Beginning with Franklin Mieuli's purchase of majority ownership of the Warriors and subsequent move to the Bay Area in 1962, the team's time locally, approaching 50 years, has been presided over by three ownership groups:

Mieuli's, the duo of Jim Fitzgerald and Dan Finnane, and Chris Cohan. All three have had markedly different levels of success - or failure, depending on how you look at it.

As longtime Warriors fans will remember, Mieuli's tenure was highlighted by an improbable sweep of the Washington Bullets in 1974-75 for their only NBA Championship in the Bay Area. Those Bullets were 60-22, a full 12 games better than Golden State's record of 48-34, yet the Warriors ran the table behind the play of Rick Barry, Jamaal Wilkes, Charles Johnson, Clifford Ray and so on.

Next year the Warriors went 59-23, their best record since the club was formed, losing in the Western Conference Finals. Even before that, led by Wilt Chamberlain, the team lost in the NBA Finals in their second year in the Bay Area. After trading Chamberlain and getting Barry not long afterward, they reached the NBA Finals again, losing once more.

Unfortunately, after that high-water mark in 75-76, the team dropped off and only finished above .500 in three of the last ten seasons Mieuli owned the club, missing the playoffs the last nine. While that tarnished Mieuli's overall record as an owner, the Warriors played their best, most consistently winning years in the Bay Area between 66-67 and 77-78, finishing at .500 or better in eleven of twelve seasons.

Being born in 1977, I unfortunately have no first-hand memories of any of Mieuli's teams and given the way they finished under him, that may not be a bad thing. The good thing is he is still one of the team's most recognizable fans, always there center courtside in his trademark deerstalker hat.



Before the 1986-87 season, Mieuli sold the team to the ownership group of Jim Fitzgerald, who had previously owned the Milwaukee Bucks, and Dan Finnane, who was also part of that organization.

They brought in George Karl, who coached a club led by Sleepy Floyd, Joe Barry Carroll, Purvis Short and a second-year player by the name of Chris Mullin to a first round upset of the Utah Jazz before falling to the Los Angeles Lakers. The lone game they won in that series was the famous "Sleepy Floyd is Superman" game in which he put up 29 points in the fourth quarter, 39 in the second half and 51 for the entire game. As promising as things looked after that season, the team fell apart en route to a 20-62 year that included Karl resigning. This was when I became aware of the Warriors, when I became a fan.

Fitzgerald and Finnane had also lured Don Nelson away from the Bucks to be the Executive Vice President. He'd come off seven consecutive seasons in Milwaukee over .600 before taking a year off from coaching, then he took over as head coach in 1988-89 following Karl's departure and Ed Gregory's interim period the year before. Beginning in 1989-90 behind Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Mullin, dubbed "Run TMC," the Warriors played a fast-paced, high-scoring style of basketball that led to four playoff appearances in Nelson's six full seasons, including first round upsets of both the Jazz and San Antonio Spurs.

The 1993-94 season also saw the emergence of star rookie Chris Webber and Latrell Sprewell's second year, though things would turn very sour, very quickly afterward. During the time Fitzgerald and Finnane ran the Warriors, they finished above .500 five times, making the playoffs each time.



Once the founder of Sonic Communications, Chris Cohan joined the Warriors with a 25% interest in the team in 1991. In 1995, he won a lawsuit and full control of the team. The Warriors haven't been the same since.

Coming off the 50-32 season that was Webber's first with the team, a rift opened up between Nelson, Webber and Sprewell. Cohan sided with Nelson and Webber was traded to Washington. By the end of the 1994-95 season Nelson himself was gone, replaced with Bob Lanier. The Warriors finished 26-56.

Rick Adelman coached the team for two years, the second of which was played in San Jose while the Coliseum Arena was remade inside, increasing the capacity from around 15,000 to about 19,500. Adelman's time led to an unimpressive 66-98 mark.

With the arrival of P.J. Carlisemo, things took a turn for the worse. There was the very public choking incident with Sprewell, who was gone not long afterward. Carlisemo followed as the Warriors went through a rotating carousel of head coaches that included Garry St. Jean, Dave Cowens and Brian Winters. In four out of five seasons between 1997-98 and 2001-02, the Warriors finished with an average record of 19-63, interrupted only by a 21-29 season that was lockout-shortened. In the midst of all this, the Warriors hosted the 2000 All-Star Game. The two biggest memories from that are probably Vince Carter's performance in the Slam Dunk Contest and Chris Cohan getting booed in his own arena.

St. Jean and Dave Twardzik served as General Managers during this time and their runs were filled with poor coaching hires and draft mistakes along with bad trades and free agent signings.

Eric Musselman coached a couple seasons in Golden State and while their record was better than the previous low points, the team was still more bad than good. They'd risen up to mediocrity instead of simply being pathetic. At least they had a few promising players that included Antawn Jamison, Jason Richardson and Gilbert Arenas, though Arenas would sign with Washington after his second season. Musselman wore out his welcome and the Warriors tried Stanford coach Mike Montgomery. That didn't work either.

Along the way Chris Mullin returned to the franchise, first as a player in the last year of his career after three years in Indiana, then as Executive VP of Basketball Operations, succeeding St. Jean. On one hand, he had to deal with some of the leftovers from St. Jean's time, particularly in some poor contracts the team was stuck with. Mullin made some mistakes of his own but began to show an indication that he had an idea of how to improve the team. He traded for Baron Davis. Montgomery was shown the door and Mullin was instrumental in getting Don Nelson to return beginning in 2006-07.

During that season, the Warriors pulled off a trade with Indiana, unloading the disappointing Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy along with failed draft pick Ike Diogu in exchange for Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington. That would soon turn out to be the catalyst for a late-season run that propelled the team to their first winning season and playoff appearance since Webber's rookie year in 93-94. This time, the "We Believe" mantra helped carry the team to a stunning upset of top-seed Dallas, Nelson's former team. It was also the first time the 8th seed beat the 1st seed in a 7-game series.

Then the Warriors traded Jason Richardson without significantly improving the roster. Last year the Warriors finished with a better record by six games, aided by the emergence of Monta Ellis, but their inconsistent play and a stronger Western Conference led to them being on the outside looking in come playoff time in spite of finishing 48-34.

Most Warriors fans know the recent history of the team. Baron Davis opted out. Monta Ellis seriously injured himself in a moped accident. The front office, in a frantic attempt to do something, offered contracts to Elton Brand and Gilbert Arenas only to be stuck overpaying for Corey Maggette. Questions began to surface as to who was specifically responsible for what happened. Was it Mullin, who seems to have been phased out of power? Was it team President Robert Rowell, who after years in the background finally decided to thrust himself in the spotlight to ensure "salary protection" and the marketability of the "product?" Was it Don Nelson, who appears to be falling into the same patterns he did before the end of his first stay with the club?

In the end, does it really matter? What is easy to lose sight of is one constant throughout all of this: Chris Cohan. Though he sold 20% of the team to a quartet of Silicon Valley investors in 2005, he is still the man at the top. He's been in trouble for tax evasion and he's presided over the darkest days for the Warriors in the Bay Area and after two promising seasons the team looks like it's heading back there again unless they can somehow prove they've learned from their past mistakes.

The fact they're being made again, so far, indicates the answer to that is no. Right now, it looks like the only hope the team has is a buyout of Cohan, whose real legacy rests mainly in adding about 4,500 seats to the arena and changing to a uniform that is almost universally hated. Rather than winning, Cohan's focus is on how much money he can make and how many Season Ticket Holders he can retain. Nelson was extended probably more to get him the mark for most coaching victories than anything else and skim off the public relations boost from it, marking this the second time he's taking Cohan for a ride. Meanwhile, Rowell extended Stephen Jackson and allowed Maggette to be signed in the first place.

The Warriors have already been blessed with a very loyal fanbase, even in the worst years of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Giving them just a small taste of the old excitement locked them in again, but how long will it be before they decide enough is enough and stay away until the team has a fourth primary owner?



One of the goals of this summary is to show just how the team has performed under each ownership group. The cutoff between Mieuli and Fitzgerald/Finnane appears to be clear, but it's a little murkier crossing over to Cohan. He became the sole owner in 1995, during the first year of the team's decline, so I'm giving him credit for that. It's not like he needs it one way or the other.



While Mieuli's time brought the Warriors their best, most sustained levels of success and quality play, the majority of his last decade was filled with mediocre teams. Fitzgerald and Finnane actually hold the best overall winning percentage if only because Cohan gained control around the time things fell apart. I think it can easily be said that he had a very direct role in much of that. Breaking it down, we have:

Mieuli: 933-1026 (.476)
Fitzgerald: 325-331 (.495)
Cohan: 430-716 (.375)



With all that said, is there any question Chris Cohan must go? Is there any doubt the Warriors will never amount to anything as long as he's in control? Whatever went on with General Managers, head coaches, players and so on, at what point is the finger of blame pointed squarely in the direction of the man at the helm? When is Cohan forced to accept the full measure of blame for what has happened to this franchise under his watch?

For this Warriors fan, that time can't come soon enough. It's amazing it hasn't happened already.

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