Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob's pockets got a little lighter Wednesday. The NBA issued a $500,000 fine following his recent comments about the league's luxury tax, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported.
In an appearance on the "Point Forward" podcast hosted by Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner, Lacob said that the luxury tax was a "very unfair system."
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According to Spotrac, the Warriors finished last season with the highest payroll in the NBA at $184 million, well clear of the $136.6 million luxury tax threshold. That created a $170.3 million luxury tax bill for 2021-22.
"The truth is, we're only $40 million more than the luxury tax. Now, that's not small but it's not a massive number. We're $200 million over in total because most of that is this incredible penal luxury tax. And what I consider to be unfair and I'm going to say it on this podcast and I hope it gets back to whoever is listening . . . and obviously it's self-serving for me to say this, but I think it's a very unfair system because our team is built by — all top eight players are all drafted by this team."
The NBA's luxury tax rules aim to limit the amount of talent teams can hoard, forcing owners to pay extra to keep large salaries on the books. The Warriors have been able to go over the cap to retain their roster with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green all drafted by the franchise, while Andrew Wiggins was acquired in a trade.
In 2020-21, the Warriors paid $69 million in luxury tax and are projected to pay $181 million in 2022-23.
After a fourth NBA championship in eight years, the Warriors have $148 million in salary committed to Curry, Thompson, Green and Wiggins alone next season.
