By Robert Haugh

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Ann Killion has delivered a verdict that won’t sit well with the York family. 

The Golden State Warriors’ Joe Lacob and Peter Guber are now the best team owners in Bay Area history. She concludes that the current 49ers owners don’t belong anywhere near the top of that list.

Killion’s column marks the 15th anniversary of Lacob and Guber buying the Warriors. 

She praises their transformation of a once-laughingstock franchise into a global powerhouse: four NBA titles, a state-of-the-art arena, and a successful new WNBA team. 

“Their record of success,” she writes, “is undeniable.”

Killion compares the Warriors’ leadership to other famous Bay Area sports owners.  But her sharpest words were aimed squarely at the Yorks, the current 49ers owners.

“While the Yorks have become fabulously wealthy, and the franchise is now valued by Forbes at $8.6 billion, the owners haven’t exactly been good caretakers or community members, buying up the Santa Clara City Council and refusing to be transparent about finances with the city. The York family doesn’t belong in the best ownership group.”

That line won’t surprise Mission City residents. In Santa Clara, the Yorks bought a City Council and created the “49er Five” that put the team’s interests ahead of taxpayers, according to Grand Jury reports. 

Killion’s ranking looked at other legendary Bay Area owners: 

• Eddie DeBartolo Jr., who built the 49ers dynasty; 
• the Haas family, who led the A’s to the 1989 World Series; 
• Peter Magowan, who kept the Giants in San Francisco and built Oracle Park; and 
• Horace Stoneham, who brought the Giants west. 

But none, she says, have matched Lacob and Guber’s blend of success, innovation, and independence.

Unlike the Yorks, the Warriors’ owners have kept their focus on the court, not in the council chambers. 

They’ve never spent millions to elect politicians or influence City Hall decisions that have given them financial breaks. 

But the 49ers owners, led by Jed York, poured money into campaigns to elect Councilmembers with millions of dollars in independent expenditures. Their chosen candidates have embarrassed both themselves and Santa Clara:

• Anthony Becker was convicted of a felony for leaking a Grand Jury report to the 49ers. 
• Suds Jain helped cover up Becker’s actions and now faces a likely recall, and
• Kevin Park has had multiple domestic disturbance calls to his home, and he’s named in a police report for breaking into a neighbor’s home.

No other ownership group in Bay Area history has gotten its hands this dirty. When it comes to picking quality, honest candidates, the Yorks are picking from the bottom of the barrel – or from other teams’ waiver wire rejects.

Killion’s conclusion is clear: while the Yorks have bought influence, Lacob and Guber have built excellence. The Warriors have done it the right way on the court, in their balance sheet, and in public respect.