Cohn: Warriors Shocker

Warriors Shocker
By Lowell Cohn on November 7, 2008 8:24 AM 0 0 Vote 0 Votes


I woke up this morning, picked up the paper and read Warriors
president Robert (The Hammer) Rowell had fired Pete D'Allessandro for
insubordination, whatever that means. You may not know who Pete D. is
but let me explain. He is listed in the media guide as assistant GM
and he negotiates contracts and handles salary cap stuff.

But there's more. Chris Mullin brought him into the organization
and he's Mullin's right-hand man, the guy Mullin confers with and
works out issues with. He's Mullin's ally and sounding board. So by
firing Pete D., Rowell is making a statement to Mullin, whose contract
expires at the end of the season. The statement is simple: "You may be
next." It is an aggressive, clearly hostile act and it isolates Mullin
in the organization. Call it a big slap in the face.

To replace Pete D. Rowell is promoting assistanct coach Larry
Riley to ass't GM. Well, that's interesting. Riley is a Don Nelson guy
through and through and it's like Nelson getting his tentacles into
the GM's office. Nelson who loves power, loves to run things, may be
trying to neuter Mullin or push him out. This may be an extreme
interpretation and I admit I'm not sure about that. So I write that
only as a possibility. [I have the same suspicions. -AL]

Now I'm going to write something strange. Rowell may be trying
to help Mullin by firing Pete D. Pete D. came to the Warriors after
service in an agent's office. He often sees things from the point of
view of players and he impresses Mullin with this point of view. The
Warriors have wanted Mullin to think more like a company man -- more
like a GM. The Monta Ellis situation is an example. Rowell felt Mullin
wanted to go too easy on Ellis. I don't agree, but that's not the
point. Rowell felt Mullin saw the situation from the player's point of
view, not from a front-office point of view. By eliminating Pete D. he
is nudging Mullin more toward an ownership stance. In other words, he
is -- or could be -- giving Mullin a chance to save his job.

That's a big maybe. The situation at the Warriors is strange and
now it's sad. Pete D. is a good guy and I wish this didn't happen.