Back in June, the Golden State Warriors won their second NBA championship in three seasons, as they completed a historic run through the playoffs by knocking off the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-1 in the Finals.
What followed was a raucous victory parade through downtown Oakland that drew a million and a half people. Celebrations like that cost money, however, and the Warriors ran up a bill of over $800K enjoying themselves that day. But during the celebration, Warriors owner Joe Lacob promised that the team would take care of the cost, saying, “We’d just like to say that this parade, this whole day, all the cost, every dollar is on us! It’s our gift to the city of Oakland.”
Unfortunately, according to a report, that bill has not been paid. Via The Mercury News:
But now, almost three months after the blue-and-gold confetti has been swept up and Steph Curry and Kevin Durant have hung up their sneakers for offseason vacations, the team has not paid a cent for the festivities, which added up to almost $816,000, according to the city. The city is also asking the team to pick up $244,000 in costs from the 2015 championship parade, according to city officials and an invoice obtained by the East Bay Times.
The problem, it seems, is a dispute between the team and the city over the bill. At this point, though, the city still expects to get a full payment from the team.
“We are in ongoing conversation with the Warriors; they have questions about some of these charges, which we are in the process of answering,” city spokeswoman Karen Boyd said in an email. “The Warriors have given us no reason to doubt they will honor their commitments.”
While it’s good to hear that the city of Oakland is still confident it’ll be paid in full, it’s really not a great look for the Warriors — a championship-caliber franchise worth $2.6 billion.
Courtesy: CBS Sports
