Wednesday, November 18, 2009

One Dysfunctional Organization

The Warriors are one of the most dysfunctional organizations in all of professional sports (along with the Raiders), and yet, the fans have apparently been guzzling kool-aid from the late Jim Jones, because they seemingly have no clue as to why this team has failed to make the playoffs in 15 of the last 16 years. It starts with Chris Cohan, it continues with Bobby Rowell and Don Nelson, who is in this merely for the money and for 21 more wins which would make him the winningest coach in NBA history (and close to being the losingest, as well), and who began this 16-year disaster when he couldn't get along with his rookie franchise player Chris Webber, and ignored passionate advice from Al Attles and Ed Gregoy, among others, and traded him. It continues with GM Larry Riley, who is merely Nelson's lapdog, along with Cohan. It's embarrassing, to say the least.

And yet, beginning with Webber, the Warriors fans haven't a clue. They blamed him for tearing apart the Warriors, when all he wanted was to be treated with a little respect and decorum, particularly publicly, when Nelson (in those days) loved to ride and ridicule his rookies, with rare exceptions. Cohan, who had just completed a hostile takeover of the franchise from Finanne and Fitzgerald, could not have come on board at a worse time, because Finnane&Fitzgerald, had they still been in power, would have told Nelson, "Get your ass in a room with Webber and work things out, or you're outta here!!" Instead, Cohan did whatever Nelson wanted, and the dye was cast.

Since then, the fans have dumped on Webber, with vitriol, they've dumped on Antawn Jamison (who never complained in the slightest), they've dumped on Gilbert Arenas (whom Cohan wouldn't pay), they've dumped on Baron Davis, whom Chris Mullin wanted to re-sign, and on January 29th they'll be sure to dump on Stephen Jackson, even though Jack is merely a symptom of a much deeper disease that permeates this franchise, and starts at the top. Soon, Monta Ellis will get traded, and then the fans will dump on him.

Collectively, these fans are the biggest morons of all. What they should do is stop buying tickets until Cohan sells, and until Nelson is gone, along with Rowell and Riley. Only then will the sad, embarrassing and disgraceful fortunes of this franchise start turning around.