Steph expresses support for Myers with contract expiring originally appeared nbc sports birea
For the better part of the past 10 years, the Warriors have displayed the essential components of a successful sports franchise: committed ownership, smooth management, skilled coaching, terrific talent.
Prizes rolled to an unprecedented level.
But now, as the team battles for a playoff position in the stuffy middle of the Western Conference, that rare and delicate equation is in jeopardy.
Bob Myers, general manager since 2012–13 – the first of eight trips to the playoffs in 10 seasons – has last month of his contract And its uncertain future generates a degree of anxiety among those who value its presence.
Count Stephen Curry among them — and he’s not the only one.
“We were all young when we were trying to figure this out,” Curry recently said on the NBC Sports Bay Area “Dubs Talk” podcast. “One of his special abilities is that he can connect with you right where you are. Be truthful and honest and authentic about how tough the NBA is in terms of the decisions made and the business side of it. But at the same time, they have a personal touch that you count on.
Every great organization, sports or elsewhere, has at least one executive who is adept at stirring sticky relationships, someone equally adept at handling delicate or trivial issues. A mediator/adviser/consultant. For the Warriors, that person is Myers.
Curry said, “I never take it lightly.” “The fact that I can have a difficult conversation with him. I can pick up the phone and tell her how I feel. He will give me straight where we are as a team or where I am individually.
It was Myers who in 2017 Advised CEO Joe Lacob Not bothering to negotiate a new contract with Curry’s agent, Jeff Austin, because Steph was a two-time MVP and two-time NBA champion whose value was not in question. When Curry became eligible for a “supermax” contract in 2021, he was one of the top three players in the league. Again, no need for conversation.
Myers’ presence was instrumental in decisions by former players Shaun Livingston and Zaza Pachulia to accept front office positions with the franchise after retiring. This is a factor in Klay Thompson saying he wants to be a “warrior for life”.
If Draymond Green decides to enter the final year of his contract, Myers will be one of the reasons why.
“Bob is huge for us,” Green told NBC Sports Bay Area. “Some GMs put together a team and then they go into their office and see if it works. You don’t see many GMs working out on a daily basis, interacting with the people, the team’s Keeps the pulse, and then has those tough conversations. General managers don’t do that in this league.
“Bob does. He’s incredible.
Golden State’s basketball operation has, for the most part, been based on a tripod model, with Curry representing the foundational leg, Myers the analytical leg, and coach Steve Kerr the implementation leg.
The belief among many employed by the Warriors — and around the NBA — is that losing any one of the three would set them low.
“I always talk about the connectors on the floor,” Kerr told NBC Sports Bay Area. “Bob is our connector, organizationally, off the floor. His relations with all the major personalities are very important. Steph and his ability to connect with Draymond and Clay and, in that very moment, go up and talk to Joe, talk to the others in the front office, talk to the media. , , He just has an amazing way with people.
“That puts us in a business where it’s really easy to take it easy because of the pressures and the different factors involved.”
This has been a season in which those pressures have increased month by month. Coming off the 2022 championship they never imagined, the Warriors — with the NBA’s highest luxury-tax bill, roughly $170 million — are mired in mediocrity, never above .500 or No more than a few games below. Tangible factors are many, from injuries and absences to abysmal defense on the road.
Yet it would be naïve to assume that Drummond’s future (he could be out of his contract after the season) doesn’t provide an undercurrent of volatility, as many felt in the case of Kevin Durant four years ago. Same with Myers, whose talks with Lacob have not reached a solution.
For a franchise that cherishes stability and is led by a superstar who thrives in it, it could be volatile. Warriors is, at its core, built around the tripod model, which is being threatened.
Curry said, “I don’t know how you can fix (Myers’ role) in championships and banners and put together a great team.” “I recognize the extreme value they bring in managing people. Very similar to Coach Kerr in the way he communicates.
Said Kerr, a former GM: “Often, people think of the GM as someone who drafts or trades players. It’s implicit in the title: general manager. You’re managing people. And Bob totally Managing great people.
Curry spoke of the “trust” that Myers has built up through good times and bad since day one. It is this belief that Myers has been such an effective bridge behind the scenes on every level.
“It’s not just about one person,” Curry said. “I know the attention he gets sometimes becomes the narrative. Anyone who knows me, knows Drummond, knows Klay, we all understand what we all bring to the table.
“And then we have Coach and Bob, who represent that in their roles and how important their roles are. Whenever you get in front of a mic or anytime you interview them or something, they have a great way of representing themselves first of all, but also representing what our team is and what our goals are. Are. I think the fans appreciate it. Free agents, when they’re making a decision whether they want to come to the Bay or not, it all goes into it.
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Myers has avoided public discussion of his future, preferring to keep the matter private until resolved.
But the franchise player has spoken out, and his comments were echoed by what the coach and player consider the “heart and soul” of the Warriors. It is clear that none of them want to see Myers go, even if it is of their own accord.
If Myers wants to remain the team’s general manager and continue living in the area where he grew up, the final decision will depend on Lacob’s wishes. provide fair compensation but also satisfy the conditions desired by Myers.
There is still time, and three more months, but the clock is ticking and it is getting faster every day.
