When the 73-win Warriors landed Kevin Durant this summer, it was one of the biggest free agent coups in recent memory. But not everybody was as psyched as the folks around the Bay Area. To many, it was just another indication of the league’s lack of parity and a sign that the NBA had mishandled the massive influx of cash from the cable deals it finalized last year.
That the Warriors were incredibly fortunate to have the type of financial flexibility that allowed them to target Durant in the first place is a fact that has been almost completely lost on owner Joe Lacob, who continues to excessively trumpet his forward-thinking front office for the team’s many successes even when those conditions were beyond their control.
It’s one of the many reasons owners around the league have developed a growing distaste for him. And when asked about it in a recent interview with Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area, he offered up a classic “sorry, not sorry” response:
“I know there are a lot of other owners and teams that are mad at us, at me,” Lacob said Monday. “I felt that very much when I was in Las Vegas this summer.
“Sorry, we got him. We worked hard until we got him.”
Ultimately, he’s right. The Warriors didn’t do anything wrong by pursuing Durant, and Lacob seems perfectly content to draw the league’s collective ire now that he has the four-time scoring champ and former MVP in the fold. Literally every other owner in the NBA would feel the same way had they been able to pull it off, so there’s really no apology necessary.