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Tim MacMahon: If Bob Myers would have taken this job and relocated from L.A., then I think that it might be Bob Myers. But this wasn’t a late pivot, necessarily, to Masai. It was very quiet, months-long conversations with him. He first met with Patrick Dumont — I was told it was a four-hour lunch in Las Vegas in December. That’s when the process started with him, and everything was handled as quietly as they possibly could.”
Rumors about the Mavericks’ interest in Myers began circulating last summer while Harrison was still employed. The Mavericks, league sources say, would still love to hire him, but there is skepticism that Myers would leave his native California to come to Texas and resign from his post as president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which holds ownership stakes in the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils and Crystal Palace F.C.
Before coming to Dallas, Welts had a 10-year run with the Golden State Warriors. In Welts’ time in the Bay Area, he worked closely with Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers. An agent who went on to win two NBA Executive of the Year awards, Myers is comfortable in front of the camera and is known for his strong interpersonal skills — two qualities important to the Mavericks, team sources said, after watching Harrison struggle in both areas.
Internal candidates Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley — Dallas’ co-interim general managers since Nico Harrison’s firing in November — are under consideration to get the job. But the Mavericks, league sources said, also have ambitions of going big-game hunting. Team governor Patrick Dumont successfully persuaded NBA Hall of Famer Rick Welts to come out of retirement to run the Mavericks’ business side in one of his first major moves in charge of the team. The Athletic has reported since February that Dumont will target experienced, proven talent to run Dallas’ basketball side, as well.
League sources tell The Stein Line that the most frequently whispered Dallas target from that category is actually former Golden State Warriors lead executive Bob Myers, who would naturally have Welts' strong backing after their successful years together with the Warriors. Yet Myers currently holds an extremely lucrative job as president for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment that calls for him to provide high-level consulting for all of the pro sports franchises in the HBSE portfolio. That includes the New Jersey Devils (NHL) and Crystal Palace Football Club (English Premier League) in addition to the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers … with Myers also part of the hierarchy with the Josh Harris-owned Washington Commanders (NFL).
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Could Dumont, with Welts' assistance, somehow lure Myers away from the unique multisport post that convinced the two-time NBA Executive of the Year to leave ESPN? Myers has already brushed away overtures from Phoenix, Atlanta and presumably other NBA teams since leaving the Warriors after the 2022-23 season. So longshot, once again, is probably underselling it.
Former Warriors GM Bob Myers is not a candidate for the front office opening in Dallas created by Nico Harrison's departure and is not even available to serve as a consultant to other teams after his recent departure from ESPN to take a new position as president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NFL's Washington Commanders, Crystal Palace of the Premier League and the NHL's New Jersey Devils in addition to the Philadelphia 76ers.
It is acknowledged, though, that Myers is close with new Mavericks CEO Rick Welts after their years together in Golden State and will indeed be asked for suggestions and input on next steps given the Myers/Welts friendship. Myers has rebuffed numerous overtures in recent years from NBA teams before expanding his multisport role under Josh Harris and David Blitzer.
But the Spurs offer, when it came, was too good to refuse: $7 an hour, minimum wage in Texas. “Dude, it was tough,” he says. But Saleh jumped at it and, over four years in San Antonio, was exposed to nearly every aspect of the organization. Most importantly, he had the chance to work alongside the likes of RC Buford and Gregg Popovich, the legendary management and coaching tandem that had led the Spurs to four of their five NBA titles. “RC Buford and Pop were amazing mentors of mine,” Saleh says. “They were phenomenal in my growth and development and then, after (four) years there, the Warriors ended up hitting me up. I didn’t think I was going to leave San Antonio, but 15 minutes in a room with (then Warriors president) Bob Myers sold me.”
Former Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers is leaving his role as an ESPN basketball analyst to become president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, giving the championship executive the ability to work across many of the world's top leagues. Myers will work in a full-time role with the goal of maximizing opportunities and bolstering processes for a Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) portfolio that include the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA, the New Jersey Devils of the NHL, Crystal Palace F.C. of the English Premier League, and an investment in NASCAR team Joe Gibbs Racing. Myers also will continue to support Josh Harris, the managing partner of the Washington Commanders, after he helped assemble the framework of the leadership team that has guided the NFL franchise back to prominence.
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Joe Lacob has been a central figure in Kuminga's NBA career since the beginning. Bob Myers was team president and Dunleavy assistant general manager when they drafted Kuminga in 2021. They gave the collective green light, but Lacob was a driving force in the selection when others, including a few on the coaching staff, voiced a Franz Wagner preference, sources said. Lacob has remained a staunch Kuminga supporter and vocal believer in his long-term future. He voiced an unwillingness to include Kuminga in a proposed trade from Chicago for Alex Caruso a couple of seasons back, sources said, and was still glowing about Kuminga's performance in May after he rose from out of Steve Kerr's first-round rotation to the team's leading scorer in the second-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Matt Barnes: But with new ownership—who’s obviously tied to Magic Johnson—and Magic is tied to Rob in the Commanders deal... do we smell what The Rock is cooking? Or am I crazy to think that Magic could be on his way back to the Lakers at some point? Maybe with Bob Myers—a fellow Bruin, the great mind behind the Golden State Warriors—who’s just sitting at home collecting checks, looking good on ESPN, owning NFL teams. As a Laker fan, what would you think?
Back to the Hawks: League sources say Ressler, seemingly inspired by Myers' success in Golden State and likewise by what Leon Rose and Rob Pelinka are doing with the Knicks and Lakers, has shown a significant interest in pursuing established agents to take over Atlanta's front office and team up with cap strategist Onsi Saleh, whom the Hawks recently promoted to general manager.