Warriors President General Manager Bob Myers is stepping down

“It’s about time,” Myers told ESPN. Myers, whose contract expires in late June, said he turned down ownership offers on a new deal that would have paid him among the league’s top executives. Myers described the decision-making process that led him to leave the franchise after 12 years as involving several factors beyond money.

Myers, 48, said he’s unsure of his future career path, but if he ever decides to return to the team squad, he is expected to become one of the most-followed executives in the modern history of North American professional sports.

Myers’ combination of leadership, talent assessment, and the respect he commands at every level of the industry—ownership, front office, coaches, players, and agents—makes him a uniquely attractive part of a prospective ownership or front office group.

Myers is scheduled to speak at a press conference scheduled for 4 p.m. EST on Tuesday in San Francisco.

During his 10 years with the Warriors, Myers, who grew up in the Bay Area as a franchise fan and went on to play basketball at UCLA, has built a Hall of Fame resume. He had strong work and personal relationships with key members of the Warriors dynasty – Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and coach Steve Kerr. The sources said that he had informed each of them in recent days that there was a real possibility of him leaving the job.

With Myers gone, Warriors owner Joe Lacob is expected to seek more prominent roles for his son, Kirk, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, and Vice President of Basketball Operations Mike Dunleavy Jr.

The Warriors are approaching a difficult crossroads with a payroll and welfare tax that could approach $500 million in 2023-2024 without tough decisions being made about the futures of key players, including Green and Thompson.

Green has a player option on his 2023-2024 contract, and Thompson is entering the final year of his deal. Both players hope lucrative extensions can stay with the Warriors.

The Warriors won four titles in the past eight years before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals this spring. The Warriors have reached the NBA Finals six times in Myers’ 11 seasons as a GM, losing to Toronto (2019) and Cleveland (2016). Myers oversaw the Warriors’ pursuit of Kevin Durant, who arrived as a free agent in 2016 and was part of two title drives with the Warriors before tearing his achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals.

Hired as an assistant to GM in 2011, Myers was promoted to GM in 2012, and outside of Curry’s pre-arrival, he oversaw the drafts, trades and signings that carved out one of the league’s modern dynasties. Myers was a top player agent before joining the Warriors front office in 2011.