Warriors owner Joe Lacob to Cleveland Cavaliers: 'We have unfinished business'
Joe Lacob, majority owner of the Golden State Warriors, took several digs at reigning NBA champions, the Cleveland Cavaliers, after his team punched a ticket to the 2017 NBA Finals on Monday. According to Lacob, the Warriors were the better team during last year's Finals and have "unfinished business" with LeBron James & Co.
During the 2016 NBA Finals, the Cavaliers made history by becoming the first team to rally back from a 3-1 deficit and win the championship. The Warriors and Cavs are on the brisk of making more history together as they meet for a third consecutive time in the NBA Finals starting June 1. Never before have two teams met in a hat-trick of a championship round.
After finishing off the San Antonio Spurs Monday, Lacob told The Mercury News in an interview that he would prefer the Cavaliers instead of the Boston Celtics in the finals. “Honestly, I don’t really care who we play (shoots a sly grin). Ok, maybe a slight preference for Cleveland. Only because I feel we have some unfinished business from last season."
Warriors owner: ‘We’re on a mission’
There's a strong belief within the league that the Cavaliers benefitted from Draymond Green's suspension for Game 5 of last year's Finals. When asked how much redemption Lacob felt, the Warriors owner said: “A lot. I kind of honestly feel that we’re on a mission. We’re not done. We got to go back and get some of what kind of feels taken from us last year. I’ll just leave it at that.”
To acquire Kevin Durant in last year's free agency, the Warriors had to give up the likes of Harrison Barnes, Marreese Speights, Leandro Barbosa, Andrew Bogut, Brandon Rush and Festus Ezeli. While many reckon last year's history-making 73-winning team was more balanced, Lacon is convinced the 2016-17 Warriors have taken it to a new level after the addition of Durant.
“I think it is (better than last year's team). Honestly. I think we’re better. It’s hard not to be better when you have a guy as good as Kevin Durant on your team. We were awful good last year. The one difference is Steph was hurt, as we all know. How much we can debate. But he was not what you see out there now. Then of course we had some other issues in the Finals. With Kevin, this is a very, very good team. The opposition is going to be good in the Finals. So not taking anything for granted.”
The 2017 NBA Finals gets underway on July 1. The Cavs have a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Boston Celtics.
