fans booed Joe Lacob for trading Monta Ellis.

It's a moment that never will be forgotten, especially by Lacob and Warriors legend Rick Barry, who was on the court that March night in 2012, and chastised fans for their action.

Barry was asked about the incident Monday while appearing on KNBR 680, and he revealed that he and Lacob shared a laugh about it Sunday night during the final regular-season game at Oracle Arena.

"I got criticized for that, oh there, 'Rick Barry being Rick Barry.' Well, I'm just one of those people where if I believe in something, I speak up about it, and I've always been that way," Barry said. "And that's something when I came in as a professional back in 1965, which seems like eons ago, athletes were supposed to be dumb jocks and not have intelligence and not be able to say anything. So, I've always been controversial in that regard. But it was a disservice to Chris Mullin [then the Warriors’ general manager], and that's why I stood up. It was his night. It was not the time to do it.

"And I was joking with Joe Lacob last night, I had the pleasure of sitting with him and his lovely wife, and I said, 'Hey Joe, maybe the 30 percent of the people who are not renewing their season tickets, maybe those are the ones that booed you, so we can get rid of them.' “

After the Warriors finish this upcoming NBA playoff run, they will move across the Bay to Chase Center in San Francisco. In the interview, Barry cited numbers that state 70 percent of current Warriors season-ticket holders have renewed their tickets for the new arena.

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Barry doesn't sound too concerned about the atmosphere in the new building.

"It all depends on the fans, because, as I said to the fans last night ... Oracle is what it is because of the fans, not because of the building," Barry said. "So, I don't care where the building is. It’s the fans that are in the building and what they bring to the table."

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