They had come to honor Chris Mullin, to salute one of the franchise’s greatest players and hang his No. 17 jersey from the rafters. And yet none of that mattered. As soon as Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob took the microphone to recognize Mullin Monday night, the boos rained down. Louder and louder still, until Mullin and former Warriors great Rick Barry asked the sold-out crowd to have mercy on Lacob.

Turns out, Warriors fans had come not only to support Mullin, but also Monta Ellis. Five days after the Warriors traded Ellis to the Milwaukee Bucks for injured center Andrew Bogut, the franchise’s fans aimed their ire at Lacob during Mullin’s halftime retirement ceremony – a surreal scene that left the owner shaken.

Lacob stopped his speech for Mullin after the monsoon of boos drowned him out.

“Look, fans are upset that we traded one of their favorites,” Lacob said after the Warriors’ 97-93 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. “That’s all I can attribute that to. What I feel bad about is they ruined a night that was very special. The organization really tried to do the right thing for with Chris.

via Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports