Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob has been facing backlash for a scheduling conflict that forced Golden Stage Valkyries of the WNBA — which Lacob also owns — to play their first home playoff game at the SAP Center in San Jose rather than the Chase Center, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN.
The Valkyries clinched their first ever WNBA Playoff appearance last week, the first expansion team in WNBA history to do so.
From Sept. 19-21, the Chase Center will be hosting the Laver Cup tennis tournament instead of the Valkyries’ playoff game. As such, many Valkyries fans will have no choice but to travel to San Jose to see their favorite WNBA franchise’s first home playoff game as the Chase Center will need time to prepare for the event.
Due to this, Lacob has been taking plenty of heat for the scheduling conflict, with Warriors forward Draymond Green defending Lacob in a reply to a fan on Threads.
“Joe probably did everything he could to cancel that event at Chase,” Green said. “And is probably losing it on anyone who had something to do with that scheduling.”
Of course, while it’s not the infamous Oracle Arena, the Warriors have always had one of the best home-court advantages in sports, which has translated to the Chase Center since the team started playing there in 2019. That excitement has translated to the WNBA edition, as the Valkyries sold out all 22 of their home games this season.