Silicon Valley Heavy Hitter Buys Warriors

Meet the New Boss: NOT the Same as the Old Boss

Got an interesting phone call while at the Giants game on Thursday night.

"Hello Raj, this is Joe Lacob."

Two things immediately went through my mind.  How the heck did he get my cell number -- and -- the Warriors have been saved.

I have no idea how successful Lacob and his Hollywood business partner Peter Guber will be, but the 15 minutes I spent talking with him -- was 14 minutes more than I've ever talked with outgoing owner Chris Cohan in the past 12 years.

"I want to restore this franchise," said the 54 year-old Lacob.  And I want to be accessible to the fans."  These are comments which are foreign to the Warriors organization.

The longtime Warriors season ticket holder said he's "thrilled and exhausted" after Thursday announcement that had the winning bid to buy the team for an NBA record price of $450 million.  Lacob expects the deal to be approved by the NBA in the "next couple of months."

"We will make changes, but I don't want to comment yet about what we'll do with Don Nelson," Lacob said.  Retaining the veteran head coach is among the many immediate decisions he faces.

Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison said despite having the higher bid, he was not chosen and found Cohan's decision "unusual."  However, the firm that brokered the sale said Ellison's bid "was weeks past the deadline."

He doesn't quite have Ellison's resume, but Lacob himself is a Silicon Valley heavy hitter.  A partner in the prestigious venture capitalist firm of Kleiner, Perkins Caufield & Byers in Menlo Park, he works alongside former Vice President Al Gore and Sun Microsystems founder Vinod Khosla.

Lacob will sell his ownership interest in the Boston Celtics before the Warriors deal is officially closed. 

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