Kent Lacob and Aaron Miles talk Quinn Cook winning an NBA title

Santa Cruz Warriors General Manager Kent Lacob and Head Coach Aaron Miles discussed how the success of the Golden State Warriors has affected (and will continue to affect) everyone associated with the Sea Dubs.

First discussion topic: Quinn Cook.

After spending much of the season with the NBA G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors on a two-way contract, Golden State Warriors guard Quinn Cook signed a multi-year contract with the organization, effectively filling in for an injured Stephen Curry for the latter part of the basketball year.

In March, Cook averaged 13.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 28.7 minutes, shooting 49.0 percent from the field, 40.4 percent from behind the arc and 87.5 percent from the free throw line.

He built on those numbers in early April to close out the regular season, averaging 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 35.8 minutes, all the while shooting 50.0 percent from the field, 51.7 percent from long range and 87.5 percent from the charity stripe.

This, unfortunately, is what everyone tends to remember the most. What many forget is Cook also played a substantial part in Golden State’s first two playoff rounds.

Against the San Antonio Spurs, Cook averaged 5.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 17.4 minutes off the bench, providing some much-needed scoring as Curry neared his return. Cook continued to get buckets over the New Orleans Pelicans with Curry still a bit rusty, averaging 7.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 14.5 minutes.

So it was strange to see people actually hate on Cook after he was seen sitting down in the Cleveland Cavaliers locker room after Game 4 amidst the “champagne showers,” looking incredibly introspective and emotional.

Of course, Cook need not answer the haters. All he really needs to do is flash that ring, and real basketball fans know full well about Cook’s long and drawn out come up.

Just be sure to count the entire Santa Cruz Warriors organization amongst those real fans.

"“He’s been grinding for the last couple years to get this opportunity. He’s been cut from teams numerously, plays great in the D-League and the G League and expected to have guaranteed contracts, and all that never materialized up until now,” Sea Dubs head coach Aaron Miles said in a conference call with Santa Cruz media members.“To see him win a championship, I know he had a lot on his mind. I know he thinks heavily about his father passing away a few years back. I know that weighed in on him and all the success that he’s having right now, knowing that his father is looking down, smiling on him. I know that’s huge for him.“Steve Kerr said it best: (Quinn} actually did play a pivotal role in the success. When Steph didn’t play the first series-and-a-half, Quinn played significant minutes and helped contribute in games. So it wasn’t just he was along for the ride….”"

Sea Dubs general manager Kent Lacob was also quick to share his experience with Cook following Game 4 in Cleveland, adding to Miles’ praise.

"“To me, the most special moment of this entire weekend…I saw Quinn really soaking in what happened, when it sunk in with him that we had won. He was sitting there in the locker room — all the champagne spraying and everyone jumping around and screaming — and I see Quinn sitting there, and you could tell how much this meant to him,” Lacob said.“I just went back to day one of the beginning of this year and had to think back beyond that before we even knew him, how much he’s been through to get to this point: how much he had been overlooked, how much adversity he had to battle through to get to where he got today.”“To me, it’s far more special to me that I got to see someone like Quinn — the character and person he is, the type of attitude and work ethic he has, how much of a joy he is to be around; the fact that I got to experience Quinn winning an NBA championship is far more valuable to me than any championship I could have won.”"

Quinn Cook wasn’t the only subject we discussed, however.

Next: 15 Best Warriors Draft Picks of All Time

Find out tomorrow for the next part of the conversation: Lacob and Miles’ personal experiences behind the scenes on Golden State’s 2018 title run.