Joe and I love basketball. We subject our
aging bodies to a twice weekly basketball
game, which has been in "The Ringer" and Silicon
Valley.
Joe, you played basketball since I think you
said nine. When did owning an NBA team show
up?
Well, first of all, thank you to Google for
inviting me here and I invited Jeff because
Tuesday morning we are always together. We
play basketball at 6:45 every Tuesday morning.
Yep.
And we are not there but we are together anyway.
On the hardwood.
In my case, it's an unusual thing. It's a
dream situation where I can remember the day
and I tell the story all the time, I was 9
years old, I grew up in New Bedford, Massachusetts,
a small town south of Boston, and I had 
you know, I played sports and basketball and
baseball and so on but I went to a boys club
and I saw my first indoor hardwood floor.
I don't think this is hardwood. I think this
is fake wood.
But I saw my first hardwood floor when I was
9, and I got so excited by it. I don't know
what it was. I got chills, shivers, whatever,
and all of my life, I just  the Celtics were
great in the '60s, and I got  I had a great
love of basketball. I decided that some day,
if I ever became rich enough, I was going
to buy an NBA team. And it all started there
50 years ago.
That's fantastic. You had the successful career
as a venture capitalists and the Oracles,
the Warriors come for sale and the lead de
facto, presumed winner is Larry Ellison, one
of the richest men in the world. How did you
end up with the team?
Well, sometimes you have to overpay for things.
(Laughter).
At the time, we  if you really want, it you've
gotta go get it. I have been looking for a
team for a long time. I actually had failed
at acquiring a team several times. I got to
a point in my life where I figured I had been
successful in venture capital, your field
as well, and it was either going to happen
or not happen. It was our Hometown, the Bay
area. Unfortunately we were going up against
several very wealthy individuals, including
Larry, who could have obviously written the
check at any moment.
But bottom line is we fought really hard to
get it. It was the largest price for an NBA
team, $450 million, probably $100 million
than they thought it would go for. It was
a team that was in disarray and hadn't been
to the NBA playoffs in 16 years.
Over half of the teams go to the NBA championships.
I figured something could be done about that.
We really didn't have a very good basketball
team or very good business but it was the
Bay area. There was obviously a lot of potential.
It was a large market and we decided we would
make it happen no matter what and we did.
We talk about investment thesis. What was
the investment thesis for buying the team?
The first thing I want to make clear, number
one thing, if you are going to buy a sports
team, you better have one goal, primary goal,
because that's all the people out there, you
guys, people watching TV really care about.
You better win! Or you better certainly be
trying to win. And this was job number one,
no question about it.
Being a business guy, Jeff, and having looked
at starting companies for 25 year at Kleiner
Perkins, I thought there was ab upside.
They were those who said you were crazy, but,
you know, honestly, we have done  in the
seven years we have owned, it we have gone
from a team doing about $100 million in revenue
and losing $25 million the first year. That's
hard to do by the way!
To a team that is, you know, profitable, and
does many multiples of that in revenue and
is quite successful, both on the court, obviously
but off the court as well.
That was a big part of it, and we did it by
focusing on all of things we focused on, I
focused on in building companies for many
years, it's really kind of  I call it a Silicon
Valley, a business, technology approach. Do
you know what that is? You set a very high
bar, a vision for what you can become. You
go out and state it. This is what's going
to happen. You tell your people in the organization.
You tell your people outside the organization.
Some laugh. Actually some booed, as you may
remember.
Yes.
I got booed by 20,000 people in 2012 at Oracle
Arena.
Your fiancé did not boo.
Should tried. We hired the best people. We
went out and hired the best people at every
level of the organization and saying, we were
going to be relentless, absolutely relentless
every single day, in every single day. What
is the one thing that turned the Warriors
around. Steph Curry certainly helped having
him on your roster. He was a rookie when we
got the team. Everyone else was different,
the entire roster.
Really, the truth is it's not really one big
thing. It's not one or two inflection points
it's every little thing. When you are building
a company, building a business and I learned
in the startup world with some of the most
successful companies, watching them. It's
every little thing, every day that matters
and that's the way we approach our business
and even today, we are frankly relentless
about being better, every single year want
to get better.
What were some of the biggest decisions long
the way, as plays with his bling.
I haven't had a chance to show this off. This
was the ring we won in 2015 and we just got
this one. Unfortunately they sized it wrong.
It doesn't fit.
It fits very well. I appreciate that. That's
awesome!
It's not a gift.
Yeah. Yeah. What were the couple of things
along the way that made a difference. There
were some big changes.
Obviously having Steph Curry and realizing
that you had Steph Curry who for those of
you who don't know, is a remarkable individual,
not just a great threepoint shooter, which
revolutionized the game. Three points are
worth 150% of two and yet the threepoint shot
advent in the '70s in the NBA, nobody really
focused on it. No one really developed a team,
a style of play based on the threepoint shot
to a great extent like we did.
That was one thing. That was an inflection
point and build around and bring on a guard,
Klay Thompson that was 6'7" and compliment
his deficiencies on the defensive side that
were not his strengths like on the offensive
side.
We built our team systemically like the Celtics
in the '60s and then the showtime Lakers.
It was a combing of those two things that
we formed the team around: Inflection points,
though, great draft if 2012, obviously. We
had an amazing draft, Klay Thompson and Draymond
Green. It was '11 and 12.
Yes.
And then getting Andre Iguodala, who was a
missing point in 2014, and then adding to
that, trying to get better, keep getting better,
by going out and getting one of the best players
in the game, Kevin Durant. Not an easy thing
to do. We went after him as hard as we possibly
could do and sold him on everything that we
have done as an organization, culturally.
You have to create a culture in an organization,
whether it be Google or a sports organization,
that is  that everyone wants to be a part
of, that everyone wants to absolutely be there.
You know, we work  our people work during
day and come to the games at night. We have
things that we focus on, such as transparency
in the organization, such as decision making
that is completely shared. There's a final
decision maker, but we all argue like hell
and we make decisions.
I have gotten to no he a couple of the players,
particularly Andre. And the culture in the
locker room attracts players. I mean, it's
one that when half the team flies out to make
the final pitch for KD and he sees the camaraderie.
I mean that alone is a remarkable achievement.
That was really an amazing event. It's well
chronicled. So I won't go through it.
He heal interviews of the prospective teams,
one of which by the way is in the audience.
So I don't want to say too much.
We basically pitched him like the other teams
pitched him but it was really not me. It was
not Bob Myers our G.M., and he's been G.M.
of the year. Everyone loves him. It was not
Rick Welts or Steve Kerr, our great coach.
We have a video and we can do an interview,
we will sell this guy or why he should become
a warrior, things you were mentioning.
And basically, we  I said, one of these.
Just like the movie the dictator. Just kill
it. Because these guys are doing it.
They are doing. You have to learn to shut
up sometimes. Steph Curry says I don't need
to be the center of the universe. I want to
share the spotlight. Draymond Green, obviously
a very aggressive salesmen if you know Draymond
Green.
And Klay Thompson in one of the most humble
of ways. Honestly, I will keep shooting the
same amount and there will be more open shots.
I was like, oh, my God, he's not sacrificing
anything. Kevin got it, right?
We had Andre Iguodala, who had been around
and in organizations that he didn't enjoy
being at.
So they really told him on the culture, on
this team play, this, you know, passing the
ball, this complete sharing and sacrifice
which makes  I think is why people like watching
our team.
So you won two of the last three NBA titles
and gone to three straight finals and you
think you have the best threeyear record of
any team in NBA history, yet the West is getting
stocked with talent. I mean, it's just  you
know, the  The rockets. How do you stay on
top?
Well, you will laugh.
But I basically go to Bob Myers and I talk
to him multiple times a day, our G.M., and
after a few days, Bob, what are you doing
to make us better? We cannot sit here and
rest on our laurels because, yes, we have
had the best record over any threeyear stretch
of any team in NBA history. We should have
won three titles, but we didn't. We won two.
Still fantastic.
But we have to get better, and the best example
of that is you have got 29 other competitors
that you are partners but you are competitors
and they are getting better! The West is insane!
As you put it out. Recruiting players, one
after the other, to these teams and so there
is  there is nothing given in sports unlike
maybe anything else. You have to earn it on
the court, every single day.
And, you know, that's one things I love about
this, it's results oriented, every single
day and you get to have a ring and go out
to the game and see if you win or lose. I
missed our dinner last night. I have to apologize
because I was in the room watching our team
on the road play and we won by 30. Normally
I might have missed part of that for a road
game, to come down and be social but we were
12!
We were one win and two losses going into
last night and I was getting a little worried.
You know, it sounds crazy. You can get to
a point where you think everyone takes things
for granted and you just can't do that.
Last night we went out and sent a message.
So on the court has been amazing. Off the
court, I'm  we're both involved with the
Stanford Business Schools which awarded the
golden state Warriors business of the year.
What surrounded you off the court?
Winning is important. And obviously I love
being a part of a winner and that's tremendously
enjoyable for fans and for our owners and
for everybody and our players. But I think
what I'm more proud ever, because I know how
hard it's been, is the turnaround in the business
of the Warriors and to  and for it to become
what it's becoming and has become.
We are now  we are now the first time in
the history of the NBA that a team outside
of New York or Los Angeles has led the league
in ticket sales. We are that. We lead the
league in sponsorship sales. We lead the league
in merchandise sales. And most categories
and going north.
I'm proud of that because it's an immense
turnaround. We fired  I use the word fired
but we replaced 80% of the executives in the
first 18 months. Didn't expect entirely to
do that, but it was what was required. And
probably half or more of all the employees.
It was an immense turnaround, and I'm proud
of that fact, quite proud of that fact, and
that everyone else is proud of that fact of
what we have been able to achieve as an organization
and now going on to build an arena on top
of it, which is like a third job.
Yes.
That has been an immense challenge and we
all feel really, really good about it.
I will open it up for questions in one second.
You had a very highprofile quote a year or
two ago where you set "The New York Times"
we are light years ahead of probably every
other team in structure and planning and how
we go about doing things.
You had to bring that up?
That was "The New York Times" magazine story.
Yes.
And people ask me, what is the hardest thing
about being an owner of a sports team. It's
sort of like being the CEO of a public company.
We are a private company, but we might as
well be public because every single thing
that we do at all times is public and it's
almost instantaneously public because of social
media. It's very different than it was even
seven years ago or ten years ago. You know,
when I was contemplating buying a team.
I did an interview with the "New York Times"
magazine, and they  I did say those words.
I'm not going to deny them and I do believe
it, but I didn't mean them for public consumption,
right? I was with Jeff, actually, and some
other basketball buddies, and we let access
to the reporter. I think he wants a day in
the life sort of deal. We came in and we were
chatting after playing basketball that morning
and you get carried away.
You hit a shot.
I think I made a few shots that day.
Yes.
9 point is you say something like that and
"New York Times" highlighted it, right, because
it's great stuff to all the sports shows loved
it.
The funny thing was I didn't mean it as an
arrogant thing to say. I was talking to my
friends. I should have known better. I learn
every day.
But that just goes to show you that, you know,
we may believe it, but it's not the kind of
thing you want to be caught saying necessarily.
And what happened was that all of my business
associates in Silicon Valley, and all of my
exVC partners, they came up to me after 9
"New York Times" story, wow, great story.
It was so good. It was a great story, but
I didn't like a couple of the quotes.
And, of course, in the sports world, the entire
opposite view. Every single TV station, you
know, Lacob said this. It was an unfortunate
statement but we are proud of what we have
done. And we do think we have a great organization.
Questions.
Could you talk about the role of data analytics
and the player telematics and the heart beat
monitor and the personalized nutrition and
how much of a role that plays in the organization.
Certainly being from the Valley and being
a technologyoriented guy, from day one, we
have focused on that. One of the first three
teams to own our own now we call it G league
team, D league team, which is our experimental
place if you will. We develop young basketball
players for the rotation and into the rotation
and we develop young management and we try
out technologies.
In fact, we would like to be one of the first
organizations to always be on top of every
new technology to try it.
It doesn't mean we will implement it. And
the really funny thing about your question,
to me, is, we won the MIT award for most technologically
advanced sports org. We had one fulltime guy
doing it. It's a lot of people pitching in,
and we do focus on it, but we are pretty mixed
about how we evaluate it.
We, for instance, one of the first things
they did was bring on Jerry West, you know,
50 years as a player and a coach and G.M.,
and maybe the most successful G.M. in the
league. Jerry is old school. We would listen
to all of this technology stuff and roll his
eyes and go one of these things. It's what
you see with your eyes that matters.
And for him, after 50 years of experience,
he can probably do that but obviously there
are other ways to cut it, to look at it, to
analyze it and so what we try to do, like
everything in our organization, is to make
sure we are absolutely on the forefront of
all of those things, technologically, and
have sage wisdom and experience at the same
time, and then we all get in a room, when
it comes to making decisions and we hash it.
Out. We shut the door and we yell and scream.
We are pretty volatile. We come to a decision
about whatever it is we are going to work
on.
And technology does yield sometimes when you
make a draft choice. There will be inputs
from the technology side who say, well, this
guy is such and such. You know, it doesn't
maybe show on the court but we think he can
be this.
One of the example is extreme length, we believe,
in length being a metric and we are not the
only ones for our team, Milwaukee is now doing
it in a big way, but we are  where people
say we are short. We are not the biggest team.
We don't have the biggest centers but actually,
overall, our team is very large. From day
one, we had this idea of length at every position
because that disrupts passing lanes and so
on and so on.
First of all, thanks for making the NBA watchable
again. It's a true joy to watch your team.
Thank you.
With all the politicalization of the divided
states that we live in now, and you guys have
been part of that, recently, with the whole
not invited to the White House, but really
weren't invited and you said we'll take the
uninvitation, how do you  how do you honor
the players and their right to protest with
having a business where you have people on
both sides who support you? How do you think
about that?
And then, you know, your opinion on how your
team has gone through this relative to the
other sports controversies going on.
Well, the NFL certainly has its controversy,
as you allude to, and we had ours. Our mini
controversy, which is whether we would go
to the White House.
And I worried about this all summer to be
honest, how to handle this.
You know, I personally have my own views,
which is that dialogue is always better. I
would  and I told the players this. I said,
I personally would go speak. I would take
the opportunity to go speak with the President
regardless of what you think about him. And
I actually  I happen to agree with my players
on most of how they feel about this, to be
clear.
But I felt dialogue is better than no dialogue.
Let's make use of. This I would rather talk
than not talk. That's my sort of overall feeling
about it. I presented that to the players.
I spoke to them directly. But I think, you
know, it was unfortunately not a decision
to be made, as you know, because on the 
on that earlier that morning when we were
going to make our decision and they all knew
we were going to make our decision. And I
don't know exactly Lou it would have turned
out, whether we would have gone to the White
House.
You know, the President put out a tweet uninviting
us. So it really didn't matter us.
Now, what we do with that, however, going
forward is important. We are going to be in
Washington, D.C., when we visit playing the
once a year game with the Eastern conference
team there, the Wizards and we are discussing
what we will do there.
Should it be a political statement? Should
it not be a political statement? Should we
actually do something that matters that makes
a difference and show we are doing by example?
These are the kind of things that we will
evaluate and we have a little bit of time.
And this will be last question. Please fire
away.
The other NBA teams are competitors but you
also said are partners which is unusual in
the business world. And so to a large extend,
I think a rising tide lifts all boats with
the television contract and the like and being
a life long Knick fan, I'm wondering if there's
anything we can to get the team out of the
control of the Dolans to have a winning team.
I thought you were going to say was there
anything I could do to turn the team's fortunes
around and I don't know that I can help you
on that.
I  I don't want to criticize, certainly any
other owner, by any means. You know, ownership
does matter in this league and being there,
I believe, being local, being present, being
the face of the franchise, you know, taking
the lumps when  and he's taken some lumps!
Taking some lumps as well as all the  you
know, when you have a million and a half people
at a parade, these are all things you want
to take both sides of that and accept that
and take responsibility for what your team
is doing and how they are performing.
I don't know how  you know, he's obviously
trying to turn that team around in his own
way, and has not had a lot of success. You
can only help you can own hope that they are
turning the corner.
Why don't you become a warrior fan. We are
a global brand now.
I live in New York. It will be hard.
Please join me in thanking Joe Lacob for coming.
(Applause).
