SAN FRANCISCO — In the early stages of negotiations between Bob Myers and Joe Lacob over Myers’ future, theoretical contract numbers and an economic chasm were discussed. But that was months ago. Had Myers intended to continue his tenure as head of the Golden State Warriors, the two teams would have yet to close that gap.
But these more difficult talks were never held. Myers officially quit his job on Tuesday, completing his part of a revealing farewell press conference in which he made it clear that a financial dispute hadn’t put him off.
“This wasn’t about money,” Myers said. “I just want to make that clear. It’s not about money. I made a lot of money. I was offered a lot of money.”
This is an important detail within the walls of the organization. It’s no secret how badly Stephen Curry, Steve Kerr, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson wanted Myers back, who acted as a masterful buffer between Lacob’s front office and the dressing room. Had it ended in a money dispute, had Myers lost despite his desire to return, the immediate response and consequences from those in power would have been more dramatic.
But Myers has spent the past week explaining his reasoning to the Dynasty figures he is leaving behind. That included a call to Curry.
“It’s funny, I talked to Steph for a little bit and I was like, ‘I have a feeling you’re not really trying to change my mind,'” Myers said. “He started laughing. He says, “No, it hurts.” But he understands. People who know me understand.”
Lacob’s passionate leadership style and obsession with keeping on top of things — he estimated he spoke to Myers “five to 20 times a day” — were obvious factors in Myers’ burnout. Our Tim Kawakami has detailed this well-known dynamic here. That was no doubt part of his explanation to Curry, Kerr and others of the reason for his exit.
But Lacob is exempt from the kind of public disconnect that can divisive a situation (which is often the case in the corporate sports world). He genuinely tried to get Myers back. Life pulled him away. The established core will have their antennae high and monitor how the front office works from here, but the clean, hearty exit – including a combination of Myers and Lacob in which they heaped thoughtful compliments on each other – keeps the water going is less turbulent for the time being.
“The bottom line is that this job that I do — and I would say that for my professional general manager or coach — requires full commitment, full effort, 1,000 percent,” Myers said. “If you can’t do it, then you shouldn’t do it. So that is the answer to the question of why. 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. And that’s the question I’ve wrestled with.”
You could feel how much weight the job has had on Myers over the past few years. He was still the crisis manager and there was a lot on his mind – Draymond Green’s punch, James Wiseman’s trade decision, Gary Payton II’s physical failure. But the nuts and bolts of the operation were at a front office below Myers, which was structured in such a way that it could endure everyday life without him.
That’s why the Warriors don’t have an urgent situation next month, despite the draft and free agency facing them. Myers hasn’t been as closely involved in the preliminary design process in recent weeks.
The Warriors actually held pre-draft practice while Myers and Lacob held their Tuesday afternoon press conference. Among them was Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA’s winger who is an option for them with the 19th pick. Larry Harris, her longtime head of college scouting, and Mike Dunleavy Jr., Myers’ presumptive successor, presided over it.
“We believe in the strength of the bank,” Lacob said. “Some might think that we don’t do that because they sometimes criticized our bench on the pitch. But we believe in the strength of the bank and in this organization we have a lot of banking strength and a lot of people who are really good at their jobs.”
Involved throughout basketball and business, Kirk Lacob will surely play an even more important role in Myer’s absence. Kent Lacob is on the way up after years scouting internationally and in the G League. Pabail Sidhu leads the analysis department and is a trusted voice for both Dunleavy and the coaching staff. Onsi Saleh is their cap expert. He was hired away from San Antonio. Shaun Livingston, Nick U’Ren, Jonnie West and Ryan Atkinson are others in the room.
But it’s Dunleavy who has so quickly risen to the place next to Myers. He is a former Myers client and was suggested by Myers in 2019. He was in the same New York hotel room as Myers when the two signed the D’Angelo Russell sign-and-trade on the day Kevin Durant left. This eventually led to Andrew Wiggins and the election that became Jonathan Kuminga. This night is detailed here.
“Mike is great,” Myers said. “He will be good as a GM if he wants to. It will be great if he wants that. But it’s his choice. It’s Joe’s call. It’s not my decision… But he’s really good and he’d be fantastic if that was a choice. But I’d be lying if I thought four years ago, let’s bring Mike in and he can take over this thing. I told him if that’s what he wants then I support him wholeheartedly. I said I’ll help Draymond if he needs it.”
That last line is most notable. It addresses the most challenging aspect of the position for Myers’ successor and also provides a behind-the-scenes look at a joint discussion over the past few weeks. Myers and Dunleavy are close friends. Dunleavy knew Myers had a tendency to walk away. It’s clear the pair have been given an indication that Dunleavy is a prime candidate to succeed him and have discussed all that comes with it.
No one will ever enjoy the level of trust Myers earned with Curry, Green and Thompson. But Dunleavy has been on the go around the clock for the last couple of seasons. He travels a lot with the team. He has regular conversations with Kerr. After losing Game 1 to the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round, Curry, Green, Myers and Dunleavy sat in the weight room having an extensive four-way discussion. It felt a bit like a baton handover moment, with Myers introducing the other three to the kind of debriefings they might have without him in the future.
Much of Tuesday’s hour-long press conference served as an ode to Myers’ time with the Warriors. Both Myers and Lacob shared stories about his hiring in 2011 and all the monumental decisions he made over the years.
But this was also the first time Lacob addressed the media since the season ended and new CBA rules were implemented, severely limiting the Warriors’ ability to stay deep in the luxury tax well into the future . Lacob was asked about it.
“I’m not going to comment much on the squad because the truth is we have a lot of work to do and we have time,” Lacob said. “We still have time until the draft and free agency, which is about a month away. We will win no matter what. I don’t care about the rules. We’ll find a way to do this. That’s what good organizations do. You find a way to win the game. And our goal is to win games and win championships… Look, the rules of the game will change, but we will continue to do so. We’re going to work really hard on it and I think we have really smart people.”
Many of the most influential restrictions—draft pick bans, trade restrictions—on teams in the second tax pad (where the Warriors are based in their current state each year) don’t go into effect for another year. This is an important note. Thompson’s $43.2 million contract expires next summer, allowing for greater maneuverability.
Meanwhile, the new rules mean they don’t have a mid-level tax exemption this off-season and limit their takeover opportunities next March. But the Warriors have been reluctant to use their TPMLE for most summers and aren’t typically looking for a buyout anyway. This gives them time to figure out the neatest way to accommodate the second apron and rearrange and tweak this summer with that in mind.
Kerr will be back as coach next season. Curry’s contract runs for three more years. Thompson is under contract. Green has a player option but both sides seem intent on a reunion. The core remains intact, and part of Myers’ press conference was his announcement that he would not be fleeing a sinking ship.
“This team is in great shape,” Myers said. “Good form. Joe’s not going anywhere. He supported me. He told me: If there was a cost-per-win metric, I wouldn’t know how good I would be. Because we spent a lot of money because he was so competitive and because he cares so much. That’s all you could ask for when you have an owner who puts his heart, will and money into winning. That doesn’t change. You have a fantastic coach. With Steph Curry you have arguably one of the best players of all time and one of the best people of all time.
“So the future is incredibly bright. I know some people have said I’m leaving because there are a lot of big decisions to be made. Well, it was even worse. When we started out in the past, there were a lot tougher summers than this one. So I have great confidence in the future and I have no doubt that there is still a lot of success to come.”
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(Photo: Darren Yamashita / USA Today)