Bob Myers was a surprising name to many when he was revealed as part of Josh Harris’ search committee, considering he is a basketball executive – but as NBA insider Ric Bucher told Grant & Danny Tuesday, it does make sense on a personal level.
“I was surprised when I first heard it, but in sort of connecting the dots and putting the pieces together, obviously, Josh is familiar with Bob's work and with him personally through the NBA, so I can see where that makes sense,” Bucher said.
That said, Bucher knows basketball and football are very different sports, but there is a way where Myers’ input can make sense on a 30,000-foot view level.
“I still am amused at the job fair that being on TV seems to be for executives and coaches. It never ceases to amaze me, and if you think it's just coincidence, it is not coincidence. It is startling the number of situations that I've heard about where somebody said, ‘yeah, that owner saw him on TV and was thinking, man, he sounds really smart,’ and they look the communication in front of the cameras…yeah, because they have all the answers and they’re already prepped!” Bucher laughed. “What Bob and anybody else is being hired to do in this instance is about being able to anticipate what's gonna happen and live with the consequences. That’s where I find this very interesting, because having covered football as well as basketball, I know that the cultures are very different, and Bob certainly is very accomplished, very smart, a great communicator who builds great relationships inside and outside organizations.”
In saying football is a different culture, though, how will that fit in?
“I just wonder whether his reputation and his personality will have the same impact in football that that they had in basketball, but he’s much more communication, relationship aware. How do you communicate and get along with people?” Bucher said. “Maybe his greatest talent, to be honest, is his ability to manage ownership. The number of things that Joe Lacob wanted to do that would have pre-empted the Warriors dynastic days, that he was talked out of either by Bob Myers or Jerry West, is a LONG list. So, the impulses of ownership to do a certain thing to make a move or not make a move, whatever it may be, Bob's ability to bridge the gap between ownership and whoever's managing and whoever's coaching and the players, I honestly believe that that's probably the most impactful thing that he did with the Warriors. He is very good at developing healthy connective tissue, and he’s really great at recognizing when it's time to get out, because he could not have picked a better time to jump off of this Warriors situation! He will be remembered for being the primary architect for all of those championships, not for the fact that they tried to milk a little bit more out of this group and have a youth movement at the same time, which has proved to be very unsuccessful.”
All of that noted, Bucher ‘loves’ this marriage, because he appreciates the ‘thinking outside the box’ that Myers will bring to the search parameters.
“In terms of getting ahead of the curve, I think that that is key, and I am more along the lines of go get somebody like Bob Myers than someone who's just doing the numbers,” Bucher said. “Analytics have their place, but I think way too many teams in every sport have now become obsessed with addressing the numbers, like reaching certain statistical marks and that's going to assure success. I believe it still comes down to a bigger part of it is the chemistry of your organization and of your team, and if you don't have that, I don't care what the analytics say, you're never gonna reach the top of the mountain.”
So then, here’s the million dollar question: Danny recalled a previous life where an old job hired a consultant to find a candidate for a role, and it turned out the consultant was the best fit. Is there a possibility that somehow, Myers is the best fit for a role in the revamped Commanders office?
“It's impossible for me to answer not knowing Josh Harris, and I don't know what he wants; Bob Myers is smart enough that I would suspect he has the same concern that I have,” Bucher said. “I don't know what his level of the network of relationships is with people around the NFL. Before he became the GM of the Warriors, he was a long-time agent, so he already knew the landscape. I would be surprised if Bob would want to do that, because he has to go from 0 to 60 and just doesn't have that base of knowledge, and I think the other element is that he’s got a relatively young family, and a job like that is consuming. I wouldn’t be surprised if Josh would approach him after they interview everybody, and maybe he already has, but I also wouldn't be surprised if Bob said it's not for me. I think he's great, and if he was starting from any kind of a base or background, then I would consider him, but there’s a lot of work to be done there.”