SAN FRANCISCO –- Joe Lacob didn’t want to believe it. Even after Bob Myers spent more than 30 minutes explaining his reasoning for why he would be stepping away from the Warriors at the end of next month, Lacob seemed hesitant to let him go. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you I understand it because I don’t,” Lacob said Tuesday afternoon. “It’s not in me to do that. I’m so competitive and I know he is, too. It’s a really hard thing for me to understand why but it’s really not for me to understand why. I just want him to be happy.” But after weeks of reflection, Myers decided that it was best for him to bow out after more than a decade of service to the team he grew up rooting for. Myers is leaving the Warriors after an 11-year run as the team’s general manager and president of
basketball operations, during which he constructed four championship-winning teams, navigated pivotal trades and contract negotiations as well as helped manage team personnel and answered Lacob’s five to 20 messages per day. This wasn’t a decision that came easily for the 48-year-old father of three, and it had nothing to do with money, he said. But this day was one that he had been considering since the Warriors lost in the 2019 NBA Finals. To be “a professional general manager or coach requires complete engagement, a complete effort, 1,000 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,” Myers said. “I can’t do that to our players. I can’t do that to Joe and Peter [Guber]. Really, I can’t do it to myself. “I’ve only known how to do things one way my whole life, [and that’s] kind of all the way. And it doesn’t feel right to do something when I can’t give it everything.” After five straight trips to the NBA Finals, Myers sat back and questioned whether he could continue to call the shots and deal with the cosmic amount of stress and inherent challenges stemming from a hands-on owner, such as Lacob. Back in 2019, the Warriors promoted Mike Dunleavy Jr. to vice president of basketball operations to take some of the job’s burden off Myers’ shoulders. Myers had been asked numerous times during his lame-duck season about whether he’d return, but he brushed those discussions off to the end of the season. After the Warriors lost in the Western Conference semifinals earlier this month, Myers was put in a position he could no longer avoid. “I started thinking about it when the season ended, and had had thoughts prior,” he said. It came down to something many people in the workforce can relate to: Myers is burned out. Myers shared his decision with the front office and ownership Tuesday morning. He said it was especially hard to tell Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Steve Kerr. He was even a little surprised that Curry didn’t try to convince him to come back for one last season. “It’s not goodbye but it’s more like they’re going to keep going but this is my stop,” Myers said. “The train is powerful… but this is my stop.” As word got around of Myers’ decision, bittersweet farewell texts, calls and
Social Media posts started to flood in. “To more life Robert 🥂, appreciate you!” Andre Iguodala . Curry several images of him and Myers together on his
Instagram Story and wrote, in part, “forever grateful for you as a friend forever. Changed each other’s lives! Enjoy the next chapter my guy.” Even Kevin Durant took the time to call Myers while vacationing in Monaco. Myers knew this day would come eventually. But no amount of time could prepare him for the intense emotional reality of Tuesday afternoon. Myers tried his best to hold it together during his hour-long news conference with reporters as he reflected on his 12 years with the Warriors and shared his reasoning to step away at the end of next month. But as he went down his lengthy list of thank-yous that included past and present players and team executives who played a role in his tenure, Myers couldn’t stop the tears from welling in his eyes when he addressed fans’ support over the years. “Thank you for the passion; understanding that we are human, we try harder than you can even imagine to give you what you deserve,” Myers said to fans. “I’ve woken up at three in the morning way too many times for a job, but as you all may know, it’s more than a job, and that’s why I love it and that’s why it’s hard to leave it.” Myers proceeded to fight back tears as he thanked his wife, Kristen, for her sacrifices throughout the years. “When I work, you take care of the kids and… I couldn’t do my
Job if you didn’t do yours,” Myers said to Kristen, who was seated in the front row. “And that means a lot to me.” Myers isn’t sure where he’ll go from here. His impressive list of accomplishments would make him a worthy candidate for any NBA executive job in the coming years. He could always try his hand at being a media member, too. But Myers isn’t ready to jump into anything new — at least not yet. For now, he wants to sit back, relax and spend more time with his family. First on his agenda? “Well, my wife said we’re going to get a drink maybe on the way home,” Myers said.