Prior to this season, Golden State fined Monta Ellis an amount equal to 30 games’ salary after the newly acquired G injured his ankle under suspicious circumstances. Last October, Team President Robert Rowell pledged to the San Jose Mercury-News’ Time Kawakami the $3 million savings would be passed along to Warriors season ticket holders. Four months later, Kawakami muses, “it™s possible the Warriors have recently showered season-ticket-holders with love and discounts, though if they have, I haven™t heard about it.”
Surely Rowell COULDN™T have been misleading everybody last October, when he promised that the team would make sure that every bit of Ellis™ $3M fine would go towards benefiting STHs and the 2009-2010 renewals.
That™s not the Bobby Rowell I know! Hey, maybe there™s an incredible, shocking plan yet to be unveiled in which Rowell and Chris Cohan hand out money to their loyal customers, since, you know, they care so deeply about each and every STH.
I know what the Warriors are going to say: They reduced the renewal rate of a few sections and held back planned increases in other sections¦ Voila: $3M in savings for STHs!
But that™s a smokescreen, of course.
Barring further information from the Warriors, I think the $3M has already been ear-marked, and it™s not for Warriors ticket-buyers.
The Warriors are headed into the red. That™s my guess. Cohan needs his money. So do the minority investors. Yet¦
That™s going to be tough with $12M more due to Don Nelson after this season, and with four more years owed to Stephen Jackson, five more to Andris Biedrins, four more to Coregy Maggette, five more to Ellis if they don™t void¦
I dunno, can Rowell and Cohan void ALL OF THOSE DEALS this summer? Maybe they™ll try. And then I™m sure they™ll pass the savings right along to you, the paying customer. Whom they respect and revere.