Bob Myers, Warriors President of Basketball Operations / General Manager, left, and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr joke around as Kerr walks in for the start of the Warriors end-of-season press conference in Oakland in 2019. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
It hasn’t quite been a week since Bob Myers announced he would be leaving the Warriors at the end of this month, but coach Steve Kerr said there’s already a “really hollow feeling” throughout the organization knowing that the architect of four championship-winning teams won’t be around for much longer.
“There’s an incredible friendship there, an incredible sense of gratitude that I have for Bob for everything that we’ve shared and been through together,” Kerr said on the most recent episode of the “Draymond Green Show” podcast. “I’m going to miss him, and we’re going to miss him. He’s just a huge part of everything.”
Speaking publicly on Myers’ departure for the first time since news broke last Tuesday, Kerr and Draymond Green lauded the two-time Executive of the Year and reflected how he impacted their careers.
Green, whom Myers drafted No. 35 overall in 2012, started the segment by saying he would have been “remiss” if he didn’t acknowledge Myers’ impending departure and thanked the long-time executive for supporting him through trying times. Meanwhile, Kerr said Myers’ impact during the collaboration process will be sorely missed.
“He and I have been partners in this thing for nine years,” Kerr said on Monday’s episode. “He hired me, he was here before I was. I don’t know what it’s going to be like without him. There’s already a really hollow feeling just knowing he’s not going to be in the building every day.”
Myers stepped down from his role as the Warriors’ president of basketball operations and general manager because he couldn’t put in the “complete effort” needed to be successful at the job for another season. Myers said it was especially hard to tell Stephen Curry, Green, Klay Thompson and Kerr that his time with the Warriors was coming to an end.
Kerr acknowledged the inherent stress that comes with Myers’ job, from managing personalities to being the frontman when problems arise.
“There’s so much more that goes into being a general manager than just making draft picks and signing free agents,” said Kerr, whom Myers tapped to replace Mark Jackson in 2014. “You’re literally managing everybody in the organization from day to day, and Bob’s the master. He has an incredible way of making people feel good about themselves and yet making people feel accountable at the same time, and making people want to do their best — not for him, but for the group and for yourself.
“He’s constantly challenging all of us to be our best, but without sort of putting pressure on us, if that makes sense. He’s got an amazing way about him.”
Green said he appreciated Myers for staying in his corner even when it might’ve been difficult.
“I know what he’s meant to me and my career,” Green said. “I was having a conversation today with someone and I started talking about some of the things that I’ve gone through as a player, you know all the s— that I’ve caused myself. It’s self-inflicted wounds that I’ve had over the course of your tenure here… Trust me, not for one second do I go home and not think these guys have had my back.”
Green detailed one incident when cameras caught Kerr saying, “I’m sick of Draymond’s s—.” Green said he was initially hurt to see Kerr say that about him. But as he’s gotten older and has taken a step back to view that moment through a wider lens, Green concluded, “I’d be sick of Draymond’s s—, too.”
Green said he has the utmost gratitude for their support over the years.
“I understand what you’ve done for me and I understand what Bob’s done for me and what you guys have meant to my life and my career,” Green said.
Originally published at Madeline Kenney