Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers stepping down in June
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Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers (right) confirmed that he would leave when his current contract expires in June.
PHOTO: AFP
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SAN FRANCISCO – Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers, who has played a pivotal part in the franchise’s success over the past decade, is stepping down.
The 48-year-old confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday that he would leave the Warriors when his current contract expires in late June.
He declined offers from the Warriors that would have made him one of the most highly paid executives in the league, per ESPN.
On the decision, Warriors owner Joe Lacob said: “I’m not going to sit here and tell you I understand it because I don’t. But it’s really not for me to understand why. I just want him to be happy.”
“It’s just time,” ESPN quoted Myers as saying.
He elaborated at a press conference on Wednesday: “The bottom line is, this job... requires complete engagement, a complete effort, a thousand per cent, and if you can’t do it, then you shouldn’t do it.
“So that’s the answer to the question of why. I can’t do that to our players... Really, I can’t do it to myself. And that’s the question I’ve been wrestling with.”
Myers was hired as Golden State’s assistant general manager in 2011 and promoted to his current role the following year.
During his 11 seasons as general manager, the Warriors won four National Basketball Association championships in six visits to the NBA Finals. Their titles came in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022.
Myers was seen as a key part of the Warriors’ success, helping to retain the core of the playing staff that formed the basis of the team’s championship-winning sides – Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.
Speaking in May after the Warriors’ play-off loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semi-finals, Warriors coach Steve Kerr had hoped that Myers would remain with the team.
Myers said in Wednesday’s press conference that he would have left even if the Warriors had retained their NBA title.
“Bob and I have a great friendship, a great working relationship, and I absolutely hope he comes back,” Kerr said.
“But it’s also a case where I want what’s best for Bob... If he decides that he’s going to leave, of course, I’m going to support him 100 per cent, and we will remain friends for a long time.
“I would miss him, but I support him regardless of what he does.” AFP, REUTERS
