![\"Joe](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-1403377521-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Kent Lacob\u2019s decision was settled. This was happening. But execution of his strategy, technically and emotionally, required telling his father. So he put himself on the calendar of the Golden State Warriors\u2019 CEO. This wasn\u2019t the kind of bomb to drop over dinner. This demanded its own slot.<\/p>\n
The anxiousness grew palpable as soon as Kent started the drive from Chase Center to his dad\u2019s house. He\u2019d made this trek so many times, it could feel monotonous, second nature enough for him to zone out in his Porsche Panamera and think about work as the Warriors\u2019 vice president of basketball development. But on this trip, he felt each thump of his heartbeat along the way.<\/p>\n
Highway 280 seemed to stretch ahead slowly for the 30-plus miles, elongating every curve. As the city\u2019s skyline disappeared into his rear view, swallowed up by his descent into the Peninsula\u2019s tree-lined wealth, the internal turbulence heightened. Every turn brought him closer to the man at the center of his world, the architect of the empire for which he is an heir. How would his father and boss respond to this play for independence?<\/p>\n
He arrived at his dad\u2019s home in Atherton, parked and went inside, like he\u2019s done countless times, heading straight to the home office, the place where blood and business mixed. His pops knew something was up. Why else would his son put himself on the calendar? The suspension ended immediately, as soon as the meeting started.<\/p>\n
Kent quit.<\/p>\n
Caught off guard, stunned by the revelation just before June\u2019s NBA Draft, Joe Lacob took a moment. He stared at his boy, processed the news, then uttered his initial response.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d he said, \u201cthat took some balls.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nothing is wrong. Nothing happened. Kent is adamant his departure isn\u2019t rooted in family drama. The opposite, he assures. He loves this so much. Basketball. The Warriors. The family pride. The pressure to maintain the standard of excellence they\u2019ve built.<\/p>\n
Always competing with the privilege, though, is a tugging at his core. The part of him that\u2019s fully aware that every door he walks through is already open. His quiet disdain for the nepotism charges he can never shake, no matter how hard he works. Kent is a basketball nut who sometimes can\u2019t believe the dream he\u2019s living, working in the front office of the NBA. But even the glow of the Warriors can\u2019t rid the shadow of his father\u2019s enormity.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s what convinced him he must leave it.<\/p>\n
For the last 10 years, he\u2019s lived in the NBA trenches. Constant flights. Lonely hotel rooms. Stinky gyms. Innumerable phone calls. Relentless slate of meetings. A small price to be behind the curtain, in the room where it happens. Kent\u2019s been part of three championships and is forever connected to one of the great eras in basketball history. Even sweeter, he worked shoulder to shoulder with his big brother, Kirk, living inside the world their father built, in part for them.<\/p>\n
But a decade engulfed in a world carved for him didn\u2019t exactly produce contentment. He\u2019s 32 now. He\u2019s getting married soon. And he couldn\u2019t live with himself if he didn\u2019t even try to make his own way. Attempt to exist, professionally, outside of Joe Lacob\u2019s world.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very curious about what else, what other type of perspective I can gain from stepping outside of that,\u201d Kent said. \u201cI understand how it\u2019s attractive in many ways. Yeah, it\u2019s very comfortable. And I\u2019m incredibly fortunate to have this. Not by my own doing. But I have stepped into a world that just put me in this situation to have all this around me. I\u2019m incredibly grateful for it. But I also don\u2019t think that it necessarily gives me a fully robust perspective on life and what it is that I ultimately am going to want when I, like, reflect on what I did with my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kent\u2019s hesitance to talk about this is tangible. His hands fidget with the table in the front-office conference room. He steals moments looking through the glass wall, as if the perfect explanation eluding him might be down on the empty Warriors practice court. His smile isn\u2019t coming as easily as usual.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Joe Lacob, left, and co-owner Peter Guber celebrate the Warriors\u2019 2022 title. (Elsa \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
He knows this will be misunderstood. It will wind up another way to deride him for his privilege. He also knows the ability to walk away from an NBA front-office job, with nothing lined up, is a prime example of said privilege. He can\u2019t win for losing because his birthright won\u2019t let him lose.<\/p>\n
The Lacobs have all heard the comparisons to \u201cSuccession,\u201d the hit HBO show where the children of a media mogul \u2014 a quartet of heirs who relished their family\u2019s wealth \u2014 vied thirstily for the throne of their father\u2019s global conglomerate. But the Lacob offspring seem to bond more over their desire for an identity outside of the empire.<\/p>\n
Kirk, 36, the eldest, is the outlier. He\u2019s all in. But arriving here was a process.<\/p>\n
He planned to start a tech company after Stanford. Shortly after graduating in 2010, his dad struck the deal to buy the Warriors. Kirk and Kent dreamed of working in the NBA, once reality crushed their dreams of playing. Kirk envisioned getting into a front office one day. Four months after graduating, he was Golden State\u2019s director of basketball operations.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t want the Warriors job at first because of how it would look. Then, five years later, after the first championship of this era, the same impetus prompted him to consider going to business school. But then, and each time leaving came up, he opted to stay. His father\u2019s message remained the same: Don\u2019t throw away a dream opportunity because you feel bad about how you got it.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes it bother me? Of course,\u201d said Kirk, 37, wearing a violet Golden State Valkyries t-shirt beneath his quilted jacket as he stood outside the owner\u2019s suite at Chase Center. \u201cBut I also get it. I mean, that is why I\u2019m here. Our family bought the team. That happened. There\u2019s no running from that at all. \u2026 I think the nepotism thing, for me, it\u2019s more of a challenge. \u2018OK, you don\u2019t think I\u2019m good enough?\u2019 Great. Now I\u2019ve got to work harder. \u2026 But, to be clear, there are a lot of other things in life that are way harder than this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelly, 35, second in line, never entered the NBA fray. She\u2019s currently the CEO of a startup, grinding away in her own world.<\/p>\n
As is Kayci, 30, the baby of the family. On Sept. 5, her movie \u201cEverything to Me\u201d will make its debut in theaters. Originally titled \u201cThe Book of Jobs\u201d when it hit the film festival circuit, it\u2019s a coming-of-age film loosely based on her life growing up in Silicon Valley and her determination to be the next Steve Jobs. \u201cEverything to Me\u201d has been a multi-year project requiring everything Kayci has to get across the finish line. She didn\u2019t lean on her dad\u2019s wealth and clout to get it done. But still.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can be the first to acknowledge I\u2019m immensely privileged,\u201d she said in a phone interview. \u201cLook, did I have the opportunity to go get some advice from (Warriors co-owner and film producer) Peter Guber? Yeah,\u201d she said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t fund my movie, and, if anything, he kind of tried to talk me out of it a little bit. But that advice and that relationship is more valuable than anything. So, of course, I have advantages.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her parents didn\u2019t really want her in the movie industry. They encouraged her to go it alone to fully comprehend the difficulty. Her mother, the late Laurie Lacob, also dabbled in the film industry. It wasn\u2019t until Kayci found her stride, she said, that they saw her vision.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been times,\u201d Kayci said, \u201cwhere I think, \u2018Am I wasting a huge opportunity? Would my life be easier by joining this company in some ways? Is it just the right thing to do?\u2019 \u2026 But to be honest, it was never my dream. I loved playing sports growing up, but I wasn\u2019t like my brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Laurie](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP383550247444-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
From left: Kayci, Kelly, Kent and Laurie Lacob, in 2013. (Katy Winn \/ Invision \/ AP)<\/p>\n
Life in the shadow of a famous father \u2014 who was a venture capital star before becoming a public figure as the owner of an NBA dynasty \u2014 means more than inheriting the name, and the access it brings. It also means inheriting a narrative they didn\u2019t write.<\/p>\n
With wealth and exclusivity come expectations of success. Every achievement is coated in privilege.\u00a0They\u2019re the lucky ones. Born into a bubble of resources and possibilities. Their norm is an extravagance most humans will never know. Their dreams perched above a safety net with a 1 percent chance of failure.<\/p>\n
Simultaneously, their independence is harder to secure. They scarcely know the fulfillment of starting from the bottom. The honor of self-made glory, near impossible to behold. And bequeathed confidence expires faster.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why none of them are surprised at Kent\u2019s decision. It tracks.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got that entrepreneurial spirit in him,\u201d Joe Lacob said. \u201cHe\u2019s got a wild hair up his ass a little bit more than some of the other kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kent remains coy about his next move. His stated plan: Be open and free, see what the universe throws his way \u2014 instead of jumping into the next thing. He said it won\u2019t be another franchise. He can\u2019t see landing in a corporate setting. But the avid reader with a Bachelor of Science degree from the Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology program at Washington University in St. Louis will only say he has other interests.<\/p>\n
In the Warriors\u2019 universe, outside interests collect dust. Especially when your last name is Lacob.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re my kids,\u201d Joe Lacob said, \u201cyou worry about the nepotism charges, and I understand it. I\u2019ve been on the other side. I know what it\u2019s like to look at the rich kid growing up with all of the advantages and whatever. So I understand why people say stuff like that. Now, I know my kids aren\u2019t that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
They had to obsess over being good. Prove themselves.<\/p>\n
Kent loved that part. The immersion. The meter never shutting off. The process. The combination of long hours, short lunches and late nights with your friends is its own reward. He worked his way from the general manager of the Santa Cruz Warriors to a key cog in the Warriors\u2019 front office. He helped find and develop Juan Toscano-Anderson, swung and missed on Alen Smailagi\u0107, and rallied for the signing of Gary Payton II. It was all part of the endless hours of discussion, study and scouting that went into these moves. And the debates with Kirk.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get to rip on each other,\u201d Kent said, \u201cgive each other a hard time. Go through the serious stuff. Go through the fun stuff. It\u2019s been a blast.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Kirk](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-1052330444.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Kirk Lacob, in 2018. (Noah Graham \/ NBAE via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
But the decision to leave has been brewing over the years. He\u2019s talked about another life. Hinted at other things. He met Blake, his soon-to-be wife, in 2020. A ballet dancer, she injected a unique perspective into his life. Bob Myers, the head of basketball operations for 11 years, preached balance, encouraging his staff to have outside interests, take breaks from the hamster wheel, and prioritize family as much as possible. Kent worked closely with Myers, a mentee drawn to the holistic bent.<\/p>\n