Joe Lacob’s “Light Years” energy hasn’t faded and probably never will.
The 66-year-old governor of the Warriors joined Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner on their “Point Forward” podcast which was published Friday. I highly recommend the entire 50-minute interview, as Lacob discusses how he built his fortune and gives his candid thoughts on the current state of the franchise.
At one point, Turner had to ask Lacob about his infamous quote to the New York Times in 2016, when he said, “We’re light-years ahead of probably every other team in structure, in planning, in how we’re going to go about things.” It led to Lacob sharing a new story from this year’s NBA Finals, when he rubbed Celtics governor Wyc Grousbeck the wrong way with comments he made to the media.
“I meant it in a different way,” Lacob said of his ‘light years’ comment. “ I didn’t mean for it to be derogatory to other teams. But do I believe that? I do yes. Just like I believe in our players today. I was asked if we were gonna win against Boston and I said, ‘I do believe. I think we’re better and I think we’re gonna win.’
“Wyc Grousbeck, the owner of the Celtics, who’s a friend, came up to me in the middle of the series and I don’t think he was too happy with me. He said, ‘So you think you’re better than me? You told the press you were gonna beat us?’ I said, ‘Well, yeah. I believe in my team. Do you believe in your team?’”
Check out the Wyc Grousbeck story at the 34:00 mark
We all know what happened in the Finals, as the Warriors won in six games and celebrated their satisfying title at TD Garden behind and Finals MVP performance from Steph Curry. It marked Golden State’s fourth title in eight years and they have an exciting young core of Jordan Poole, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and James Wiseman moving up the ranks.
“About the ‘Light Years’ thing, I’m not gonna sit here and say, ‘Damn right.’” Lacob said. “I’m not doing that. But let other people be the judge. I really believe in our organization and the proof’s in the pudding a little bit.”
“You shoulda played Wyc one-on-one to solve the problem,” Turner joked. “I woulda loved to see that.”
“I’m a confident guy,” Lacob said. “Just like a great player, you have to be pretty damn confident. Just like golf. If you don’t think that putt’s going in, it’s not going in. Same with basketball, you shoot that ball, if you don’t think it’s going in, it’s not going in. If you don’t think you’re the best, you’re not gonna be the best.”
Adding another layer to the whole situation -- Lacob was a limited partner with the Celtics for five years before joining the Warriors.
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