Warriors owner Joe Lacob catches a ton of heat for trading guard Monta Ellis. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Golden State Warriors fans are extremely passionate and very knowledgeable when it comes to pure basketball acumen, but their strong devotion to their beloved franchise took an ugly turn on Monday.
On a night the organization honored all-time great Chris Mullin by retiring his jersey No. 17, one of only six numbers hanging in the rafters at Oracle Arena, Warriors fans unleashed their anger on team owner Joe Lacob by viciously booing him throughout the ceremony after the team traded away superstar guard Monta Ellis to the Milwaukee Bucks last week. It got so bad that Mullin and Hall-of-Famer Rick Barry had to jump in and tried to diffuse the situation.
“Sometimes change is inevitable. It’s gonna work out just fine,” Mullin told the crowd while putting his arms around Lacob. “With your support and patience, and use that passionate in the right direction, this thing is going in the right way. I’ve got great confidence in Joe and [head coach] Mark Jackson. It’ll work out just fine.”
Barry then took the mic and voiced his displeasure. “Hey, one second here! C’mon people. You are the greatest fans in the world, show a little bit of class. This is a man [Lacob] I’ve spent some time talking to. He is going to change this franchise. This is crazy, seriously.”
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