How to rejuvenate a franchise in 5 easy steps
A little over a year ago one of my favorite sports columnists, Bill Simmons, wrote a story about the history of the Warriors franchise and the ultimate annoyance, frustration, and defeat the fan base have endured over the past 30 years. Being a fairly young Warrior fan, I can't speak for the late 80's or early 90's. But what I want to highlight in this post is how the franchise has seen a significant change not just in personnel but in attitude. In Bill Simmon's article: "How to Annoy a Fan base in 60 Easy Steps," he chronicles the sad truth to the Warriors missteps and how the frustrations of the fans were evidently on display during Chris Mullins jersey retirement:
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMfn6-mb8_4
Bill Simmons Article: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7714701/how-annoy-fan-base-60-easy-steps
The article was posted shortly after the fans booing of Mr. Joe Lacob. Reason being, the fans were upset and they had every right to be. The team was having a bad season, their most talented player was traded away for an injured player that was unable to even play the rest of the season. The fans had every right to be upset. However, this happened to coincide with the retirement ceremony of one the greatest players to don the Warriors uniform: Chris Mullin. The fans were annoyed that their leading star: Monta Ellis was traded away for what was perceived at the time as a player that had no value. It was a slap in the face to the fans that they had lost their beloved hero and an ultimate "Hey we suck anyways, we're just going tank and try next year" statement. It was a shame that the fans reacted in that manner especially on public. But, could you blame them. It was a public out cry. They wanted change and urged to express their distaste in the process.
But low a behold, we would seem significant changes being made. Those which have resoundingly changed the face of the franchise. In Simmons' article, he walked through 60 steps that have demonstrated the frustration of the fan base and demise of the franchise. This article was posted in March of 2012. It is now July 2013 and things have changed dramatically. But not all changes were made in the span of just 1.5 years. No, this stems a bit further back.
The following steps/events are what I believe to be the 5 most important steps over the past few years that have changed the franchise dramatically for the better (in no particular order:
1) Drafting Stephen Curry
Dubbed as the best pure shooter in the 2009 draft and as many considered a steal as he fell to the #7 pick in the draft. This was the first year in many that the Warriors finally made a legitimate first round draft pick. Looking at just the past 5 years:
Anthony Randolph - (2008)
The only player that had longevity and decent value was Biedrins at Center. However, the Warriors became too optimistic after a couple of decent seasons and gave him a monster contract, bad idea.
In any case, none of the other players had really panned out and were just cycled out of the organization. Curry, on the other hand represented a player the organization could really build a foundation around. He represented a franchise type player with max potential. What Steph Curry really represented was exactly what the Warriors represented. Steph was not highly recruited coming out of high school given his frail frame. Having been slighted, Steph has shown his ability to work hard to prove his doubters wrong. He was a stud in the NCAA tournament marching Davidson to a surprise sweet 16 appearance. Going into the draft Steph was again overlooked by 6 other teams before he was drafted by the Warriors. And so it begins, the era of the baby faced assassin.
2) Joe Lacob takes over as CEO and majority stakeholder of the Warriors
During the summer of 2010, Joe Lacob and Peter Guber took over as majority owners as Chris Cohan sold the team for $450 million. A long tumultuous era under Cohan and eventual exit paved the way for a fresh start for management to start on the right foot. From day one, Lacob has made the precedent that he wants to win and came in with an attitude that he will make the necessary moves to propel this franchise back to relevance. Just a year later, in the summer of 2011 Lacob brought in Jerry West as a head consultant. A bold move, bringing in a former 2 time NBA executive of the year. During his tenure, Lacob has shown to be a risk taker but the cards have gone his way. Something this management needed desperately, some aggressiveness.
Another big win as part of Lacob's regime was bringing on Bob Myers as the new assistant GM, eventually becoming the GM of the Warriors. A guy who has played and knows the game well. This executive decision would come to fruition in the years to come.
Heck, imagine if Larry Ellison would have ended up buying out the Warriors, he would have fired everyone and mismanaged the team. I mean, come on, the guy refused to have his own bar mitvah celebreation at the age of 13! Sometimes things work out for the better.
3) Warriors select Mark Jackson as coach
At the time, this was criticized as a head-scratching move. Why bring in a new head coach that has had absolutely no head coaching experience let along assistant coaching experience. I mean, the guy had not coached at any level before. He had spent his time as a color commentator on TNT and ESPN. Sure, he was a great point guard in the NBA but there was no way to tell if that translated to success as a coach. Well, seemed as though Lacob and the rest of management were very impressed. Why? Because he was cheap and available? Maybe. But really, because he had a poise to him. A demeanor that was calm and a likable guy. Most of all, he praised defense. An organization that was known to draft an acquire good offensive talent but never set the foundation for a sound defensive scheme. Mark Jackson was ready to help redirect the play calling and he was serious. He got everyone on board and boy has he shown some serious confidence in just 2 years at the helm.
4) Warriors trade away Monta Ellis
And here...we..go. A highly scrutinized move by the fans, media, players. Why? Because Monta was a fan favorite, a perennial all-star caliber player. Monta Ellis for Andrew Bogut, and injured Bogut. Yes, a move that was very risky. The Warriors have lacked a true NBA Center for over a decade, and even longer. Bogut was promising. Although injured, he provided the foundation of what could be a steal of a trade. But still, why trade your star player away for a banged up big man? Well, the answer is simply: Curry. That an defense. Curry was a player with great potential but wasn't able to shine as brightly as he was in Monta's shadow. Monta was also a terrible defender and didn't quite fit in Jackson's master plan to change the defensive attitude of the team. It took a year for this move to really prove its worth. What was most important was that the organization was no longer willing to stay complacent, they were willing to endure a painful facelift, even if it meant receiving a shower of boos from an arena full of 19,000+ fans during a retirement ceremony. Well, fastfoward 1 year, yup Lacob you did it again.
5) Warriors make run at DH12 and sign Iguodala
Capping off a very impressive playoff run, the Warriors emerged as a surprising turnaround team. A team filled with great young talent with Barnes, Thompson, and Curry, the Warriors had much to cheer about. In normal times, the Warriors wound have been content and would have just tried to keep the talent they had together. Well, not this management group. With his desire and thirst to win, Lacob saw room for improvement and a thriving free agent market.
Playing the Grand Masestro, Bob Myers was able to stir up some black magic and free up enough Cap space to lure Iguodala in. The Warriors were significantly over the NBA salary cap going into free agency, with Landry and Jack demanding big pay raises and not money to play with without going over the luxury tax. Any ordinary GM/Owner would have stayed conservative and played with the chips they had. Not this time, management was too hungry. A three sign and trade between Denver, Utah, and Golden State turned out to be the defining moment this offseason (no offense Dwight). Not only did the Warriors dump 2 terrible contracts but they didn't have to move any members of their core group. The Warriors managed to dump $24 million in bad contracts plus 2 future draft picks in Utah (thank you kindly) and free up enough space to be under the cap and room to bring Iguodala in. The real shocker in all of this was that he wanted to play in Golden State.
The Warriors have never by any means been a free agent destination. Often, the team would have to over pay players to lure them in or settle with mediocre role players on decent to teams to play as a starter with the Warriors. The Warriors, in just 4 years, have built a strong culture, a winning culture. They have drafted well, brought in key personnel in the front office, made smart decisions in the free agent market picking up value players. The players are high IQ individuals, the coach is smart, the front office is persistent and calculated. In just 4 years the organization has endured an entire face lift.
If you are a Warriors fan, this is a great time, no longer do we have to worry about being relegated to the NBA basement. Lottery pick after lottery pick. The organization is in good hands and will continue to make smart decisions. These will be the Golden ages. Mark my word, Championship or no Championship, this team is a contender.
