Tuesday, March 20th, 2012 at 9:00 am  |  76 responses

Video: Warriors Fans Boo Owner During Chris Mullin’s Jersey Retirement


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

During what was supposed to be a joyous occasion for Chris Mullin and the Golden State Warriors, an ugly and surreal scene developed last night in Oakland, with fans raining boos down on relatively new team owner Joe Lacob. They were angry with the ownership group for having traded away Monta Ellis, and seemingly having thrown in the towel for the rest of the season.

Chris Mullin and a very angry Rick Barry tried their best to reason with the crowd, but the boos would not stop whenever Lacob took the mic.

After the game, which the Warriors lost to the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves, Lacob and his employees gritted their way through the embarrassment, and tried to spin the whole fiasco in a positive light.

From the Mercury News:

“Obviously, probably has something to do with the recent trade and some of the fans being upset with that,” Lacob said after the game. “But I think that they will love us, the ownership group, that is, when we win. And we will win.”

“I’m not going to let a few boos get me down, and I don’t expect a few boos to get our team down,” Lacob said. “I think everybody has to stay tough, these are tough times, we’re going to go out there and we’re going to compete and we’re going to win. And that’s my job as an owner, too, we’re going to do everything we have to do. Not going to let a few boos stop us. I obviously think whoever was booing is incorrect in their assumptions, but we’ll just let time heal all wounds. Winning will solve all things.”

Right. Good luck with all of that.

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  • PnoyVibe

    As a Bucks fan, this is the best video ever

  • Shem

    How does Joe Lacob expect NOT to get booed. Are people aware of how many times this team has made the playoffs the last 2 decades?

  • respect

    @Flight, lmao thats exactly wat i was thinking

  • Just Sayin

    Wow, at least show some class for Mullins. There would be many more opportunities to boo the owner.

  • https://plus.google.com/photos/106403650426394352312/albums/posts davidR

    injury prone or not, bogut has missed a lot of games in the past. what’s to say that he’s suddenly going to play 75+ games a season?

  • http://averysmith.org Avery Smith

    You tell’em, Ricky, baby!

    “C’mon! He’s breakin’ his own bread! Show him some respect!”

    This was so WWE. I was waiting to hear, “FINALLY! THE RICK HAS COME BACK TO THE BAY!”

    Truthfully, though, if I had MJ on my team, and he was sending pics to one of my employees, I’d have traded him, too! How much faster, Mon-tuh Ellis?

  • https://plus.google.com/photos/106403650426394352312/albums/posts davidR

    and you know, back when the allstar game was in oakland, fans boo’d the previous owner chris cohan while he was with his son presenting an award to michael jordan?
    bay area fans.
    i was at the game. i’m not gonna say the booing was right or wrong. just that, lacob had to know it would be a strong possibility he would get booed. you can’t promise the playoffs, and a winning record, then go and trade away the best player and tank the season. especially not with the warriors’ history of losing for nearly 1.5 decades.

  • https://plus.google.com/photos/106403650426394352312/albums/posts davidR

    darksaber, i’m sure your wife had an interesting first game haha. hopefully she enjoyed the experience.

  • Brahsef

    Warriors fans do better or stay classy? Really? The organization that probably has the best fans in the league that continually support a team that sucks because managements incompetent. The warriors routinely trade away their best players and it never turns out. They’re venting their frustration, not many times do fans have the chance to boo the owner, so they took the chance.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    “This is a man that… I’ve spent some time talking to!” LMAO! That line is seriously internet meme-worthy.

  • http://kingakai.com Alpha-bet

    That’s messed up but I feel the GSW fans. Hey if players can get boo’d and ridiculed so can the owners. The fans money is part of tge owners salary too. That being said, they did really go in on the owner, and he just added more fuel to the fire by stoping and addressing it.

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    Stern handles boo’s way better than that dude.

  • http://www.nba.com VanCityBBall

    they should have tried to hold back the boo’s (even a little) for mullin’s sake… show some class for the man what beef u got with the owner(s) is you business, i know you are upset with the monta trade but c’mon now…

  • http://slamonline.com Chubachuchi

    That was too much boos c’mon its not like you guys had the chance to make the playoffs anyways.

  • https://plus.google.com/photos/106403650426394352312/albums/posts davidR

    chucachuchi, they definitely had a chance. they were only 3 games behind the 8th seed before the monta trade.

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    david, but then what? They were struggling to make the playoffs. This is an upgrade with the development of Klay Thompson they have a legit back court still. Honestly maybe better in the long run because of Klay’s size at the 2. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Wright, Lee, Bogut is a better squad imo.
    I know it’s tough to watch, but I do feel it truly was the best thing for the Warriors assuming Bogut comes back to where he was at.

  • Cool Dude

    LOL The warriors have the best fans of any team in the league. The arena is consistently sold out despite the team being terrible and making the playoffs once in 18 years. Don’t even talk about warrior fans.

  • iLL wiLL

    Ricky Barry. What a G.

  • DingoRob

    I really wanted to get behind GS due to the Bogut trade but this is a disgrace – reminds me of a senseless mob you see on The Simpsons and school yard bullying.

    I’m not sure why they’re doing it now, maybe there are some rules where they have to, it seems a strange time for this ceremony. I would have liked to see it when the team has settled a little with the recent changes – celebrate the past and the future at the same time.

    Congrats to Mullins, the forgotten story here.

  • MikeC.

    Why boo the guy who realized that sustained mediocrity shouldn’t be the status quo?
    Also, props to Mully.

  • DRinCA

    Longtime Bay Area resident here…the booing was more about the talks to move the team to SF than any trade. For Oakland folks, losing the A’s to San Jose would be like having your lady run off with one of the Geek Squad from Best Buy. But losing the Warriors to San Francisco would be like having her run off with your richer, better-looking brother that your mom always liked better than you. It’s too bad it had to happen when Mully was the guest of honor but that’s when Lacob made himself available. I wasn’t there Monday and I’ve never lived in the East Bay but I gotta give credit where it’s due and they’ve supported the Warriors well, whether or not they’ve deserved it. And now those same fans feel they deserve better than to be left high and dry. An understandable reaction even if it was the wrong time & place.

  • https://plus.google.com/photos/106403650426394352312/albums/posts davidR

    lakeshow, personally i feel taking the chance to see the team develop is better than taking a chance that:
    1) curry stays healthy
    2) bogut stays healthy
    3) we retain our top 7 pick
    4) we get our big man depth back
    especially when you consider we were only 3 games behind the 8th seed, with a new coach, no real center, lots of new faces, and an injured curry. i heard kaman was available for brandon rush + a 2nd round pick. if true, i would’ve definitely taken that trade.

  • dannyb

    I think the fans were right to boo him. How dare he trade Kwame Brown? BOOOO!!!!

  • OneStep

    GS have been going nowhere for years. The only way that changes is by making trades and who did they have, other than Ellis, that other teams would be interested in? Maybe GS fans enjoy mediocrity. Perhaps mediocrity is what you deserve when you choose to boo the ownership during a presentation to one of your greatest ever players.

  • Golakeshow

    The buck fans should be booing. They have Kwame Brown. Kwame Brown is the worst player in the NBA. Why would the bucks trade Bogut for that clown? Does the owner want Ellis to text him a dic pic or something? To quote stephen A smith he has small hands and can’t catch the ball. He has bad feet and cant move. He dosent know what he’s doing. He dosen’t have a post move that he can do twice. He also has no game whatsoever and plays no defense. Kwame brown is the dumbest man alive. Shout out to Dannyb

  • Mooney10

    They traded their best player for Stephen Jackson (soon to be retired) and Bogut(soon to be Oden). Curry has the weakest ankles ever and can’t play D, and there is no one else who can score, then you are throwing the towel in for the season and you want to move the team, I’d be furious if I was a fan in Oakland! I just feel bad for these markets who support their team whole heartedly and then ownership wnats more money so they say screw you guys, but honestly, how did this trade make them better, feel bad for Mark Jackson, good luck winning in the West now.

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