As the Warriors made their run through the Finals to a fourth championship in eight years, it was hard for some not to think about the advantage they have in having ownership willing to spend consistently in the luxury tax to keep a title window open for that long.
Around the league, teams dodge the repeater tax regularly by dipping in and out, trying to reset the clock and avoid the kind of nine-figure tax bill that Warriors principle owner Joe Lacob had to front this year for a title-winning squad. For Lacob, it’s the cost of competing but that doesn’t mean he’s a fan of the current tax system in the NBA, which he recently called “very unfair” in an appearance with Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner on the Point Forward Podcast.
Unfortunately for Lacob, that became a big enough story for the league to take note and deem his comments to be in violation of NBA rules, which prohibit owners from publicly discussing league communications regarding collective bargaining. As such, the league has slapped Lacob with a $500,000 fine, which is kind of funny given he was complaining about how much he has to pay the NBA in tax and they just added half a million to his bill.
ESPN Sources: The NBA has fined Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob $500,000 for his recent comments on the Point Forward Podcast discussing the league’s collective bargaining talks, which included Lacob describing the league’s luxury tax system as “very unfair.”
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 21, 2022
Lacob probably won’t find the humor in it, but in the grand scheme of things, getting that all off his chest was probably worth the fine considering how much he’s already spending.
Source: https://uproxx.com/dimemag/joe-lacob-fined-luxury-tax-unfair-comments-500k/