Cohan sells 20 percent of Warriors

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Golden State Warriors owner Chris Cohan announced an agreement Tuesday to sell 20 percent of the club to a group of Bay Area investors.

Cohan, one of just six NBA owners with no partners, will have four local businessmen as partners if the transaction is approved by the league's board of governors.

They include Michael Marks, CEO of Flextronics and a minority investor in the Boston Celtics; Jim Davidson, managing director of Silver Lake Partners; John Thompson, CEO of Symantec Corporation; and Fred Harman, a general partner with Oak Investment Partners.

"This is something that's been in the back of Chris' mind for the last five or six years," Warriors president Robert Rowell said. "If we were going to do this, we wanted to bring in good people who are successful in what they do."

The Warriors expect the league to approve the deal within 30 days, Rowell said.

And though Rowell discounted the notion, Marks believes the influx of cash could affect personnel spending for the Warriors, who have steadfastly avoided paying the NBA's luxury tax or signing top-flight free agents during Cohan's tenure.

"If we had an opportunity to get a player that could make us go into our pocket, that would be something we could consider," said Marks, who plans to sell his Celtics stake.

Under Cohan, Golden State has been more successful at the cash register than on the court. The Warriors have established franchise records for attendance and corporate revenue in recent seasons at their refurbished arena in Oakland, but haven't made the playoffs since 1994 - shortly before Cohan assumed control.

Golden State was 37-45 last season, finishing fourth in the Pacific Division and missing the playoffs for the 10th straight year - the longest absence in the NBA.

Cohan has revamped his management team since last season ended, placing all responsibility with Rowell and Chris Mullin, the Warriors' new executive vice president of basketball operations. Last month, Mullin hired Stanford coach Mike Montgomery to replace Eric Musselman.

Rowell said Cohan has no interest in selling the rest of the team, and the Warriors have no plans to move the team to San Jose despite the addition of four successful Silicon Valley investors. Golden State has 13 years remaining on its lease at the Arena.

"I've promised myself over the years that it would take a very special, dynamic group of individuals to entice me to become involved with investors," Cohan said in a statement. "I did not anticipate this scenario developing and was certainly not pursuing it, but I must say that this group definitely meets the criteria."