OAKLAND — In their most detailed explanation to date, the Golden State Warriors have said the team should not pay leftover debt at Oracle Arena once they leave for San Francisco.
The Warriors’ argument, in a nutshell, is that the bonds to renovate the Oakland arena were to be paid over 30 years, while at the same time the team signed a 20-year lease with the Coliseum joint powers authority and agreed to make annual payments to reduce the debt in those years.
“To be clear, the relationship between the (joint powers authority) and the Warriors has always been one of landlord and tenant, and like any other tenant, the Warriors pay rent to our landlord, here the JPA,” team President Rick Welts wrote.