Golden State Warriors President Robert Rowell quits - A chance for the franchise to move forward: NBA
The Golden State Warriors have finally managed to get rid of Robert Rowell, the ex-general manager of the franchise. Rowell had been around for too long – 16 years, to be precise. During his entire tenure at the Golden State Warriors’ front office, Rowell was not very popular amongst the team or the coaching staff. Being Chris Cohan’s (the previous owner of the Warriors) right hand, he had a lot of freedom over decision makings and his influence brought great damage to the franchise.
Present-day CEO Joe Lacob and co-owner Peter Guber have different views, though and his resignation was on the cards. However, Rowell will stay for some time to assist the team administration during the transition period.
Robert Rowell had served, initially, as the assistant controller in 1995. He gradually advanced to the position of an executive and has been the Warriors president for the previous eight seasons. Rowell was bound to go since the new ownership wanted a change in the Warriors’ game flow. The move was hinted when Lacob announced he wished to rid of any connections of Cohan, both inside and outside the Oracle Arena.
In the pre Lacob-Guber era, Rowell and Cohan had formed a top level diarchy where one was always present to back-up the other in all rights and wrongs – mostly wrongs. Rowell would rip-off clients, players even, with Cohan’s approval. Chris Mullen, former Golden State Warriors general manager, once proposed a deal which would have landed the Warriors, the services of Kevin Garnett. Rowell was assistant manager then and he opposed the deal. Many other such incidents have restricted the franchise’ success rate over time.
Robert Rowell had been working as a true dictator. This trait became even more pronounced when he became the president. Early in his tenure, he overruled Mullen in deciding the punishment for Golden States Warriors star guard Monta Ellis and slapped him with a thirty-game long ban over reckless driving that resulted in a fractured ankle. He was seen even scolding the young talent. There was definitely an even more decrease in his popularity among the team and players. Rowell would have been more suitable commanding some army unit but was definitely not meant to rule an NBA franchise.
Lacob and Guber are showing they truly did mean it when they said they wanted to bring drastic changes to the franchise. The duo was determined to pave the road back to success for the Warriors and have initiated the execution.
Hence, as many see it, both Lacob and Guber have done the right thing by getting rid of Rowell.
Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in the article are the writer’s own personal views and has nothing to do with bettor.com’s editorial policy.
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