Dan Gilbert: Setting an Example Warrior Fans Can Only Hope For July 9, 2010 Chris Cohan take note…or just hurry up and sell the damn team. Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, hovered his mouse cursor over the send button on an email for over 20 minutes while an anemic Jim Gray’s master marketing plan to sell LeBrand’s “Decision” unfolded like a rain-soaked love letter; smeared, lost, and now filled with despair. When the words “South Beach” instead of “Ohio Canal” came out, Dan Gilbert hammered down on the left mouse button as if he was Judge Judy slamming her gavel in an angry verdict over some guy not paying for his ex-girlfriend’s car payment, sending the now infamous post-decision Letter to his top assistant to post on the home page of the Cavaliers. While we can question Gilbert’s tact in ripping their former star, we can’t question his passion. His tirade reminded me of Ari Gold's paintball scene. On the other hand, Warrior fans can question everything about the soon-to-be-former-owner, Chris Cohan. Dan Gilbert achieved more in his open letter to fans than Chris Cohan ever did in his 16 years of coercion because Dan Gilbert understands the emotion of being a fan. I believe Chris Cohan means well, but so did Billy Mays. Another Gilbert, Gilbert Arenas, said in a 2003 interview on Bay Area sports radio KNBR-680 (unfortunately, I can’t find the clip) he would have signed back with the Warriors at a lesser salary than Washington’s if Chris Cohan simply would have looked in his eyes and said he wanted Arenas back on the team. But, alas, Chris Cohan and the Warriors, like Billy Mays, couldn’t be trusted. And when you have a despondent franchise like the Warriors, you get despondent players who want nothing to do with them. But for some reason, Warrior fans continue to flock to the games, imploring that everything has just been a dream, and this is what has kept Chris Cohan going. Just like the hope of world domination by Kim Jong Il. Chris Cohan never shows face yet leads a farce thinking everything is okay by having his minions run the circus. From time to time he gets lucky with players like Stephen Curry falling into his laps or that other teams such as the Milwaukee Bucks trading for Corey Maggette are willing to inherit his mistakes, but until such time the new owner steps into his shoes, every move that’s made by him (and the entire organization from front office to the players) will either be ridiculed or be christened as pure luck. He is disconnected from the fans and the players and only has the loser reputation he has molded to lean on. Wherever he ends up, let’s not hope he has the actual demise as Billy Mays, because although successful in his endeavors in making money, people will only remember him for the mistakes that lead him to the end.
