It's safe to say Warriors CEO Joe Lacob was pleased with how NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco turned out.
After wrapping up a long weekend of activities throughout the Bay Area with the All-Star Game on Sunday at Chase Center, Lacob spoke exclusively to NBC Sports Bay Area's Bonta Hill after the game, where he shared his thoughts on the festivities, specifically in San Francisco.
"Everything just came out so great," Lacob told Hill. "By the way, I want to say this: San Francisco is back, OK? Let's just make it very, very clear, it is back. The city looked great this weekend. People delivered, there were parties all over the city. I had people talk to me constantly [about] how much they enjoyed the city and they were surprised. Well they shouldn't be surprised. It's back, and that's a great thing."
One of San Francisco's notable detractors, TNT analyst Charles Barkley, changed his tune on the city after visiting Glide Memorial Church on Saturday and pledging to donate $250,000.
Lacob appreciated Barkley's gesture, and believes new San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie played a part in turning the outspoken Barkley into a supporter.
"I don't know how we did that, because that guy kills us. He always predicts we're going to lose, he trashes the city," Lacob said of Barkley. "But I've got to say, that's a very nice gesture of his. He went over to Glide, I heard all about it.
"And you know, you've got to give the Mayor a little bit of credit here, you really do. Daniel Lurie's doing a great job. He told me he was going to work on [Barkley] and I said, 'Good luck, that's going to be a hard job.' But he did, he worked on him. I just think he did a great job and we should be proud of him and the job he did, too."
Golden State Warriors
The city of San Francisco has had a perception problem in recent years. However, the product throughout All-Star Weekend -- at least off the court -- is receiving positive reviews.
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