Nobody saw this coming in 2010. When Joe Lacob and Peter Guber outbid Oracle CEO Larry Ellison to buy the Warriors in 2010 for a then-record $450 million, many in the NBA world were puzzled. Just seven months earlier, Forbes had valued the team at $315 million, 18th in the league. The arena was aging, attendance was lukewarm, and the team was mediocre at best, having reached the playoffs just once in 15 years. Today, the team is worth $8.8 billion, the highest in the NBA, even ahead of the Lakers and the Knicks — that’s a whopping 1856% increase on the original buying price.

Chase Center changed everything. The Warriors paid $1.4 billion out of their own pockets to build Chase Center in 2019, and the return on investment has been staggering. According to a 2024 report by Accenture, the 18,000-seat arena has generated $4.2 billion since its opening in 2019, including over $2.9 billion in direct spending and more than $1 billion in recirculated spending. The Warriors remain one of the only NBA teams that fully own their arena.

The Steph Curry effect - and the championships. The Warriors have been the team of the decade, with six NBA Finals appearances, four championships, and a historic 73-9 season. But it all starts with Steph. When the Warriors drafted Curry in 2009, few could’ve predicted that he would go on to revolutionise the NBA.