Private company, public face

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In Joe Lacob's time as Warriors owner, he's taken enough jabs at the media that you know it's not by accident. At last week's season-ticket holder event at Oracle Arena -- in front of 3,000 -- Lacob took a couple of more swipes.They're all good-natured, of course, but they've come so consistently there's got to be something there, right?Apparently, there is.After the event, Lacob said the media has, in fact, been a challenge. But he was also quick to term his frustration level with the media and "everything that's out there" only "minor." In March, it was reported that he had made an insensitive remark regarding the Warriors' season-ticket holders during the Sloan Analytics Conference in Boston.Lacob was said to have said something, in essence, like this: "Only season-ticket holders are real fans." Whether he said it or not is unclear, and even if he did he most certainly mis-spoke. But in this day's instantaneous news cycle, he paid the price.
He's also taken some media hits for looking very much like he'd like to move the Warriors to San Francisco as well as appearing quite self-assured about building a winner."I hire and fire people all the time," Lacob said recently. "I know how to analyze markets. I've been involved with the Celtics. The only thing you can't be prepared for coming into this role is the daily dealing with the media and how theyyou're a private company but you're really a public company."
It can't help but get easier. If nothing else, Lacob will get more used to it. One of the things he promised to Warriors fans after purchasing the team more than 14 months ago is to be more accessible. Previous owner Chris Cohan was seldom seen and he was heard even less.So Lacob has agreed to do plenty of interviews, answer questions on the team's website and even sit in the front row of Oracle Arena consistently. Put it this way, he's not hard to find."It's very different than any of the other business I deal with," said Lacob, who made his money as a venture capitalist. "This is very different. Honestly, it's the hardest thing. It really is."With all due respect, it isn't. Turning the Warriors into a winner will be much harder.

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