WNBA All-Stars intrigued by what Valkyries' Joe Lacob will bring to the league

“First press conference with the Warriors, I said we will win a championship in the first five years. I’m telling you right now, we will win a WNBA championship in the first five years of this franchise,” Lacob said at an October 2023 news conference announcing the creation of the franchise with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

Lacob has invested in professional women’s basketball before, as the owner of the short-lived American Basketball League’s San Jose Lasers in the late 1990s. Given his public pronouncements, it should be expected he will spend to the cap — $1,463,200 in 2024, but undetermined for the years to come — on the Valkyries.

“He obviously understands what success is,” said Ionescu. “They’re in good hands over there. My experience with the (New York) Liberty having committed ownership, with the (Brooklyn) Nets ownership there, holding us to a really high standard because we see what the men get. I think that will hold true with Golden State as well because they understand the investment that’s needed.”

Tensions between the WNBA and some of its more ambitious owners have mounted as the league has surged in popularity, generating higher expectations. Some owners who have wanted to invest in their team’s success and well-being have even been penalized for their investments. The Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty drew the league’s ire and fines for chartering their own flights before the league implemented a charter program this season, and the Aces generated further irritation and an investigation in May when the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announced $100,000 payments for every player on the team.

The Aces are owned by Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis, who bought the team in 2021, and have won back-to-back WNBA titles. The Liberty, one of the WNBA’s other contenders in recent seasons, were bought by Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai in 2019. Those two have been widely considered the league’s owners most willing to invest in their teams. But they are not alone — the Phoenix Mercury debuted a $100 million practice facility this weekend after an offseason where they brought in stars Kahleah Copper and Natasha Cloud.





https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/wnba-all-stars-intrigued-valkyries-joe-lacob-19583016.php