This puts me in an awkward position. I hate the Dodgers, Yankees (and
Red Sox? and ??) making it no fun for everyone else by always buying the
best expensive players. But here are the Warriors doing a similar thing.
In the Warriors favor, they accumulated their talent without going into
the free agent market & spending big. Their large payroll is the result
of natural growth & was done within the salary cap guidelines. But still
... -AL

==========================================================
NBA fines Warriors owner Joe Lacob $500,000 for bashing luxury tax
rules, per report
Joe Lacob called the NBA’s luxury tax system “very unfair” on Andre
Iguodala’s podcast last week, leading to another fine
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 26: Golden State Warriors owner Joe
Lacob reacts after a basket during the fourth quarter of the NBA Western
Conference Finals at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Thursday, May 26, 2022. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Dallas
Mavericks 120-110. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 26: Golden State Warriors owner Joe
Lacob reacts after a basket during the fourth quarter of the NBA Western
Conference Finals at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Thursday, May 26, 2022. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Dallas
Mavericks 120-110. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
By ALEX SIMON | asimon@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: July 20, 2022 at 5:41 p.m. | UPDATED: July 21, 2022 at 8:01 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/07/20/nba-fines-warriors-owner-joe-lacob-500000-for-bashing-luxury-tax-rules-per-report/

Podcasts bring out candidness. But when you’re an NBA owner, apparently,
you can’t be too candid.

Warriors owner Joe Lacob was fined $500,000 by the NBA for his comments
about the luxury tax on the Point Forward podcast last week, according
to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The podcast, which is hosted by Golden State guard Andre Iguodala and
former NBA player Evan Turner and, touched on a variety of topics on the
July 15 episode, but it was Lacob’s comments on the “penal” luxury tax
rules the NBA has in place that led to the fine. The league forbids
owners from making “unauthorized communication regarding collective
bargaining.”

--
Adrian Wojnarowski
@wojespn · Follow
ESPN Sources: The NBA has fined Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob
$500,000 for his recent comments on the Point Forward Podcast discussing
the league’s collective bargaining talks, which included Lacob
describing the league’s luxury tax system as “very unfair.”
5:26 PM · Jul 20, 2022
Read the full conversation on Twitter
13.9K Reply Share
--

“Obviously, it’s self-serving for me to say this. But I think it’s a
very unfair system,” Lacob said of the luxury tax. “Because (the way)
our team is built, the top eight players have been drafted by this team.
We have guys that were undrafted that we found and developed in Santa
Cruz. We don’t have one free agent that is not a minimum. Not one.”

Lacob referenced ESPN’s Brian Windhorst’s “checkbook win” comment from
after Andrew Wiggins led the Warriors to the win in Game 5 of the NBA
Finals, acknowledging that the Warriors were fortunate to be able to
turn the departing Kevin Durant into such a key player

“The only guy that you could make a case for, us outspending the
competition and not being fair, is we turned Durant leaving into one guy
(D’Angelo Russell) that turned into Wiggins, and that worked out great,”
Lacob said. “But they all criticized us for doing it and said we
overpaid and did a bad deal.

“You can’t have it both ways, you know?”

>RELATED ARTICLES
Klay Thompson finally enjoying ‘best offseason ever’ after fourth NBA
championship
Watch: Some of Steph Curry’s best one-liners as host of the ESPYs
Kurtenbach: One more season? Andre Iguodala’s value to the Warriors
is as high as ever
Report: Warriors signing Summer League standout to one-year deal
This Alaskan teen hung out with Klay Thompson. He left with one of
the Warriors star’s prized possessions

Lacob acknowledged that he understands how the Durant acquisition in
2016 rankled the league, but pointed out that, “anyone else would’ve
done it, too.” But Lacob is a clear believer that teams who draft and
develop their own players into superstars should not be financially
punished for wanting to keep them.

“I think the luxury tax, you should be paying a high luxury tax if
you’re using it to go get free agents and outspend your competition,”
Lacob said. “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.”

It’s a sentiment shared by some around the association, including former
Nets assistant general manager and ESPN front office analyst Bobby
Marks. NBA commissioner Adam Silver was asked about this exact issue on
the night of the NBA Draft by NBA TV’s Jared Greenberg, and he said he
didn’t view it as penalizing the team.

It’s not the first time Lacob has been fined by the league in the last
12 months, either. He was fined $50,000 for saying Ben Simmons’ name on
a podcast, even though it was to express that Golden State didn’t have a
desire to trade for him. By mentioning Simmons by name, he violated the
league’s anti-tampering rules.

--
Alex Simon | Sports Digital Strategist/Editor
Alex is a sports digital strategist and editor for Bay Area News Group.
He’s been in journalism for years as an editor, reporter and adjunct
professor. Alex enjoys weekend adventures and loves In-N-Out Burger a
bit too much.