New Golden State Warriors Owner Plays Poker

New NBA franchise owner Joe Lacob sees similarities between his job and poker.

Along with his ownership partner Peter Guber, Joe Lacob bought the National Basketball Association’s Golden State Warriors last month for an NBA record price of $450 million. Lacob has been a minority owner in the Boston Celtics and a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, one of the most prestigious venture capital firms in the world – and he’s also been known to play a bit of poker in his time.

In an interview with Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury-News conducted right after the sale of the team, Lacob spilled the beans about his love of poker. He compared the skills necessary to be successful in venture capital or running a pro basketball franchise – constant analysis and assessment that take unknown factors into account – to the skills necessary to be a successful poker player. 

“I like poker,” Lacob told Kawakami. “I like the idea… of calculated risk. Doing my homework, and then you have to take a shot. You learn a lot in poker about people. Phil Hellmuth is a good friend of mine and you learn a lot about people when you play that game.”

“And by the way, venture capital, sort of similar. You’re making a calculated risk on whether you’re going to put your money on this company or put your money with this person. You have to be comfortable with unknowns. It’s easier actually in the NBA—there are more knowns than there are at a poker table.”

Owning a team in the NBA and playing poker are tied pretty closely together these days – Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss is a cash game regular and plays every year at the WSOP. Lacob himself might begin to get in the habit of playing at the WSOP, something he’s never done before (though he did come close to the money in the WPT Championship one year). He’d just better make sure not to skip any victory parades for the first few years if he wants to keep the rabid Golden State Warriors fan base happy.