Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob got fined $500,000 for describing the luxury tax system as “very unfair” on a recent podcast. Check the Joe Lacob Fines details below.
Those comments came on the Point Forward Podcast, which is hosted by Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner.
“The hardest thing of all is navigating this luxury tax, unfortunately,” Lacob said. “I went back to New York this week for labor meetings. I’m on the committee. And you know, obviously, the league wants everyone to have a chance and right now, there’s a certain element out there that believes we ‘checkbook win. …’ We won because we have the most salaries on our team.
“The truth is, we’re only $40 million more than the luxury tax. Now, that’s not small but it’s not a massive number. We’re $200 million over in total because most of that is this incredible penal luxury tax. And what I consider to be unfair and I’m going to say it on this podcast and I hope it gets back to whoever is listening. Obviously, it’s self-serving for me to say this, but I think it’s a very unfair system because our team is built by … all top eight players are all drafted by this team.”
What is next for the NBA Warriors?
NBA expert picks state that In order to win at the highest level in the NBA, sometimes an owner has to be willing to pay luxury taxes that could eat up a lot of their personal income.
The Warriors’ luxury tax bill was $170 million this past season, according to Sportrac, but that investment was worth it, as they won their fourth championship in a 8-year span.
Stephen Curry was once on the greatest valued deal you can argue in NBA history, as he made less than $12 million in the season in which he became the first ever unanimous player in NBA history.
The Warriors also got lucky and drafted very well, nabbing Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and then being able to keep them under contract at reasonable rates since their first extensions came before the 2016 salary cap spike.
Andre Iguodala was also on a very reasonable deal, as he was instrumental in helping the Warriors morph into the dynasty they’ve become over the last decade.
Because of the roster NBA matchups the Warriors were able to construct and the money they had to work with, they were able to bring in Kevin Durant, which we all know made this team one of the most unstoppable NBA teams of all-time.
Because of all of the luck the Warriors had, some sort of repercussions were bound to happen down the line.
Thompson and Green were bound to demand max contracts to stay in The Bay, which they ended up getting, and Curry was bound to be among the highest paid players in the league.
Even with Durant moving on to the Brooklyn Nets, the Warriors couldn’t let him walk away for nothing, so they were able to acquire D’Angelo Russell, who was later flipped to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Andrew Wiggins and future draft picks.
Little did the Warriors know at the time, however, was that Wiggins was more than just the damaged goods player they took back in the Russell trade. He ended up making his first All-Star team and proved instrumental in helping the Warriors win the championship versus the Boston Celtics against all NBA odds by providing timely scoring and defense on Jayson Tatum.
Warriors Next Steps
The Warriors got lucky yet again, or should we say their savviness brought them luck again? Whatever the case may be, they won four championships in less than a decade. It’s incredibly hard to even script that type of success in a movie.
But as Lacob alluded to, those championships lead to lucrative deals, which in turn leads to owners themselves losing money out of their own pockets to help keep a dynastic team alive.
The Warriors will be facing even further decisions in the next couple of years, as Wiggins and Jordan Poole will be eligible for extensions.
Both players have proven to be worth top dollars in the NBA, as their skillsets play very well into the fabric of winning teams in the modern NBA.
Wiggins can create his own shot when the game slows down a little bit and benefits from the gravity that both Curry and Thompson attract on the perimeters and can also take on the assignment of guarding the opposing teams best player.
Poole is also emerging as one of the best shooters in the league and is capable of getting his points on drives to the rim.
This team will be intact as is for at least one more season, but if Lacob grows tired of paying all of these luxury taxes, then we can perhaps see the Warriors prioritize youth movement and hope Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman and Moses Moody can step in and play big roles.
If you love sports and want more sports betting information follow us as @InsidersBetDig on Twitter and sign up to our mailing list for free betting picks.