Former Warriors Champion Reveals Reason For Leaving Team to Join Lakers
Golden State Warriors guard Quinn Cook (4) and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrate during a time out in the fourth quarter against the Toronto Raptors in game two of the 2019 NBA Finals at Scotiabank Arena.
In the 2018 NBA season, Quinn Cook was a quality contributor to a championship Golden State Warriors team. Roughly two seasons later, he suddenly found himself as a member of LeBron James’ championship Lakers team. Cook never revealed why he suddenly left the Warriors for the Lakers in 2019, until now.
During an interview on the Jefe Island podcast, Quinn Cook revealed the controversial reason why he left the Warriors for the Lakers during the summer of 2019. In Cook’s words, the politics started in free agency when he was a restricted free agent for the Warriors and the team sent him a qualifying offer.
“To be like a main contributor in the finals, that was lit, but the politics and business happened in my free agency,” Cook said. “I was a restricted free agent, they gave me a qualifying offer, but I had a good season, so my agent, he advised me let’s wait and see if we get another offer… It was the third day of free agency… My agent calls me like three times, he’s like, “Yo, everything is kind of slow. I think we just sign the offer and just kill this s**t. You gonna play, you know the ins and outs of the offense, Klay is not gonna be there.'”
Instead of seeing what else was out there on the market, Cook accepted the qualifying offer from the Warriors. To his surprise, Cook claims that the Warriors withdrew his qualifying offer in the middle of him signing it. Shortly thereafter, the free agency calls began.
“So, he sends the contract over. I don’t think I’ve shared this story publicly yet,” Cook said. “They send the offer over, I literally signed my qualifying offer for the Warriors, as I was doing it, they send me a withdrawal. I’ve got the screenshots and everything. Everything is docusigned… I literally completed it and got the withdrawal back from the Warriors… So my agent is on the phone furious… Now, I got from being restricted to being unrestricted. First person that called me Quin Snyder from the Jazz… I had like four teams call me. So, Bron calls me.”
Once the league learned that Cook was an unrestricted free agent, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Rob Pelinka called him. At one point, Steve Kerr even called him, but Cook claims that he felt too disrespected by the Warriors to go back.
“Four teams called me, Bron called me, Rob Pelinka called me, AD calls me. They just got AD,” Cook said. “So, I kinda felt a way about Golden State. Steve Kerr called me… Steve’s like, “We’ll love to have you back. We’re keeping a 15th roster spot open, maybe you can come compete for it.’ I was like, ‘I just won a championship with y’all, I was a big contribution for the past few years, nah, I pass.’ I love Steve. That’s probably been my best coach since Coach K. I just felt like Golden State owed me a little more than that. I professionally declined.”
Quinn Cook isn’t alone when moments like these happen in the NBA. Many players believe they’re getting the short end of the stick, and suddenly without explanation, their career never recovers. Some find way a back in the league, but unfortunately, not many do.
