Steve Kerr’s boss, Joe Lacob, has cracked open a window into his thinking on the Warriors’ slow start — just by tapping the “send” button on his iPhone.
Lacob shared his thoughts in an email reply to an angry fan after the Warriors dropped below .500 with Sunday’s 136-131 loss to Portland.
The fan’s message was a common one: The team needs to do more to help out Steph Curry. Lacob’s response?
“You can’t be as frustrated as me,” he wrote. “I am working on it. It’s complicated. Style of play. Coaches desires regarding players. League trends. Jimmy is not the problem.”
SF Gate was the first to report the email exchange (opens in new tab). The authenticity of Lacob’s email was verified by the Warriors.
3 days ago
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Friday, Dec. 5
Asked Tuesday about the owner’s email, which has gone viral, Kerr said it’s “not a big deal.”
“Not concerned about anything like that,” Kerr added.
Golden State started the season 4-1 with victories over a pair of Western Conference contenders, the Nuggets and the Lakers. The team has gone 9-13 since then. Injuries and inconsistent play have caused Kerr to constantly shuffle his rotation, and he recently removed Jonathan Kuminga from the mix altogether.
The latest defeat came despite Steph Curry pouring in 12 3-pointers en route to 48 points. That’s when Lacob had his email exchange with a fan.
“We’re all frustrated,” Kerr said. “Joe is frustrated, I’m frustrated, Steph and Dray. Everybody’s frustrated. This is kind of how the league works. I hate when people are going to post private emails, I mean, imagine if everybody’s emails were just publicly posted — how tough that would be to live our lives. So Joe supports me, 100%. I support him. We have a great connection. We’ve had so much continuity here, and our stable environment in our organization is one of our strengths.”
Kerr has been the Warriors’ head coach since 2014. He has helped the franchise to four NBA championships and two additional Finals trips. Before he took over for Mark Jackson, the Warriors hadn’t won a championship since 1975.
Lacob’s email is a footnote in the looming story of Kerr being in the last year of his contract. Kerr has said he’s comfortable being a lame-duck coach this year and doesn’t plan to negotiate an extension during the season. He’s the highest-paid head coach in the NBA and has expressed a desire to continue coaching but understands that there’s an expiration on any coaching job in sports.
“I’m lucky to be in this position where I can kind of determine my own course,” the head coach told The Standard’s Tim Kawakami in October. “I love that Mike and Joe [Lacob] are respecting that. I think it’s very healthy for everybody.”