As first reported by Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News, the Warriors have hired former player agent Bob Myers as the new Assistant GM. The Warriors also extended the contract of GM Larry Riley, which was first reported by Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com.
Here is the press release the Warriors just sent out:
The Golden State Warriors have announced that General Manager Larry Riley will be retained beyond the 2010-11 season as General Manager/Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations and that Bob Myers has been named Assistant General Manager/Vice President of Basketball Operations. Per team policy, terms of the agreements were not announced.
Riley, 66, recently concluded his second season as General Manger of the Warriors following his appointment to the position on May 11, 2009. He originally joined the organization as an assistant coach in 2006 and spent two-plus seasons in that capacity before being elevated to Assistant General Manager in November of 2008. Overall, Riley has accumulated over 22 years of experience in the NBA as an executive, scout or coach with Milwaukee, Vancouver, Dallas and Golden State.
“I think Larry has done a great job and I’ve been very pleased with his performance,” said Warriors Owner Joe Lacob. “He’s had a vision since he took the job less than two years ago and he has certainly helped move this team in an extremely positive direction in terms of our culture, cap management and roster additions. With that said, he also understands that we still have plenty of work to do and that expectations for this team have increased. I believe he’ll work extremely well with Bob and the fact that we now have a more traditional configuration in Basketball Operations – General Manager, Assistant General Manager, a Director of Player Personnel in Travis Schlenk and a Director of Basketball Operations in Kirk Lacob – will prove beneficial for everyone. I’m extremely confident that we’ve formed a very good team from a Basketball Operations standpoint.”
Myers, 36, joins the Warriors after spending the previous five years at Wasserman Media Group (WMG) in Los Angeles, one of the largest global sports and entertainment companies in the world. He has represented numerous NBA players over the last decade-plus and, prior to joining Golden State, had a client list of nearly 20 NBA players at WMG in his role as managing executive. Myers began his career in the sports representation business in 1997 as in intern at Los Angeles-based Tellem and Associates – under the tutelage of long-time sports agent Arn Tellem – which became SFX Sports in 2000. Overall, he has accumulated 14 years of experience in the business and has negotiated over $575 million in contracts. He also earned his Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School in 2002 and earlier this year was the recipient of a “40 under 40” Award, presented annually by the SportsBusiness Journal to the 40 most influential sports executives under the age of 40.
Myers, a Bay Area native who attended Monte Vista High School in Alamo, graduated from UCLA in 1998 with a degree in Business/Economics and was a member of the UCLA basketball team during his time in Westwood. The Bruins, propelled by a 32-1 record, captured the 1995 NCAA Championship during his sophomore season and advanced to the Elite Eight two years later (1997).
“We are tremendously excited about the addition of Bob Myers to our Basketball Operations Staff,” said Joe Lacob. “I think it is important to recruit some of the best young talent in the business and we, unequivocally, believe Bob has the potential to be outstanding in this field and will be a great asset to our organization. He’s young, energetic, hard-working and, most importantly, he’s earned tremendous respect in basketball circles and has fostered many positive relationships with key people in the sport both domestically and internationally. I think those traits are extremely vital when you are looking to build a team and establish a solid foundation for the future. Bob simply possesses many of the great intangibles that I have come to appreciate during my time with the Celtics and Warriors and I believe he brings an entirely new positive dimension to a very solid Basketball Operations Staff.”
“Bob Myers, quite simply, is one of the brightest young executives that I have come across in a long time and I’m really gratified that he has elected to join us,” said Riley. “I know there are an extraordinary number of people, including his former boss, Arn Tellem, who value him tremendously and have been extremely impressed with his work and accomplishments at an early age. He was an important cog in the overall scheme of things at Wasserman Media Group and his expertise – from legal issues and contract negotiations to his wide-ranging relationships in the business – will pay huge dividends for the Warriors as we continue to build a basketball team that our fans can be proud of every season.”
“I am really excited about this great opportunity,” said Myers. “It’s not easy to leave Wasserman and a person who I respect immensely, Arn Tellem, but this is something that I’ve always wanted to pursue. Plus, I have always considered the Warriors as a franchise that could potentially be one of the premiere organizations in the NBA due to their market and incredible fans. If you combine that with the new ownership in place, I’m confident that we can accomplish some pretty special things in the future. I’m grateful to Joe Lacob and Larry Riley for this opportunity and words can’t express how eager I am to get started.
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