Warriors GM Larry Riley Talks About Jackson, Randolph, Being Nellie's Guy

Warriors general manager Larry Riley cleared his late morning and early afternoon schedule on Tuesday and sat down to do a series of one-on-one interviews with Bay Area beat writers and columnists.

He addressed all sorts of issues, ranging from Stephen Jackson's trade request to which position Anthony Randolph is going to play this year to the general direction of the team.

And, of course, he answered several questions about the perception that he is little more than Don Nelson's surrogate.

Here are some highlights from interviews with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Contra Costa Times and San Francisco Chronicle.

Riley on whether he thinks Stephen Jackson will be on the Warriors this season: "I do. I do. We made a comment in response to the fact that he requested a trade. I didn't want to be involved in a knee-jerk reaction. I didn't respond immediately. ... I made the comment that I expect him to be just as he's been, be a Golden State Warrior. We also gave him the benefit of the doubt by saying he's not the first guy who ever wanted to play for a championship. ... I didn't feel I could say something I didn't believe just to quiet things down. I understand his desire to want to play for a championship. I'm not too offended by that. Here's what I say in regards to that. Was it a bad time for this to come up? Sure it was. Would it have been better if it never came up? Sure."

Riley on whether Jackson is reconciled to being a Warrior this year: "At this stage that's my feeling and I've had some conversations with him. I also will probably have one more conversation at some point this week. My expectation is he will report to camp and go to work and be the same player he's always been for us. Nellie's also come out and said, 'Stephen Jackson is still our captain.' Nellie and I have the same expectation where he's concerned, that he's going to come to camp and go play. He's going to get some hard questions on Media Day (Monday). I haven't told him what to say. I'm not going to try to influence that. About the only thing I can say to him is, 'Stephen, we're going to have you in camp. We expect you to play well. And you're going to get some tough questions."

Riley on Randolph playing power forward: "That would be a correct assumption in my discussions with Nellie."

Riley on competing for the playoffs: "Our objective is to be in the playoff hunt. If we can get there by the All-Star break then maybe you make a push to make your team better at that time. We want to be in the hunt for a playoff spot."

Riley on the perception that he is Don Nelson's "yes-man": It's more relevant to you than me. I'm an older guy who has my own system in place for how I want to live and how I do my job. It isn't based on Don Nelson. What is between Nellie and I is a great friendship and ability to work with each other. Obviously, it's almost a sarcastic remark."

Riley on what's going on with Monta Ellis: "We've said that we want Monta to take on a greater leadership role. I don't think that necessarily leads to us wanting Jack to take on a lesser role, but we do think we have options about how we play that we want to exercise. But that's going to be Nellie's call."

Riley on why the Warriors didn't fine Jackson for his comments but the league did: "That wasn't us, that was the league. I think you can draw any conclusion you want beyond that, but we didn't fine him."

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