After over a decade leading the Warriors’ front office, Bob Myers is stepping down from his position as the team’s President of Basketball Operations / General Manager. Myers became the Warriors' GM in 2012, was named Executive of the Year twice (2015 and 2017) and the Dubs won four NBA Championships during his tenure. Myers was at the helm for several key decisions leading up to each Championship season, including the hiring of Head Coach Steve Kerr and the acquisitions of two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant (2017 and 2018), 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. In addition, he traded for two starters on title teams, Andrew Wiggins and Andrew Bogut, while drafting three more, including four-time All-Star Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes and Kevon Looney. Myers also drafted Jordan Poole with the 28th pick in 2019. No team has won more Championships (4) or had more All-Star selections (23) than the Warriors in the Bob Myers era.
After making just one playoff appearance in 18 years before Myers took over, the Warriors set a franchise record with seven straight trips to the NBA Playoffs from 2013 to 2019. They also made six trips to the NBA Finals under Myers and had the best record in the league during his tenure (571-304; 65.3 win percentage).
Stephen Curry captured his thoughts on his Instagram story.
"Before the trophies and memories over this run, I remember I told you ‘You better get this right!' and you did. The GM role was great and you did your thing, but forever grateful for you as a friend. Changed each other's lives! Enjoy the next chapter, my guy." Curry said.
MYERS THANKS THE ORGANIZATION
On Tuesday, Myers had a press conference to announce his decision to move on from his position. Myers began the press conference by emphasizing the relationships he built during his time in the Bay and thanking all the vital figures in the team's success during his tenure. First, he thanked the ownership group for taking a chance on him.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for everyone within the Warriors, especially Joe (Lacob) and Peter (Guber)," Myers said. "Joe, you gave me an opportunity to work for this organization. Nobody else did. I was just an agent, a young agent that had not done a ton. Got hired by what, at the time was I think the most expensive purchase of an NBA team. Pretty gutsy call on Joe and Peter's part.”
Bob Myers to Step Down From His Role With Warriors
And that gusty decision paid off. Myers appreciated how willing the Warriors' ownership group was to spend money which he believes made his job significantly easier.
"If there was a metric on cost per win, I don't know how good I would be, because we have spent a lot of money because he's (Lacob) so competitive and because he cares so much. To have an owner like that who puts his heart and his will and his money into winning; you can't ask for anything more, and that's not changing," Myers said.
Next, Myers thanked the coaching staff, which he believes got the organization back on track by instilling confidence and leadership on the court.
“Mark Jackson was my first coach, and Mark was so right for the time, Myers said. "He was what we needed. We needed confidence. Our players needed it. Our organization needed it and he brought it, and only the way that he could. And got us to start believing in ourselves, and that's an important thing. He brought that confidence and leadership.”
After Jackson, the Warriors transitioned to Steve Kerr and broke a 40-year championship drought.
"Then Steve came along. And oh, boy, you know what a guy. What a once-in-a-lifetime friendship, once-in-a-lifetime person who's a fantastic coach. He's an all-time top Hall of Fame coach. But you can go through your whole life and not meet people like that, not make friendships like that. It's super rare. … He has led this organization for nine years and will continue leading it.”
Then, Myers thanked many influential players to the Championship teams, such as Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala etc. Myers is very grateful to have had such a rare leader in Stephen Curry throughout his tenure.
"You can't overstate who he (Curry) is. It's so rare of somebody of his caliber to be who he is. And I think people know him for what he does, but how lucky is this organization to have him as its leader. And for me to get to watch him be that guy for my whole time here, what a gift to me, and that's one I could never repay.”
Myers' most accomplished free agency acquisition was signing Kevin Durant, a move owner Joe Lacob gives Myers complete credit for.
"Bob Myers was on the job pretty fast," Lacob said. " It would not have happened and we would not have had those next two championships if Bob had not done what he did. He was the key guy. It was his idea and his execution."
Myers thanked Durant for facing the backlash from joining the record-breaking 73-9 team and delivering two more Championships in which he won Finals MVP.
"What he did for us, showing up here, knowing what he would hear about when he made that decision; for him to have that courage … to completely deliver on everything that you would want: Two Finals MVPs; taking us to three Finals appearances, two Championships. What a talent. What a great. If you like basketball, watching him and Steph and these guys play, I'd do that for free," Myers said.
Myers got very emotional when thanking Dub Nation, as the East Bay native grew up a huge Warriors fan.
“I grew up a fan of the Warriors. I was the 10-year-old kid in the upper (level at) Oracle. I would get Warriors tickets for my birthday. I was born in '75 and that was the last championship (before he arrived as GM). To feel like I helped give this fan base and this community … It's crazy to see those four new ones (Championships) up there and where the organization's come. I'm so thankful," Myers said.
REASON FOR DEPARTURE
Myers realized he had doubts about whether he could continue to give everything to the job and didn't believe it was fair to give anything less to the players, coaches, ownership, front office and himself.
"Bottom line is, this job, the one I'm in, and I would say this for my professional general manager or coach, requires complete engagement, a complete effort, a thousand percent, and if you can't do it, then you shouldn't do it, and so that's the answer to the question of why. I can't do that to our players. I can't do that to Joe and Peter. Really, I can't do it to myself," Myers said.
Myers began having these doubts four years ago during the 2019 NBA Finals.
"2019, we had been in the Finals five years in a row. That's a lot. It's what you want. It's what you do it for. I had to figure out then what was left," Myers said. "Finals take a lot out of you. Four years ago, I thought, can I keep doing this, and how can I keep doing it?"
BRIGHT FUTURE AHEAD
The Warriors have had tremendous success with Bob Myers, but he and owner Joe Lacob remain confident that the franchise can continue the winning culture he helped to establish.
"I want to thank Bob for 12 years of your life and your family's life," Lacob said. "It's been an incredible run as we all know. We have had historic success, not only as a business but obviously on the basketball court, and you're a tremendous part of it, a huge part of it. Four championships, six Finals in 12 years. It's just an incredible accomplishment."
Thank You, Bob Myers
And the expectations won’t change now that Myers is stepping down.
"Our job is to win championships, period,” Lacob said. “And I'm going to expect that, we are going to expect that this year, next year, three years from now, five years from now. There's no point in doing this if you're not trying to win the Championship. No point."
"The future is unbelievably bright," Myers said. "I have great confidence in what's to come, and I have no doubt that much success will still be forthcoming."