Warriors owner promises to build statue for Klay Thompson once he retires

Golden State owner Joe Lacob, who once claimed that his franchise was “light years” ahead of the rest of the NBA, has never been shy of voicing out his feelings or even criticize other teams around the league. After two years of failing to conquer another title, he said this week that he grew accustomed to his dynasty and feels it’s been a “long time” without titles. 

However, it really hasn’t, as the Warriors’ last championship came just two years ago. On The Athletic NBA Show podcast Tuesday, Lacob mentioned how hard it is to make trades happen in today’s modern NBA, when trying to explain why it was so difficult to keep Klay Thompson in the Bay Area.

“If I could share anything with many of the fans out there — and I read everything, you know, I read what people say, the criticisms and the positive things — they don’t understand how hard it is and how illogical some of the parties on the other side are sometimes,” Lacob said.

Joe Lacob on Klay Thompson: ‘I hope we’re gonna be friends forever’ @unstoppablebaby https://t.co/iMT7RtXB4k

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With the new CBA in motion, negotiating with players has entered unknown territory. “Maybe we’re illogical too, to some extent, but my point is it’s just really, really hard to pull these things off. And everyone writes all this stuff and they have no idea what the other side is asking for in some of these things,” he assured.

Despite this, the Golden State owner promised to honor Thompson once he decides to retire, with a statue built outside Chase Center. He also guaranteed that the Warriors will have to “kick his ass” when they meet competing next season, but he hopes they will remain “friends forever.”

“I’m pretty excited about where we are right now,” Lacob added. “Am I satisfied? No. Never. We’re always going to be in the market to improve our team. Always. Always. I don’t care what team we have. If we can get someone else and work out a deal that makes us better? Great, we will. We’re always looking. We’re going to be the most aggressive team in the league.”

The Warriors have now traded in athletes like Buddy Field, Kyle Anderson and De’Anthony Melton, while they still hope to acquire at least one more player that will fit to their shooting and defensive style. However, the GM Mike Dunleavy doesn’t believe this fourth star will come any time soon.

Golden State general manager Mike Dunleavy ‘confidently’ says that Steph Curry will be a ‘Warrior for life’

As Stephen Curry’s contract is set to end in Golden State after the 2025-26 season, he is eligible to extend for an extra year this summer. However, as the player is currently concentrated in Team USA’s pursuit of the gold medal in the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris, this negotiation remains on the club’s to-do-list until he returns from action.

Nevertheless, the All-Star guard has made it clear that his desire is to remain a member of the only NBA franchise he’s ever played for until he retires. And now it seems that the Bay Area front office is on the same page. The club’s general manager has revealed his intentions around Curry’s future this weekend.

“That guy can get whatever he wants,” Mike Dunleavy said in a news conference on Friday. “It’s been a sprint here getting through the draft and free agency and summer league, but all of that will get figured out. Steph, I think I can say pretty confidently, that he will be a Warrior for life.”

“I think it would have been hard to run the same team back,” the GM explained. “Although 46 wins is pretty good, we didn’t make the playoffs. But this isn’t something where it’s like broken completely. We just need to tune some things up. I think we’ve been able to do that, and we’re excited about this group.”