Tag: Joe Lacob

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: NBA Expansion to Las Vegas

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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is considering expansion teams to Las Vegas and Seattle that will be up for discussion sometime in 2026 (CNN photo)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: NBA Expansion to Las Vegas:

NBA Expansion to Las Vegas

That’s Amaury News Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

A decision on expansion (potentially to 32 teams) is anticipated sometime in 2026. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver praised Las Vegas support for basketball. The Commissioner notes support in Las Vegas for the WNBA Aces, the Summer League, and the NBA Cup.  Seattle is also another city that the NBA is showing interest.

The Seattle SuperSonics played in Seattle for 41 seasons, from their inaugural 1967-1968 season until relocating to become the Oklahoma City Thunder after the 2007-2008 season. They were Seattle’s first major sports franchise and won one NBA championship in 1979 under legendary coach Lenny Wilkens.

I remember as I covered the Warriors visiting Seattle with the team and witnessed the support of the Supersonics fans, the arena where they played was right, where the World’s Fair was held in 1962, today known as Seattle Center,  next to the Space Needle and the Monorail. It was made even more famous in 1963 with Elvis as the star in the movie “It Happened At The World’s Fair”.

Expasion history: Last time the NBA expanded was in 2004 when the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets) joined as the league’s 30th team. While there’s been talk of expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle, no new teams have joined since the Bobcats’ debut.

More Hoops: Below made the rounds here in the Bay Area and in the national news of one Golden State Warriors Fan complaining to owner Joe Lacob about the struggles of the team recenlty even as Stephen Curry scoring in big numbers but still no victories.

(via Justdutari/Reddit, Alex Simon/SFGate)

A Warrior fan wrote Lacob: “Dear Joe, Please do something about this team. What Steph need to do every night to win? Drop 50 points? Team is need a real second option. Jimmy tool are being underutilized because he is playing as a power forward due to the small position players. We have no true center.”

Lacob replied: “You can’t be as frustrated as me. I’am working on it. It’s complicated. Style of play. Coaches desires regarding players. League trends. Jimmy is not the problem.”

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame.

LaTerraza Mexican Restaurant 1027 2nd Street in Old Sacramento give them a call at 916-440-0874

From the second you step in the front door, the sounds of Latin America will gently seduce your ears and continue as you relax outdoors with your favorite cocktail enjoying the view. The wonderful flavors and aromas of our cuisine will not disappoint.

We use only the finest, freshest, local ingredients in every dish and every dish is prepared to order. Enjoy live mariachi music weekly and on special occasions, catch balet folklorico dance performances among other live entertainment. Come visit us and have a great time! Enjoy fast, friendly service, fantastic food & cocktails, music and allow us to share our beautiful Mexican heritage with you.

LaTerraza Mexican Restaurant at 1027 2nd Street in Old Sacramento give them a call at 916-440-0874.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: San Diego Padres might have a New Owner, with a Bay Area connection

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Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob had been shopping to buy the Oakland A’s before they moved to Sacramento but the A’s weren’t for sale. He might be interested in the San Diego Padres who are up for sale. (Joe Lacob photo)

San Diego Padres might have a New Owner, with a Bay Area connection

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

The San Diego Padres are up for sale, and with Joe Lacob’s history of interest in MLB teams, he could be a potential buyer. Lacob’s previous attempts to purchase baseball franchises, including the Oakland A’s and the Los Angeles Angels. Lacob currently owns the NBA Golden State Warriors and the WNBA Golden State Valkyries. Could Lacob be expanding his sports empire?

Joe Lacob offered to buy the Oakland A’s in 2005 when Lewis Wolff and John Fisher were the owners. As a matter of fact, in an interview with John Shea, then with the San Francisco Chronicle, now with the San Francisco Standard, Lacob went into detail about when he offered to buy the A’s in 2005 for $180 million.

It is well known that Lacob had a “standing offer” to purchase the Oakland A’s from John Fisher for years, and always maintained that the team belongs in Oakland. As recently as 2023, Lacob and Fisher reported interactions regarding a potential purchase, but Lacob did not actively pursue it when Fisher seemed committed to his team.

Ownership history of the San Diego Padres: C.Arnholt Smith, followed by John Kroc and Joan Kroc of Mc Donalds’s fame, next Tom Wernes, John Moores, and the group led by Ron Fowler. The most recent/current owners were Peter Seidler and John Seidler, who became the principal owner in 2023 following Peter’s death.

The San Diego Padres franchise began in 1936 in the PCL, playing in San Diego until 1968. In 1969, they became an expansion team in the Major Leagues, playing in the National League. The First Manager of the San Diego Padres was Cuban-born Preston Gómez in 1969.

The first Latino Major League managers in history also born in Cuba: Miguel “Mike” González, who served as the interim manager of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1938.

Padres are one of five teams who never won a World Series; Padres, Mariners, Brewers, Rockies, Tampa Bay Too bad for Oakland and A’s fans that Lacob couldn’t buy the A’s; he is a winner, unlike the man who owns the team today.

Quote about baseball owners – Stewardship and fan accountability “It’s a stewardship. We have an obligation. We are accountable to the fans and to the city. If you don’t approach it that way, you shouldn’t be an owner in my opinion,” said Phillies owner John Middleton.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame.

While in the Bay Area, great food and great prices. 998cuba.com

Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel Dullum: Warrior owner Lacob knows he can’t buy what’s not for sale

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There is zero chance that Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob can buy the Oakland A’s as A’s owner John Fisher is keeping the team and moving them to Las Vegas (AP file photo)

On the Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel:

#1 Daniel, Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob confirms that he still has a standing offer to buy the Oakland A’s and that he’s very interested in purchasing the team.

#2 When A’s owner John Fisher decided it wasn’t going to work in Oakland anymore he’s headed to Vegas but Lacob said he would interested in buying the team. However Lacob said you have to have someone who wants to sell something to be interested in buying it.

#3 Lacob, did make an attempt to buy the A’s when former A’s owners Steve Schott and Ken Hoffman put the team up for sale only to sell it to Lew Wolf who just so happened to be a sorority brother of former MLB Commissioner Bud Selig at the time.

#4 Lacob’s dream at the time was to build a new park at the current Oakland Coliseum location and build a baseball village around it. Now with Fisher owning half the Coliseum property and moving the team to Vegas it’s looking tougher to save the A’s.

#5 Fisher know he will increase the value of the team by moving it to Las Vegas and having the A’s play at the Tropicana on the strip. The only thing that will stop him now is if the MLB owners vote no. Otherwise any hope to keep the A’s in Oakland looks almost like no chance.

Join Daniel Dullum for the Oakland A’s relocation podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Warriors know Green is valuable, but at what cost?

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Draymond Green knows that he is a restricted free agent at the end of the season, and that he will have a few suitors, but the Golden State Warriors can match any offer sheet Green gets.

According to Yahoo! Sports/FOX Sports 1 NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski:

In a looming restricted free agency this summer, Golden State’s Draymond Green has a significant interest with pursuing an offer sheet with his hometown Detroit Pistons, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Green has loved playing with the Warriors and winning, and naturally Golden State is determined to find a way to retain him. Still, the Warriors’ salary structure almost dictates that Green has to go onto the market and get an offer sheet for them to match in July.

If the offer is too rich to match, the chance for Green to return to his beloved home state – where he grew up in Saginaw and played at Michigan State in East Lansing – has long intrigued him, sources said. Green still spends most of his time away from the NBA in Michigan.

Golden State knows that Green has been vital in the team’s NBA-best 42-9 record, averaging career-highs in points (11.1 ppg), rebounds (8.3 rpg), assists (3.6 apg), minutes (32 mpg), field goal percentage (43 percent), and three-point percentage (33 percent). There’s no way that the Warriors are going to let Green and his “do whatever the team needs me to do” attitude just walk out the door.

Green is a candidate for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award this year.

Many Warriors’ fans are pondering what will it cost to keep Green around but if you ask Green, he’ll tell you he’s not thinking about it.

“I know I am a free agent,” said Green via Sporting News. “Everyone knows it. But I can honestly say I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it.”

And why should he really think about it with Golden State in the midst of arguably the greatest season in team history. There’s no question that Green will get a hefty pay raise after completing his rookie his first NBA contract—three years, $2.5 million.

So how much is Golden State willing to pony up to keep the beloved Green?

According to CSN Bay Area Warriors’ Insider Monte Poole, if the Warriors do lockup Green long term to a deal, “worth at least $12 million but as much as $14 million wouldn’t represent a dive into the luxury tax. It represents the luxury tax dancing on the head of Warriors CEO Joe Lacob.”

In today’s NBA, you need to have quality players to win, and you need to pay those quality players when they have become important to the franchise’s long term success.

But will Lacob pay for Green’s breakout season and potential superstar for years to come?

Or will the Warriors fold if the asking price deems too rich for their blood?

 

 

 

 

 

Agnos ramps up anti SF arena support with grass roots campaign

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by Ken Gimblin

SAN FRANCISCO–Former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos who said that the Golden State Warriors new arena proposal for downtown San Francisco at piers 30-32 would be a real estate money grab and he is correct and in this world you really can’t criticize people for wanting to make money and you look at all the sports teams today and their in business to make money and I use sports teams as an example because most people root for a team passionately not realizing it’s a business.

So of course they want to make money like Warriors owners Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber, the question would be how much is the public going to have to contribute to make that money, that’s the big argument. They want to put that arena in that area that’s fine they want to foot the cost and they want tax payers to come in and supplement that. Agnos says that and also building on piers 30-32 is going to be a problem in terms of aesthetics and the environment, “they want the prettiest place in the city, I can’t blame them. But it’s the wrong site for a good team” said Agnos.

You can’t blame the Warriors for wanting that location and that’s a magnificent view looking onto the Bay and the bridge which the plan is to build a large window looking out onto the bay where basketball fans can see that wonderful view during the game. The development would come with two luxury hotel towers at least ten stories high, a 16 story luxury condominium complex across the Embarcadero, plus retail stores and a 500 space garage.

Agnos 70 who is campaigning to community groups at least two to three times a week is catching the attention of neighborhood groups around the city as the Warriors new arena proposal is the hottest San Francisco political issue. Agnos called the Warriors downtown arena the “perfect storm” for gridlock on the Embarcadero and that it’s being proposed by Warriors billionaire owners Lacob and Gruber who Agnos says don’t have the city’s best interest at heart but this is all about profit and affordable housing you can forget that.

“There’s no sense being in second, there’s no sense in doing something unless you’re going to do it right” said Lacob. The Warriors no doubt will be fronting their share of money for the build but there is little doubt that public tax payers funds would go into paying for the Warriors arena. The Sacramento Kings are using public funds for their new downtown arena set to break ground in downtown Sacramento next year the funds are reportedly coming out of the general fund and will be repaid with parking lot receipts and sales tax from tickets sold at Kings home games.

Warriors spokesman Nathan Ballard who is strategizing the project on the political side said “Art Agnos is a very smart guy and he knows that if the election were held tomorrow the Warriors would win it.” Agnos is running a grass roots campaign ran with a clipboard for notes and promises from the community that oppose the building at the waterfront they would support Agnos in stopping any kind of new development at piers 30-32. The proof is in the pudding after San Francisco propositions B and C lost in the October 2013 election last month to develop condominiums at the piers and the election wasn’t even close.

The San Francisco business community was out in full force behind the development effort with Mayor Ed Lee, former mayors Gavin Newsom and Willie Brown and the higher ups from the Chamber of Commerce. Although no one from that camp admits it Agnos played a huge part in getting the development proposal to get voted down and much can be said the same for the newest proposals for a new arena coming from the Warriors.

Ken Gimblin is covering the Warriors new arena proposal in San Francisco for Sportstalk Radio