Originally posted Mar 23, 2010 8:14 PM PDT
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UPDATE 3/25 9:35am: Also make sure to check out: Polling GSoM: Who do you want to be the next owner of the Golden State Warriors?- Larry Ellison, Mark Mastrov, Group from China, Ice Cube
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Have you heard the good word? Chris Cohan aka the worst owner in all of professional sports is officially selling the Golden State Warriors! The sale in all likelihood won't be completed by this upcoming July as our friend Tim Kawakami has written, so there will be plenty of time to investigate and project what hoops will be like in the Bay with all of the potential suitors.
The Bay Bridge is on sale?
In the meantime it's time to take a look back at the dumb and dumber of the Cohan era. We cried and know it's time to laugh!
You know the drill- JUMP!
If your 20 year old franchise cornerstone and once-in-a-generation talent wakes up one day and doesn't want to play for his coach (even if he's a hoops legend) what do you do?
You fire your coach.
No questions asked.
Ooops.
So what did Cohan do? He picked the coach over the young superstar and then shortly after dumped the coach too.
Does that make any sense?
Well at least the story had a (somewhat) happy ending.
Digging in the archives:
Now Rick Adelman has proven to be a fantastic coach in this league and I'd rate Eric Musselman as a potential coaching gem if he just knew when to give up the keys to his ride, but the rest? Good lord.
The saga of the Warriors coaches between Nellie's downfall in 1994 and Nellie's triumphant return in 2006:
Nellie agrees. Cohan really screwed up the coaching hires between his 2 acts of coaching the Dubs.
[pic via imgs.sfgate.com]
Oh man these were awful.
WARNING: The following article is known to cause severe emotional pain to anyone who cares about the Warriors-- Golden State Warriors 1st Round Draft History and Just My Imagination
So here's how THE PERFECT WARRIORS 1st Round NBA DRAFT HISTORY over the Cohan years would look:
- 1994: Wesley Person
- 1995: Kevin Garnett
- 1996: Kobe Bryant
- 1997: Tracy McGrady
- 1998: Dirk Nowitzki
- 1999: Andrei Kirilenko
- 2001: Gilbert Arenas and Tony Parker
- 2002: Amare Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer
- 2003: David West
- 2004: Josh Smith
- 2005: Danny Granger
- 2006: Rajon Rondo
- 2007: Joakim Noah and Ramon Sessions
It didn't quite look like that, now did it?
The rumors about Cohan's IRS and other financial troubles have only surfaced in the past 2-3 years, but I have a feeling they date back to 1997. I mean why else would he hire a 6 year old to design the Warriors' Thunderbolt era jerseys?
The Warriors went from this:
Definitely HOT.
to this:
U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi- you're UGLY!
(We're just talking about the jerseys here, not the players.)
Check out these jersey illustrations via Chris Creamer for more specifics:
By all accounts GSJ is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Maybe lawsuit Cohan (see The man who owns the Warriors / Cohan's rocky reign / An era marked by lost games, lost fans and endless litigation [SFGate]) actually had a soft spot in his heart and just couldn't fire him. Too bad SEVEN years went by.
Jerry Krause: "Jesus Gary! You're here in Secaucus AGAIN?!"
[pic via sportsmed.starwave.com]
I'd rate this as being the biggest joke move of Cohan's entire ownership.
How does this even happen?
Who hands a top executive position of a $300+ million dollar operation to someone this unqualified both in academic training and professional experience?
Did Rowell have some "unflattering" pictures that Cohan didn't want released?
Kawakami has documented some of the disasterous consequences of this dumb, dumb, dumb promotion in Robert Rowell's 25 fire-able offenses as Warriors colossus
Check out this press release from 2003: Warriors Promote Robert Rowell To Team President
It hasn't been a great time out with R-double.
[pic via www.nba.com]
Post-Antawn Jamison and post-Gilbert Arenas the Warriors were one of the least talented teams in the association. They needed some buzz and a way to excite the fanbase about a pretty boring product that was going absolutely nowhere.
So Cohan does the natural thing and promotes previous GM Gary St. Jean's "protege" Chris Mullin who is a beloved member of the first era of Nellieball in the Bay Area, fondly termed RUN TMC (read: cheap publicity stunt). At the time of the hiring Mullin was about the least qualified man for a front office gig. He had no worthy relevant experience in a scouting or management role unless you count that "training" under St. Jean as a good thing, which I'd count as 3 strikes.
That was mistake #1. Mistake #2 was giving him a blank checkbook so he could sign some of the worst free agent signings in the current era of free agency with Adonal Foyle ($42 million over 6 years) and Derek Fisher ($37 million over 6 years). The ill-timed extensions for Mike Dunleavy ($44 million over 5 years) and Troy Murphy ($60 million over 6 years) were equally laughable.
$79 million reasons to smile.
[pic via i.a.cnn.net]
From the vault:
For those of you who want to perpetuate the myth that Mullin was improving as a GM post-WE BELIEVE, well we'll break that one down soon too.
The death of the WE BELIEVE movement is probably the most painful part of this list. After 12 years of missing the playoffs in a league where over half of the teams qualify for the postseason, Cohan's Warriors finally, finally make the Western Conference Elite 8 in 2007 on the last day of the regular season with a product that is universally recognized across the league as wildly entertaining (not counting Dallas Mavericks fans).
WE BELIEVE was about the fans, Nellieball, and the players. All 3 groups were/ are absolutely insane. It was a perfect match.
We're all pretty insane here in Dubs Land- and that's something to be proud of!
So what do Cohan and crew do?
They make one cheap move after another beginning with the Jason Richardson trade for a raw and undersized power forward prospect who they never a) brought in for a pre-draft workout or b) seemed to really want (to this day in fact). Meanwhile, this was all being done under the guise of some "brilliant master plan" to build around the "unlimited potential" of two good, but deeply flawed players Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins.
Cohan's specialty.
Chris Mullin "didn't seem to think it was a big deal" which was just dumb, but even dumber was Cohan and Rowell dragging it out indefinitely. They had every right to suspend Monta Ellis for his summer of foolishness right after inking that $66 million contract and being handed the keys to the franchise. They had every right to void the deal. But by not acting decisively (in general), they dragged this out unnecessarily. In the process there was infinite confusion, rumors, and even more tainted reputations. There were no winners in Moped Gate. Well at least it provided some good jokes.
A Link Back:
A sad day indeed: Warriors Fire Thunder
This was probably the most egregious of the dumbest moves. You could blame this one on Clay Bennet and his band of Seatle SuperSonics hijackers, but seriously why didn't Cohan and the Warriors have some spine here? How do you let an "expansion franchise" (more like stolen team) jack your mascot and use it as their team name? Does that make any sense?
HAVE SOME PRIDE.
Thunder to the rescue!
Poor Thunder. He was always a standup guy in all our GSoM interactions with him. Thunder always changed the topic of conversation when I asked him for workout tips (I think he "partied" a little too much with Bay Area baseball legends Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, and Barry Bonds if you know what I mean), but I'm not going to hold that against him one bit.
Message to future GSW owner: Please bring Thunder back!
Can you dig it?
**********
There's countless dumb moves during Cohan's tenure at the top of the Dubs, but what you've just read is a really, really, really dumb 10. I'm sure the brilliant GSoM community can add to the documentation of the dysfunction-junction in comments, so I'll pass the mic to you all to continue to dig up The Suck...
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison trying to buy NBA franchise Golden State Warriors
5 recs | 60 comments
Hopefully this is the last of the "Forgotten Era"
R.I.P 1994-2010, I don’t want to watch that type of basketball management and operations ever again in the Bay Area. (Except the WE BELIEVE 2 year run but that also didn’t end well)
Maybe Ellison buys the team, maybe he won’t but I guess we can begin to feel good about the future and put the lottery balls behind us.
Scooter Ellis - March 23, 2010
1994 - 2010
16 friggin years is way too long.
yobo - March 24, 2010
Thunder?
Warrior fans don’t need a cartoon character. Best fans in the NBA don’t need gimmicks like that. Good riddens.
Bob - March 23, 2010
Is there an "all of the above" option for the poll?
JustSomeName - March 23, 2010
+1
bonbrillio - March 24, 2010
To touch on Draft Picks
When I hear people listing the “perfect group of 1st round draft picks for the warriors in the past years”, it’s ridiculous because drafting anyone of those players would have put us in a completely different draft position for the following years, so saying that we would’ve drafted all those players is absurd. Maybe we may have drafted two of those players, but having two potential all stars would’ve (hypothetically) put us in the playoffs and out of the lottery the following years and changed up the complete make up of the roster. Now, I’m not defending the Cohan/Rowell years in any way, shape, or form and I know it’s completely their faults that they botched all those draft picks, but if they got one or two of them right, it would’ve changed the entire outcome of the past decade and in this hypothetical situation, we could actually be sad that Cohan is selling the team…
JustSomeName - March 23, 2010
Saying we could have had ...
all those players in the draft may be ridiculous but thinking about the fact that we could have had anyone of those players and we stuck out each and every time is really the absurd thing.
SFDog - March 23, 2010
+1
It really is sad seeing how we messed up 1st round draft picks year after year after year after year…
JustSomeName - March 23, 2010
And how many other teams that picked before us and after us also struck out on almost all of those players...
freerandolph - March 24, 2010
To add to this: there was also no guarantee that drafting any of the listed players (besides Gilbert Arenas) would give us the same players we know and worship today. Cohan’s Curse could very well have ruined all of their careers (again, besides Gilbert Arenas who pretty much ruined his own career anyway). Kobe could have ended up being a scrub rotting at the end of the bench instead of blossoming in LA after a trade from Charlotte. Kevin Garnett could have busted an ankle while intensely riding a… bicycle. Dirk might not have developed a free throw stroke, much less a jump shot. Amare might have actually scratched out an eyeball and Granger might have had all his teeth knocked out. I could go on…
WYK - March 23, 2010
Kobe could have gone to Italy
like he reportedly threatened the Nets with.
Reverend_Randy - March 24, 2010
Ya its not that we could have had all of them
Its that we drafted terrible terrible choices most years when there were better choices available. Hind sight is 20-20 though. I just hope we don’t screw up this year because we’re going to get a nice pick.
won't stop - March 23, 2010
I'd have to say all of them...
but killing “We Believe” was worst.
Cpt. Jack in the Box - March 23, 2010
Yeah killing "We Believe" sucked
BUT, you have to remember it was in an attempt to net us KG. Now yeah it was a failed attempt, but you have to admit, if that trade worked and we DID land KG we wouldn’t be complaining so much right now.
Mdizzle138 - March 23, 2010
The KG deal was on the table
but Cohan and Rowell refused to entangle themselves with some bad contracts, as well as the luxury tax.
golden_solitude - March 23, 2010
Cohan and Rowell refused to entangle themselves with some bad contracts
Yes, signing Maggette and extending Jack were DEFINITELY not bad contracts. The more I think about it, the more I cannot WAIT for Cohan to sell, we’ve reached rock bottom, in fact, we hit it years ago, so there’s nowhere to go but up!
JustSomeName - March 23, 2010
We do not know what really happened. It’s convenient to say that Garnett was as good as ours save for Cohan and Rowell. Reality may be something entirely different. Here is some reality: the T-wolves made a deal where they got back most of Garnett’s salary in expiring contracts. We did not have those expiring contracts to offer. If MIN wanted expiring deals (and there’s indication that they did) then Boston plainly had a better offer than we could have hoped to make.
jae - March 24, 2010
UT, you have to remember it was in an attempt to net us KG
Come on Cohan, get outta here.
Skeptic con Urquell - March 23, 2010
A failed attempt...
in conclusion,Cohan and Rowell are cheap hot dogs.
Cpt. Jack in the Box - March 23, 2010
Trading for KG wouldn't have killed "We Believe"
…like Atma said “We believe” was killed by systematically getting rid of every contributing player for young ‘potential’ and less salary. Trading for Garnett would be opposite of that.
Maybe they were right to move JRich’s bad contract, but they could have just as easily traded Stephen “known cancer” Jackson. Considering this is the franchise who had Latrell Sprewell, you’d think they’d know the dangers of a loose cannon.
tafkasam - March 24, 2010
Really? Tell me would a team of B.Davis,J-Rich,Al Harrington,S-Jax and maybe
Biedrins(where would we find the money since Cohan won’t pay luxury tax?) – Monta(no money) make the playoffs? And don’t forget we would not have Curry now.
buky - March 24, 2010
Thunder to the rescue!
Man, that Thunder comic cover is my all time Tony.psd work of art.
Skeptic con Urquell - March 23, 2010
Once Cohan sells officially, hopefully the team can revert back to their old color scheme..
so we can just pretend the Cohan thunderbolt era never existed..
golden_solitude - March 23, 2010
Either way
Arn’t we going to a sort of mixed retro/modern look to our Jersey’s next year? So he at least got that right….
Badly Browned - March 23, 2010
Arn’t we going to a sort of mixed retro/modern look to our Jersey’s next year?
Here’s how he dresses his sailing team so looks like the dubs might be sporting a Devo like attire?
http://bmworacleracing.com/en/index.html?track.refer=
Skeptic con Urquell - March 23, 2010
lol
But seriously, I remember reading about going back to the blue and gold next year…..
Badly Browned - March 23, 2010
Too many teams rep blue already: Orlando,O.K. City, Memphis, Denver, Dallas, Clippers, Utah, N.Y. . . . How about something original? My idea: Gold (since we Golden State) and black. Not like the Wizards tried to do and epically failed at. And enough with the stripe down the side of the jersey.
ChronicMasticator - March 23, 2010
Eh
black jerseys are pretty lame.
Reverend_Randy - March 24, 2010
Totally agreed.
The Suns’ “stripe” down the side of the jersey may be the single ugliest element among current NBA unis. I use quotes, since it’s more like a swath, or field, than a stripe. Indeed, it’s so wide it makes the front of the uniform look like a stripe.
Sleepy Freud - March 24, 2010
Not all jersey sidestripes are created equally. While the Suns’ jerseys are heinous, there are a few teams that have executed their jersey striping pretty well:
ivanbe - March 24, 2010
So hard to chose which was the worst
Guess I went with killing We Believe, as I think it really shows just show inept our FO was at building on success.
Should we try to come up with top 10 best decisions, just to laugh at how sad it is? lol….
Badly Browned - March 23, 2010
haha
@unstoppablebaby: What was dumbest move? 16 Years of Cohan Owning Warriors
gswscribe :Showing up at All-Star 2000!
Badly Browned - March 23, 2010
I'm definitely in the minority here
I don’t think We Believe was built to last. I’m thankful that the Clippers committed franchise suicide with the Baron Davis signing — he is absolutely finished as a player. JRich I thought was eminently replaceable, and he was, by Monta, KA, Maggette and now Williams. Plus moving him gave the franchise room to sign Biedrins and Monta.
I voted for botching the coaching hires. Seriously, looking down that list, you couldn’t have done worse if you tried.
Great post Atma! +1
Feltbot - March 24, 2010
I voted Rowell
because I feel the same about We Believe.
Reverend_Randy - March 24, 2010
We Believe was not built to last, and that’s the point. It was lightning in a bottle, something that had, at most, a 2-3 year shelf life. The “botching” that took place was failing to capitalize on it by netting a major contributor via the JRICH trade (Artest, G. Wallace, etc) while simultaneously failing to just blow the whole thing up via the Jack extension. They wanted it both ways so they could continue selling tickets, and of course we ended up here.
Supafishal - March 24, 2010
*1 this wasn't "We Believe" team but more like "We Hope" team
There is no way we would make it to the playoffs with that team and competing for 9/10 spot every year is just not the right path. That team was a bunch of SG,SF with no legitimate big and thus no hope of making anything in the long run. Harrington is not good, Baron probably in top three overpaid players, Richardson is ok but still way overpaid. And don’t forget we wouldn’t have Curry now.
buky - March 24, 2010
It probably wasn't
But what did they do when they had their first success in a decade? They completely tore it down and absolutely failed making up for tearing it down.
I did vote for We Believe, but CWebb hurts just as much. I think both those moves best show just how inept the FO was/is.
Badly Browned - March 24, 2010
Actually, now that I look at it, I would change my vote to screwing up the draft picks. As bad as the coaches were, no one could have coached that mess.
Feltbot - March 24, 2010
Warriors Uni's
so I’m a Laker fan for 50 years but used to love the battles between the two teams… Al Attles rick Barry etc…. go back to the San Francisco Warriors…. and go back to the yellow jerseys with the City as the centerpiece… circa 1968,,,, take pride in the past…. maybe you will make the playoffs at least lol
kalicat419 - March 24, 2010
Luck the Fakers!
JustSomeName - March 24, 2010
I miss Thunder :(
Richboievans - March 24, 2010
Worst move has got to be getting rid of Webber. Gave up 3 first round picks to get him and then didn’t keep him? Thats when the bolder started rolling down hill.
qin - March 24, 2010
this
I think GSoM is showing it’s age w/the +voting of We Believe. That team was not built to last, as supafishal says above me
GameSix - March 25, 2010
Here we have it folks, the #1 Bonehead Dumbest move of the last 16 years..
The Drum roll please ***************************
The day that Chris Cohan took control of the team:
Why you ask? Because it was at the very moment what CWEBB was going to make his decision to stay with the W’s…Ron Silver was visiting him at the time and said he was about ready to forgo his opting out when (Dumb) Chris Cohan pulled the biggest dumbe..s move of his tenor, he demanded ownership right before CWEBB was to agree, and in his hostile takeover his first descision was to give Don the (Dumber) Nelson Carte blanche….That’s why Don and CWEBB never met for their infamous 5 min to patch things up…..Don made a statement to the media at that time and said in effect….“That the nuts were not going to run the asylum” which meant he was not giving in to CWEBB…the rest is history,,,,16 years of “Misery”…you think James Cann had it bad !! Ha!!! Annie Wilkes was lightweight compared to our own Chris the miss Cohan..
Cryptic - March 24, 2010
C-Webb still has me pissed off
ejdacanay - March 24, 2010
Truth is that was all Cohan’s fault, he demanded control of the team before they had finished with CWEBB, and the first thing he did was told Nelson he would stand behind Don’s decision, and Nelson let his ego get in the way and it was all downhill from there…the whole team disintegrated and was decimated…then sentenced to 14 years of hell…
Cohan has been paying the price every since, he got power hungry and he was clueless when it came to the severity of the issue..Don has to carry a great deal of the blame because he knew better than to let CWEBB go..
It seems fitting that there all back in bed together as everything goes down in flames…the selling of the team and the firing of Nelson could bring closure for the fans…
It’s nothing short of poetic justice…
Cryptic - March 24, 2010
It wouldn’t be an Atma post without a dig at Chris Mullin.
AndOnTheDrums... - March 24, 2010
Who do you think voted “Promoting Chris Mullin to VP and giving him a blank checkbook”.
qin - March 24, 2010
…and Andris Biedrins
UncleCliffy - March 24, 2010
Best ticket renewal scam ever!
Nuck Chorris - March 24, 2010
+1 ++++++++++
This thought crossed my mind last night and I wondered…. “What if….. this suddenly becomes a phantom sale, just on the hope to retain more season ticket holders (who would surely leave this summer after this latest abortion of a season)…then suddenly say…‘terribly sorry… no one was willing to pay the price we wanted…so we are staying’…nasty as it may seem…it might just happen…..”
In which case…Cohan is laughing his a$$ off right now at all the free publicity and the extra revenue guaranteed by those stupid enough to renew now, rather than wait till August…
I truly hope this is not the case…. but something is niggling me that if he had truly wanted to sell, then surely he would have sold to Ellison when Ellison was interested… now ‘suddenly’ he wants to sell???? If anything this seriously hurts his negotiating position with Ellison who may have paid $400m before….now if he knows Cohan wants and maybe ‘needs’ to sell, then Ellison’s price surely drops by at least $100m….
So there is certainly evidence that for the small cost of the ‘placement’ firm hired, he may actually get a great deal more revenue guaranteed now, that he may not have had a hope in hell securing, due to this terrible season…..
So let’s not all get too excited….. the truly unthinkable…might just become true nightmare reality!!!
BritWarriorGSW - March 24, 2010
The firm he brought on to manage the sale would have to be in on it, which would totally destroy their credibility. Ain’t happening. On a side note, what about Chris Cohan’s leadership over the past 16 years makes you think he is anywhere near this cunning?
Supafishal - March 24, 2010
That scam would work for ONE season
He knows if he doesn’t sell and fans realize that it was just a scam, the arena would be even MORE empty after next season. I mean, do you really think Cohan would cash in on the hatred he gets from the Bay? Wait, nevermind, don’t answer that…
JustSomeName - March 25, 2010
Plus
That GSP firm ain’t working for free. Regardless of whether or not a sale goes through, they’re STILL getting paid, so there’s absolutely no reason for him to hire them as a ticket renewal scam. At worse, it just takes longer for the deal to go through until Cohan gets his price met, but this team WILL get sold, hopefully sooner rather than later…
JustSomeName - March 25, 2010
Naive my friend...
If Steph Curry is as good as some (including myself) think he will be, then two years time may be a VERY good time in Warrorland…when selling season tickets will be a breeze… hence why yes, I can see every reason why he needs to boost now, even if it is just a one year kicker…
With regards to the hiring of the firm to handle the sale…. Do you personally know what deal they are on? Do you know how much it might be to retain them? The firm can do everything right… and provide a number of potential buyers…but if Chris Cohan says they are not giving him the price he wants… then Chris Cohan does not have to sell… Maybe they are on a small retainer with a large percentage share on sale price contract?…in which case…he loses very little on their fee’s and gains a great deal with a full arena…
and finally…yes…a guy that has made the sheer amount of money that Chris Cohan has, ismost definitely ‘cunning’ enough to pull this off…
BritWarriorGSW - March 25, 2010
The backlash he'd get for announcing the sale and not actually selling
Getting all these fans’ hopes up and then shutting them down, it would be a huge detriment to this franchise. I know after that, I would NEVER, EVER go to another Warriors game ever again until he actually sells, I will always support them and watch games on TV, but I, like many others will never go to another home game and will never give Chris Cohan access to my disposable income ever again. And besides, if Cohan/Rowell were to stay at the helm and Curry would turn into an all-star, they would find a way to screw it up and he’d be getting all star votes playing in another team’s jersey and we’d be stuck in mediocrity for another decade and a half.
I know being a Warriors fan for so long has made us all very pessimistic about the team, but reading that Cohan is finally selling is the GREATEST news us Warriors fans have gotten in a long, long time, enjoy it! I even adopted your signature after seeing your FanPost about the Glazer family and Manchester United. This is what we all as fans have been dreaming about, have been talking about for the past two or three years and it’s finally here! Cohan’s finally decided to sell! Enjoy these next months of rumors and speculation on who will be the buyer! This offseason may actually be the most exciting in a long time, not because of free agent signing or trades, but because Cohan is preparing to sell our beloved team!
JustSomeName - March 25, 2010
I don’t think Cohan would of hired this team if he thought he could of negotiated a deal with Ellison…
He will have to pay the sellers % of the sale which will be several million dollars before it’s over…so he has already figured that Ellison’s best offer would not be enough to pull the trigger..it also sends a message to Ellison that if he’s serious he needs to step up to the plate..
This is the most logical way for him get the best price for the team, he knows the offers will come in around 325-350 mil or better…the $310 that Ellison was a an opening low ball offer…so now the game is afoot…I think Ellison will get the team for around 350 Mil….that’s only a guess at best…
Cryptic - March 24, 2010
Hiring Chris Mullin is nowhere close to any of the moves on this list. It shouldn’t have even been included.
MDB - March 24, 2010
I GOT 2!
1. Letting Baron Davis go which kind of counts as “Killing We Believe”
and
2. Letting Cohan buy the team
gswLLBatman - March 24, 2010
How did he let himself buy the team?
More like, the worse move was his initial hostile takeover of the team in the first place.
JustSomeName - March 25, 2010
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