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Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob paid a huge cost for the roster that won a title this season, dishing out an NBA-record $362 million in payroll and luxury taxes — then another $500,000 for complaining about it.
The team’s spending habits have reportedly generated some animosity among NBA owners — though not in the way that some might expect. There have been a number of reports that other owners are upset at how much the Warriors have spent, believing it is creating a competitive imbalance. ESPN’s Zach Lowe even reported that the topic arose at the recent board of governor’s meeting in Las Vegas. But the animosity could be flowing both ways, one insider shared.
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Some Angry at Penny Pinching
As Heavy.com’s Steve Bulpett reported, there is also some frustration at the teams that have benefitted from Lacob’s propensity to spend and not making upgrades to their own rosters. Half of the luxury tax payments are distributed to the league’s non-taxpaying teams, which means that 23 teams received a check in each of the past two seasons.
Not all of those teams reinvest the money into their own payroll, which Bulpett noted had caused some ill feelings among those paying.
“Indeed, some owners could be angry with the Warriors and other tax teams for spending so much and potentially tipping the balance of on-court power,” he wrote. “But I can state directly that owners who are paying the high fees now and have done so in the past are perhaps even more upset with those teams who accept payouts from the tax pool and don’t reinvest it into their own payroll — and then complain about the ones who spend over the cap.”
Bulpett noted that one owner said he wanted the league to require teams to reinvest, saying “they shouldn’t just pocket the money.” One tax-paying owner said that a peer critical of high spending didn’t really have room to criticize.
“He didn’t complain when he was cashing our check,” the owner said.
Lacob Defends Golden State’s Spending
Lacob believes there’s a critical difference with regard to his team’s historic level of spending — it’s almost all on homegrown players. The Warriors have the majority of their money tied into players drafted by the franchise — Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green have all played their entire careers in Golden State. Another, Andrew Wiggins, came in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves with his Bird Rights intact, allowing the Warriors to go over the cap to keep him.
“I don’t know how they can be mad because we’re homegrown,” Lacob told Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner on their “Point Forward” podcast. “I think you should be paying a high luxury tax if you’re using it to go and get free agents and outspend your competition. But if you’re developing your own guys and paying Steph Curry what he deserves and Klay Thompson what he’s earned, why am I paying $200 million in luxury tax? I don’t think that’s fair.”
Those words landed Lacob in some hot water with the NBA. He was fined $500,000 for publicly discussing labor meetings in that podcast, saying he was on a committee that discussed the issue.
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