NBA: Warrior godfather.

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Although Chris Cohan is the owner of the Warriors, his interest in basketball is minimal. He treats the team as just another business venture and rarely communicates directly with Larry Riley about team matters.

"Larry, how are the season ticket reservations for next season? If I remember correctly, they started last week, right?" Chris Cohan asked.

"Let me check... not bad, we've sold a thousand tickets so far," Larry Riley replied after quickly scanning the data sent by the ticketing department.

"Very good. Print out a report and bring it to the conference room," Chris instructed before hanging up.

Larry Riley was a bit puzzled as to why Cohan would involve him in ticketing matters, but he complied with his boss's request. He printed out the detailed report of the Oracle Center's season ticket reservations for the upcoming season, stapled it, and headed to the upstairs conference room.

When Riley opened the door, he was surprised by the number of people in the room. On one side, Chris Cohan sat with a lawyer and several unfamiliar faces. On the opposite side, to Riley's shock, sat Coach Liam Gonzalez, the same coach he'd just read about in the newspaper.

Dressed sharply in a suit, Liam had a serious expression, with several other individuals sitting beside him. Larry Riley's mind raced—Is this some sort of job fair? he wondered. But he stayed composed, nodded to Liam with a smile, and handed the report to Chris Cohan.

"Boss, here's a detailed summary of the season ticket sales up until today," Riley said.

Chris nodded but didn't reach for the report. Instead, a middle-aged man next to him, whom Riley did not recognize, picked it up and began reviewing the data.

"If everything looks good, I'll be on my way," Larry Riley said with a polite smile, though his tone was slightly tense.

The situation was awkward. The team owner was meeting with a rising coaching star, and Riley, the general manager, had no prior knowledge of it. That he managed to keep a smile on his face spoke volumes about his professionalism.

Chris Cohan nodded. "Larry, keep this quiet. Don't mention Mr. Gonzalez's visit to Oracle Center to anyone."

At the right moment, Liam nodded and gave Riley a friendly smile.

"Understood," Larry Riley agreed before exiting the conference room.

Outside the door, Riley pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he reached "Don Nelson." He paused, contemplating whether to call the head coach, but eventually decided against it.

Better to wait and see, he thought. Although Riley had worked with Nelson for a long time, the legendary coach was domineering and rarely ceded any power. As the general manager, Riley had little actual control.

But the thought that Chris Cohan might bring in Liam as head coach was intriguing. If that happened, Riley's role might become more manageable.

The chances of that were slim, but Cohan was a businessman. If he saw the potential to profit from Liam's Colombian identity, much like the Rockets had done with Yao Ming and the Chinese market, it could happen. Chris wasn't interested in basketball, after all—just the bottom line.

The more Larry Riley thought about it, the more plausible the idea seemed. He decided not to alert Nelson and instead prepared to do more research on Liam Gonzalez, just in case he would need to work with him in the near future.

Inside the conference room, the middle-aged man finished reviewing the ticket sales report. With Chris Cohan's nod of approval, he turned to Liam Gonzalez and said with a smile, "Mr. Gonzalez, as you can see, over 1,000 season tickets have been sold in just four days. If you look at the stadium's attendance rates over the last decade, you'll see consistent success. This shows the Warriors have a strong, loyal fan base in San Francisco, and Oracle Center provides a stable revenue stream."

This man was one of Chris Cohan's senior financial analysts, and he spoke confidently about the profitability of Oracle Center.

Contrary to Larry Riley's assumption, this wasn't a job fair but a business negotiation.

The subject of the negotiations? Liam Gonzalez's plan to acquire the Golden State Warriors.

This was not the first time Liam and Chris Cohan had met. Over the past six months, they had held three meetings, ironing out many details. Today was their fourth and most critical negotiation, where the final purchase price would be discussed.

Sitting alongside Chris Cohan were his team of lawyers, financial analysts, assistants, and accountants.

Liam, on the other hand, had been too focused on the Bulldogs to build a dedicated business team of his own. Instead, he had brought in Mark Baum and his staff of lawyers and financial experts. Mark Baum was also personally present, sitting next to Liam.

Mark wasn't just helping with the negotiations—he was a partner in the acquisition. Liam Gonzalez wasn't buying the Warriors alone; he was working with Baum to secure the deal. If successful, they would co-own the team.

Initially, Liam hadn't intended to involve Baum, as he had sufficient funds on his own. Last year, when the subprime mortgage crisis hit, the market collapsed, but Liam's short position on CDS (credit default swaps) had soared, netting him over $1 billion at its peak.

While it didn't reach the 1,200% return he had initially expected, the rapid collapse of the market forced him to cash out earlier. Otherwise, he risked losing everything if the banks went under before he could collect.

With that fortune secured, Liam quickly began working on the acquisition of the Warriors.

He had initially planned to wait until after the draft, when Curry would be selected by the Warriors. But the situation changed, and Liam realized that waiting might cost him the opportunity.

In his previous life, while Curry had impressed during March Madness in 2008, his transition to point guard exposed many weaknesses, and his draft prospects weren't highly regarded. Many experts doubted he'd even become a starter in the NBA.

But now, under Liam's guidance, Curry had switched to point guard during his freshman year. Liam had helped him refine his shot selection, improve his physical strength, and enhance his ball-handling skills. The result? Two consecutive NCAA championships and the attention of NBA scouts.

While concerns about Curry's reliance on outside shooting remained, his shooting was so dazzling that teams couldn't help but take notice.

End of this chapter

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