Former Warriors general manager Bob Myers appears headed to television rather than another NBA front office. Sources tell Ryan Glasspiegel of The New York Post that Myers is close to a deal to become an analyst for ESPN’s “NBA Countdown.”
Myers announced in May that he was leaving Golden State at the end of his contract after spending 12 seasons with the organization. He put together a roster that won four NBA titles and has been able to sustain a high level of success for most of the past decade. Myers, who also was named the team’s president of basketball operations in 2016, is a two-time Executive of the Year winner.
There has been speculation that other teams would pursue Myers, even though he stated that he wanted a break from the league when he announced he was stepping down from the Warriors. He reportedly turned down offers from Golden State that would have made him one of the NBA’s highest-paid executives.
Glasspiegel notes that Myers has a previous connection to ESPN through a “Lead By Example” podcast that he hosted last season. ESPN distributed the show on its multimedia platforms.
ESPN has made several changes to its coverage team since the NBA playoffs wrapped up in June, Glasspiegel adds. It was reported this week that Malika Andrews will replace Mike Greenberg as “Countdown” host for the NBA Finals, and longtime analyst Jalen Rose was released as part of the network’s layoffs earlier this summer.
Also, ESPN decided to shake up its top announcing team, replacing Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson with Doris Burke and former Sixers coach Doc Rivers.
I think that’s pretty interesting – if he’s any good, he can (hopefully) add an interesting perspective as to why teams are doing what they’re doing.
Maybe he’ll use his acting chops again and cry on live TV for a 2nd time, the 1st being after he tried to do so while addressing the media after KD tore his Achilles. He face was as dry as a bone then lololol
I saw that on TV then. I don’t remember it the way you do. He was legitimately emotional. It’s pretty clueless of you to actually think it was all an act. it wasnt.
Replaced Jeff Van Gundy. Not a fan of this move. We need someone else from the past. Any ideas?
Pretty cool because he can offer the perspective of a GM but also that of a player representative. Unique skill set. So around pre season roster building time or the trade deadline Etc, he can offer the team’s viewpoint as well as the player and agent angle.
Yeah, I agree he’ll provide a different viewpoint for sure, but as @ARC mentioned, he’s been pretty bland and boring during interviews, soooo it might be a loooooooooong season on ESPN!
I agree Myers has an interesting and unique perspective, but ultimately I think the format of Countdown needs to change in order for him (and the other panelists) to thrive.
But when he comments from HIS perspective, commenters on HR will feel jealous and insecure and say, “We get it… you were a GM and agent.”
He is very boring in interviews. Unless he is on NBA trade shows and the inside of how trades come together I don’t see his reports very entertaining.
Actually, he’s very funny and extremely intelligent. I’m talking talk show guest/podcasts/etc. I liked Greenberg but Myers will be good imo. Maybe you’re thinking of Bob Meyers, Arc.
Mind boggling. His career decisions dont make much sense. I wonder if he or his family are going thru some personal issues we dont know about. Either that, he’s going way out of his way to bend backwards to not make Lacob and Warriors look bad in any way. I mean is there any doubt that he will be running another prominent team soon on a $100m+ contract? $10M a year is a lot of money and there’s no way he will pass on it for too long just because he needs some break. He worked very hard to build up his career in nba and he surely has an inside track in future employment in place.
You’re probably right. An ESPN job is “usually” a stop gap between real jobs. This way he gets to stay home, doesn’t have to travel or miss any holidays or kids ball games on the weekends. Almost like a regular 9:00 to 5:00. He’ll recharge before signing up for a grind again.
Nothing mind boggling about it. The guy is financially set for life. And, he might actually love his wife and kids. Some things are more important.
He did say he was tired of the 24/7 GM thing with the warriors and needed some time off. So for him it works out good not being needed to travel a lot
He’s not set for life. Why do you think he’s working so soon at espn? Myers has to learn to balance – family and work while running a team. Yes, it’s easier said than done and it’s different for every individuals. Working 24/7 or burnout usually means too much stress/pressure, not happy at work, etc. Whatever it is, hope to see Myers happy and healthy, and running an nba team again soon.
ESPN has just turned into a joke.
ESPN has been a joke for the past 30 years. You finally figured that out.
Just ?!?! You mean having Perkins as an NBA analysts is being serious ? Mad dog and Kellerman aren’t much better.
I don’t know what long time employees like Van Gundy, Jackson, Rose, etc were making but if ESPN is like other businesses, like teachers, companies want to dump high priced employees and bring in much lower paid people.
This article falsely claims Bob put together the roster that won 4 championships. He did not. That would be Jerry west. Bob was simply the ego manager, who came to town after the band already got together.
Absolute Facts! Jerry West was the guy. Came in after he got pissed at L.A., and put together an all-time squad.
Bob Myers on television is nothing to be excited about.
Umm no…Larry Riley drafted Curry, Thompson, and traded for Bogut. He was also instrumental in the Warriors drafting Draymond and Barnes. For some weird reason, people always forget about him.
People forget about Larry Riley because he was Don Nelson’s puppet. Don Nelson built the roster when he was here and and placed Larry Riley in the GM position himself.
These guys are correct that Jerry West was the Mind behind the roster and the Andrew Bogut trade, drafting Klay Thompson.., but not sure about Curry… I think he just fell in their laps LOL
huh, not sure. Cmon Gary. We all know Riley drafted Curry. Pre Lacob.
Yep true claude. I forget some things and remember others. Good call.
A FO type could add to a discussion of personnel issues, around trades and the draft. But I’m sure ESPN won’t use him in such a targeted way. More likely they’ll just give him a seat at the studio table and see if he can keep up with the sophomoric nonsense. He’ll probably be more annoying than anything else.