A Deep Dive on Bob Myers With Two Bob Myers Experts

Added: 2026-05-21

[00:00:00]on the show today. So, just who is that sneaky little guy Bob Meyers? We will have two Bob Meyers experts on with us today who know him very well to find out more about the fourtime NBA champion overseeing basketball operations. Our friend Sam Fandiari of the Lightyears podcast and our friend Ethan Sherwood Strauss of House of Strauss who covered the Warriors for years with ESPN and the Athletic and wrote a book about them.

[00:00:26]The Rights Ricky Sanchez podcast is presented by DraftKings Sportsbook. Sign up for DraftKings sports book by using promo code RTRS. Brought to you by Adam Cassabi, the official realtor of the Ricky. 3028648643 or go to buyandelaware.com. Verb Energy, green tea, caffeine, real ingredients wherever, whenever you need it. Get 20% off at verbenergy.com with code RTRS and Surfside iced tea and vodka. The official canned cocktail of the Ricky.

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[00:01:19]Stock up before the weekend. Drink it responsibly, of course. Or go to drinksside.com. You got to be 21. And as I said, please enjoy it responsibly.

[00:01:28]Without any further ado, Amos and the chef.

[00:01:42]Say the name. I say the name. I say the name.

[00:01:48]We were right, y'all. We were right.

[00:01:51]>> We were right.

[00:01:51]>> Even when it went wrong, we were right.

[00:01:54]>> We were right.

[00:01:54]>> We was right, y'all. We were right. So say the name. Say the name. Say the name. Say the name.

[00:02:01]>> We were right, y'all. We were right. We were right.

[00:02:04]>> Even when it went wrong, we were right.

[00:02:07]We were right, y'all. We were right. You were right.

[00:02:10]>> So, say the name.

[00:02:11]>> Say the name.

[00:02:12]>> Say the name.

[00:02:12]>> I say the name.

[00:02:13]>> Say the name. I say the name.

[00:02:16]>> Say the name.

[00:02:19]>> I say the name.

[00:02:22]>> I say the name. Say the name.

[00:02:26]>> The lights forever.

[00:02:33]>> We're starting the podcast. Uh, >> welcome. Welcome Ethan Strauss of Houseofstrauss.com. Welcome Samusfendiari of the Lightyears podcast.

[00:02:45]When I thought we have a former warrior running the Philadelphia 76ers, the two guys that popped up into my mind that we had to talk to were you two. So, welcome.

[00:02:58]>> Happy to be here. And yeah, I I I feel like for whatever reason I have a PhD in the little known Bob Meyers, Daryl my rivalry, so I'm quite happy to be here to explore the space.

[00:03:13]>> I'm also excited. I watched the full 33 minute video of the awkward Bob Meyers Josh Harris press conference. It did not disappoint. Like I'm not going to lie, I listened to your guys episode before this and you you give me tidbits. The tidbits were good and they were they kind of teased me, but I had to listen to the whole thing and you guys are [ __ ] >> Did it did it turn Did it turn you into a Sixers fan, Sam?

[00:03:39]>> The sheer aura of Josh Harris at the mic.

[00:03:44]>> I uh I completely understand everything you say now. I'll put it down.

[00:03:50]>> Wow.

[00:03:53]Well, so uh uh Ethan, you mentioned I I can tell I can always tell when you become fixated on a particular story and the Myers I'm surprised that the Meyers mory thing has sort of like come out of nowhere to uh capture your fascination.

[00:04:10]What is it about it that you that you seem so fascinated by?

[00:04:17]I think I became very fixated when covering the Warriors on the resentments that uh popped up during that run because there was that whole Pat Riley disease of Moore, disease of me, nobody knows if it's one or the other, but that's a real thing. And so to suddenly be living in basketball history with this historic team that people were paying attention to and talking about and not only seeing the run but also seeing how the run didn't fulfill people. And I became very focused on Bob Meyers because his whole thing was the John Wooden quote of it's amazing what you can accomplish when nobody cares who gets the credit. And he consciously with extreme restraint avoided trying to take credit. And over time, he might he might contest this, but I just know it to be true. I could see it eating at him. And one of the ways it manifested, I believe, was his noticing and a bit of a fixation on friendnemy Daryl my who, even though he wasn't winning all these championships that Bob was winning, was more famous, was more of a media darling, had the Sloan Conference.

[00:05:27]There's a style of basketball called Mory Ball. There's no Myers ball. And so for whatever reason, that captured my interest. I just didn't I didn't think that it would manifest in any regime change of the Philadelphia 76ers. That that part is throwing me for a loop.

[00:05:45]>> Are are either of you surprised that Bob Meyer since he left the Warriors has not run a basketball team?

[00:05:53]>> Yeah. I mean, yes, but it also makes sense. I thought he'd be refreshed. He was so beaten down by the job, just comically belleaguered. And we would joke about it in media. One of their drafts, I think it was the Jordan Pool draft, he was so apathetic. He wasn't trying to sell us on any of the picks.

[00:06:13]It was him up there going, I don't know, you know, maybe one of these guys will work. You know, sometimes it happens, you know, and just heart not in it completely. And that was years before he exited. And so I knew he was miserable towards the end, but I just figured that he would return quickly and that the TV job was a way to refresh and regroup.

[00:06:39]It's surprising to me that a he's been out in the wilderness for as long as he has been and b how it doesn't seem like any fan base particularly craves him, which is odd when you consider the resume.

[00:06:54]Sam, what are your how do you feel about Bob like and his Warriors regime? What what level of credit do you give him and what I guess kinds of blame? So, I'm looking at it from a different angle because when I look at the Warriors and all the dysfunction that was the Jonathan Kuminga situation, aka the worst player ever to have a trade demand and like publicly dominate ESPN headlines. Like, if you think about it, he's by far the worst player to ever get that that type of treatment.

[00:07:29]>> Throughout that whole thing, I'm like, man, they miss Bob Myers. They miss someone who just can make this stuff disappear. You kind of don't appreciate the value of someone who knows how to manage people and keep stuff from getting to the surface until they're gone. Um, so I've been I've been kind of in the I miss Bob camp for an extended period of time now.

[00:07:50]>> Yeah.

[00:07:53]No offense to Bob Meyers, but it reminds me, it's very sad, but we had to put down our old dog recently.

[00:08:03]>> And my wife and I will have these conversations. We talk about >> how we miss our dog. We miss our dog.

[00:08:08]>> We wish we could have our dog back.

[00:08:10]>> But then I always add the correction, >> but I miss him when he was younger.

[00:08:15]That's the one I want back. I don't want the dog back that I was carrying out to the backyard and everything else that goes on when the dog gets older. That's how I feel about Bob Myers and >> that is I feel bad laughing because of course I feel bad about your dog, but also I I actually feel bad about I feel bad about Myers now.

[00:08:39]>> He might be a fresh dog. He might be my fantasy of when I get to >> I mean have my dog revivified. I've considered that too. Like, am I romanticizing what Bob Myers was as a GM? Am I just thinking about the Gloria years, which at this point was a decade ago for the Warriors?

[00:08:56]>> Well, you shared that that Sloan Conference 2016 clip with me, and I'm looking at it going, "Oh, that's Bob with a pep in his step. That's before I'm depressed. I don't really care or know if any of these draft picks are going to work out. Oh, I guess I picked James Wiseman. Good luck. I guess I'm leaving now." I mean, the Bob that left was not the same Bob as the Bob that began the journey and suffered under the yoke of the Lakeups and seemed to lose his >> pizzazz.

[00:09:27]>> The hair is the same though. I mean, we have we have to we have to at least comment on that. How many men >> How many men have zero grays through their 40s into their 50s, not an inch off the hairline? Like, it's really impressive.

[00:09:41]>> Pretty good. SP I just how differently would we feel about Bob >> if a gust of wind came through that press conference with Harris and then a toupe just shot off his head >> and he had the frier bald spot but we just our image of him would be completely collapsed in that moment.

[00:10:02]>> Yeah. Well, it's just a it was nice of Nick Nurse to carry Bob Myers to the press conference the way Ethan was carrying his dog out to the backyard.

[00:10:10]Uh I think I mean look that's fair to I the Warriors had had so much success and so talking about the glory years of a decade ago when also the even sweeter championship of of 22 um you you can't I'm I'm finding myself defending Bob Myers against having a couple down down years and bad picks but like >> he had to to have had as much success as the Warriors had with him at the helm.

[00:10:40]um is psychotic and we haven't gotten out of the second round, >> so it's different.

[00:10:48]>> Yeah, I he clearly deserves a lot of credit and I would even defend him on the mistakes that cost him the legacy. I think two mistakes have cost Bob Meyers significantly in his legacy and those are the draft picks of Wiseman and Kuminga. And I would say those picks, those COVID seasons, that's the hardest time to be picking.

[00:11:13]>> Yeah.

[00:11:13]>> I didn't know what to make of any of these guys. I had no idea.

[00:11:17]>> Well, and can I ask though, can I ask though about his picks, right? Like so the the way that you have described him or Sam, you've described him, Ethan, to a certain extent is that like he is this great manager of people, right? Because even he came in, he was an agent. He didn't even when I I watched that Sloan conference thing with him and Daryl and when he talked about meeting the Lakobs, what what he talked about being good at was deals, right? Like he he negotiated a lot of deals when he was an agent. He brought that skill set in.

[00:11:47]>> So like when you talk about his pick, um he doesn't seem like a basketball guy to me the same way that my seems like a basketball guy, just sort of in basketball ops. So was he >> he probably resents that.

[00:11:59]>> Oh my god, he does. Yeah, >> he's got a lot of Bob sees himself very differently than we see him.

[00:12:05]>> So, did he convince himself that he was a basketball guy and is that what ended up hurting him or or was or did he remain a good a manager of people and the people that he hired >> maybe not have the correct >> or did he even get to hire his own people and was that the issue that ultimately led to him having resentment?

[00:12:25]That was a >> that was a big complaint that he didn't have staffing power and look at everything I've won >> and it's an act of Congress to get Mike Dunlevy hired under me. So that was a source of resentment. Now as far as how does he see himself? He sees himself as a hardcore basketball guy who just happened to be an agent because that was his only way in. We see Bob Myers, we see a good-looking 6'8 guy with a glorious head of hair, world by the tail. this guy's got every advantage.

[00:12:55]That is not how Bob Myers sees himself.

[00:12:57]He sees himself as a basketball lifer who, unlike a lot of these other managers and executives in the sport, didn't have some sort of nepo pathway to the position, wasn't any sort of star in college when he played for UCLA, and had to scrape and claw and do the dirty work under Art Telum to eventually get to this position. but he loves basketball and he wants to be in the game and he wants to be in the mix. Now, here's the problem.

[00:13:27]The problem is is that if you're big on being a basketball guy and you're a GM of a storyried franchise, well, in order to get credit, you need to have some sort of promoted vision. He never promoted any idea of what his vision for the Warriors was. And in that vacuum was all of Steve Kerr's vision, strength in numbers, zest for life, anything else Steve was saying is Steve was constantly communicating with the media. So I think I don't know at a certain point, maybe this is why he was so depressive towards the end, he even understood his function in the job beyond babysitting to be a little harsh about it. Yeah, the Sixers going with a zest for death campaign could really complement that, I think.

[00:14:15]Nicely.

[00:14:16]>> Don Draper.

[00:14:17]>> Hey, hey, Mike. The rights to Ricky Sanchez podcast is brought to you by Adam Cassabi, the official realtor of the pod, right?

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[00:14:26]>> Yeah, dude. It is Delaware season. Do you know? So, I don't own a beach house in Delaware. I wish I did. Cassabi is always on me. I'm always like, maybe, maybe, maybe. I will take the plunge eventually. I waited too long this year because my vacation week is July 4th and we couldn't even find a place. We have to go down to [ __ ] Outer Banks, which is like 7 hours away. This is the life.

[00:14:47]If you don't have your beach house in Delaware, >> imagine if you had one. Imagine if you had one. You rent it out for a lot of the weeks. The weeks you want to go, you have it. You can brag to your friends and your family. Oh, we just go to my beach house in Delaware. Now, this can be made easier if you have the right absolute number one realtor on the face of the planet to get you a beach house in Delaware. That is the great Adam Cassabi out of along Foster. KB E. Boy, it's great down there. Uh I don't know if you've ever been. If you haven't, if you have, you know, it's great. If you haven't, imagine the Jersey Shore just with way lower property taxes. I think less crowds to be honest. Restaurants way better.

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[00:16:14]It's tough because like Steph was there when Bob was hired and brought on, but the but the Draymond pick and the Clay pick and to a lesser extent Harrison Barnes like those are the first two are some of the best picks of all time from for that draft.

[00:16:34]>> He doesn't get he doesn't get credit for the clay pick though. And again, this is you live the principle of it's amazing what we can accomplish when we don't care who gets the credit. and these other charismatic, more famous guys.

[00:16:48]>> But it could it could be true. Jerry West gets the credit for the clay pick.

[00:16:53]Also not doing the deal for Kevin Love, which is the greatest non-trade in Warriors history, even if Kevin Love was good. All of the analytics minded basketball world thought they were crazy for not trading Clay for Kevin Love.

[00:17:09]>> I thought they were crazy.

[00:17:10]>> I thought they were crazy, too. But they didn't do it. And the story that filters out is that Steve pounded the table to keep Clay and Clay was also a Jerry West guy. And so what's crazy, I mean, look, the most tangible accomplishment of the Bob Myers era that I can tell you was definitely Bob Meyers and only Bob Meyers was the trade for Andre Gdala.

[00:17:33]That was through connections Bob had. It was the first time I ever saw him belleaguered. He looked back then like he would eventually look every day the the afternoon after he pulled off that trade. It was risky. They offered unprotected picks, which sounds dirty to say, but that was a little bit of an enticement. They made the calculus that this is going to be a sweetened deal because we know we're going to be good and we're just going to risk it in order to make space with the Utah Jazz. And they pulled it off and that was huge for them. But that really unless I mean Sam, could you could you say there's anything else that people tangibly connect to him in the way we typically would a prey for every move they do in Oklahoma?

[00:18:19]>> That's his big one. I I would also say the D'Angelo Russell for Andrew Wiggins move.

[00:18:25]>> Yeah, >> they don't win in 2022 without that one.

[00:18:28]They lose Kevin Durant. they figure out a way to make it a signin trade for D'Angelo Russell who, you know, I lied to myself and pretended that that was gonna work when it was clearly just an asset play.

[00:18:40]>> That's what we do.

[00:18:41]>> And then he flip and they flipped him for Andrew Wiggins, who, you know, honestly I don't like as a player, but he did. He was phenomenal in the 2022 playoffs. They do not win without him.

[00:18:52]And >> uh that was Bob Meyer's move. Even if it was other people, he gets credit for those two moves. You you are right. Like no one ever gives him credit for drafting Klay Thompson. No one gives him credit for drafting Draymond Green. And part of it is because he's good at his job. All he does is go aie shucks. If I knew Draymond was this good, I would have to taken him >> with the two picks I had beforehand.

[00:19:14]>> Yeah, sure. I will say uh I do wonder if it's just one of those things where you want what you don't have because for as much as you're saying Bob doesn't get the credit and fan bases aren't pining for him and he doesn't have like stands the way Daryl my does, it does seem every owner adores him. It does seem that he just billionaires think he's a genius manager and you know if this doesn't work with Philly I have zero doubt there'll be another billionaire who's willing to just cut him a huge check to give TED talks in their organization too. So >> well he's he reminds me a little bit of the Don Draper scene where Draper proves himself to be smart and somebody says I thought that this guy was just good-looking. They were surprised that they he had these other qualities. And Meyers, man, he really did some damage to himself with the TV run, but that's another topic because in person, he's far more charismatic. And he's charismatic, not in the swashbuckling way. He's charismatic in a thoughtful listening to you kind of way. And I don't want to come off too negative about him. I think he's a complicated person.

[00:20:30]>> You've been pretty negative. I mean, just for and I'm not trying to be an [ __ ] but like that's not what I'm doing. Like, you are you are presenting a >> I I think complicated, but it like >> I you I don't think you've painted anything positive about him. So, let me fill in some of that with some nuance because I think he has a high level of emotional intelligence. I don't think it's easy to get these egos to get along and he was good at that. That team was tempestuous.

[00:21:03]There were ego battles. He did manage those. He did manage a lot of it and that's and that's a real thing. So, I think he is he's good at that and it matters that he is comfortable in the locker room that everybody gets along with him. I mean, these are all qualities you can take for granted.

[00:21:25]>> I'll add another I'll add another aspect to that. I I podcast after every Warriors game, which is miserable.

[00:21:32]>> They they have not been a >> boring, dude. They're so boring now.

[00:21:39]>> They are boring, but they have been a miserable team for three years in a row.

[00:21:44]And part of that's just age and whatnot, but part of that is it's just endless drama with ownership, with bad management, and the type of stuff that And maybe maybe it is just Steph Curry.

[00:21:56]Maybe I just need to be honest and say, >> "Yeah, >> nobody cares when Steph is in his prime and just hits the craziest shots." But it does feel like Bob made a lot of the things you don't think about, the the jealousy, the I'm complaining over this, I'm complaining over that stuff go away.

[00:22:15]>> Yeah.

[00:22:16]>> And it's the type of thing that I really only appreciated when he left.

[00:22:20]>> He cuz I was of the opinion that he was an overrated GM, particularly because of the draft picks at the end. And then they remove him from it and every day is like a soap opera episode about Jonathan Kuminga wanting more playing time, but we're not going to trade him for four years in a row for whatever reason.

[00:22:37]>> Well, he took management very seriously.

[00:22:41]He was very much on the scene and I think if another GM operated that way, it might not go over well because the players wouldn't like it. That's an awkward dynamic and relationship. But he was checking in with everybody. He was checking in with I I'll give a hypothetical in air quotes uh to avoid aggregation. Uh Draymond, you're fat.

[00:23:03]Can we talk about that? Can we talk about how you got fat and in a you know nice way uh figure out how you can lose 15 pounds as we're headed towards the playoffs? Can we can we do that please?

[00:23:14]like that sort of conversation Bob Myers would have with a player that I think some of these GMs who might be masters of asset trading, they might not do that stuff. So that's the sort of thing that he can do. I think the big question is how valuable is that skill set before you've built the championship roster? I think that's that's the big question. or how valuable is that skill set if you're not gonna be there running the dayto-day which is what it sounds like he's but >> doing a driveby you're fat I don't know that much >> by the way well okay let me let me be optimistic about it for a second because uh Marcus Hayes wrote something today about what Josh Harris wanted and it was actually something that Mike and I booted around last time we talked which which feels like real to me that Josh Harris wants Bob Myers to be the president of basketball operations and Josh and Bob Myers doesn't want to do it. And essentially what Bob Myers is doing right now is trying to manage the expectation from Josh Harris that he'll have his fingerprints all over this but also not have to do the dayto-day that it seems like he doesn't want to have to do this seems like everything that you guys are describing aside from getting credit for it which I think ownership would give him credit for it. He's not gonna get public credit for it if it goes like this, but it seems like this is something he'd be able to manage well, >> right? Like he'd be able to hire well.

[00:24:39]He'd be able to give, you know, fill in the blanks of like, let's say he hires Vince Rosman from the Thunder, right?

[00:24:46]Who's great at the draft, but probably this other stuff has not done very much of this. Maybe he can fill in the blanks there and then slowly remove himself as the situation feels more stable. Doesn't it feel like this would be that sort of situation where he would be good at managing up, managing down, filling in those blanks, and keeping everyone calm as they got through this stage?

[00:25:11]>> But is he there every day?

[00:25:12]>> What's that?

[00:25:13]>> Is he going to be there every day? No.

[00:25:15]>> Because that was the other thing I I grasp where I was like, his value is managing people and I don't know how valuable that is if it's >> I'm living in LA and I'll fly out to Philly once a month for two days. I think you're tapping into why I sounded negative. I think is what we're tapping into. This sort of wishywashy I don't want to do the full job. I don't want to grind. This is the stuff that started to I'm not going to say get on my nerves because I'm just describing the situation and I understand that there's blame on all the sides and the lakeups can't are sometimes not easy to work with. But as you describe this, I'm just going, why not just run the team or don't take the whatever this job is?

[00:25:59]Like what even is this? I I this is just so vague to me. And >> he wants to transform the New Jersey Devils.

[00:26:08]>> Just like like what is this? Just what is this? I think what he wanted was I think he wanted to like lead an ownership group at some point and I think he saw this job before it became running the Sixers as like his personal evidence for look at what I can do a highle job where I'm not grinding daytoday on things. I'm I'm doing these big picture things. But, uh, to your point, like all those all these jobs all sound much better than they actually are until you have an owner who hired him who's like, "Actually, I want you.

[00:26:43]You're actually the basketball guy."

[00:26:45]>> Yeah. That's that's really what we associate you with. It's it's uh that's that's the main thing. And I think that's just been the Bob journey. He didn't like being an agent when he was an agent. I don't blame him.

[00:26:58]>> I in some ways doesn't that make him more human? Like, haven't we all wanted jobs >> that we think we want, but like actually our skill set is more tailored for another job? The type of stuff you don't like really realize till you're older.

[00:27:13]>> Oh my god, I've gone through so many iterations of that in media where maybe this is the path this is leading me to.

[00:27:19]And then you get to it and you go, "No, actually my skill set is writing cogent analysis and generating ideas." And it's maybe not the most fun job or glamorous job in the world to get in your office in the morning and just, you know, click clack it out. But I'm I'm not I'm not somebody who can helm a YouTube show.

[00:27:43]I'm not a good personality like that or a charismatic personality like that.

[00:27:48]like uh some of present company. So yeah, I don't I think that's very human.

[00:27:53]He was a very human guy. As stupid as that sounds, he was very nice. I feel bad crushing him to an extent. When I got fired by the Warriors, he gave me a call. He's a good person. He's also just perpetually a belly.

[00:28:10]>> Both things are true. Well, I think it's interesting that the point about can you be emotional intelligence guy when you're not there every day or does it just start to sound like TED talk [ __ ] >> Yeah.

[00:28:22]>> Um the emotional intelligence is a thing that >> Daryl has, let's say, notably not been good at.

[00:28:30]>> Yeah.

[00:28:30]>> Uh or at least there's been flareups of multiple failures at that. I feel like if Daryl didn't have the the Harden in China thing, >> I mean the thing, the Patrick Beverly.

[00:28:47]>> Yeah.

[00:28:48]>> Um even just the quote at the press conference in response to Kyle Newck that they sold high on them. He could have done all of those same moves, some of which were great, some of which were failure, just like any like above average GM. And I think that he would still have his job.

[00:29:07]I think it was the it was those flashoint moments that turn that is maybe why Bob resented him in the first place because he does make himself through whatever odd style and uh bizarre constitution that he has that he he's a little bit of a GM celebrity in a way that most aren't. But it's also, I do think, what got him fired from this job because he was the guy that got the target on his back because of all the people that he sort of visibly publicly uh wronged, I guess, and according to them in some ways and according to everybody in in the McCain sense >> and and that and that was and that's why he's gone. So, so Bob being there for those reasons.

[00:29:48]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:29:50]>> He's it's the classic thing with coaches. Remember Warren Legary, the famous coach's agent guy who created summer league told me, "Every team overcorrects when they fire a coach.

[00:30:03]They go for the opposite model of the guy they just had." And the Warriors were saved because they tried to do it and they got thwarted. They fired players coach Mark Jackson. Pump up speeches. They got the they tried to get the hard ass Stan Van Gundy and the Pistons allowed Stan Van Gundy to be both GM and coach and paid him a bunch of money. So instead, the Warriors landed in this happy medium of Steve Kerr. And this could be the GM version of that because myers are contemporaries. I'd argue they're rivals. They're also very different. One major distinction is that, and this could be the greatest sin of all in the eyes of Bob Meyers when it comes to Daryl, is that Daryl actually likes the job.

[00:30:46]>> Yeah, >> Daryl really enjoys being a GM. He's the only GM I've ever known who's fairly happy. They tend to be miserable because the managing up and managing down and everything else about it. I remember Daryl once got into a bit of a little controversy with a tweet many years ago about how do you guys remember this? Any of you guys remember this? What was it where he was asked what it's like being a GM and he analogized it to being a gynecologist and >> No, I do not remember.

[00:31:17]>> I do not remember this either.

[00:31:20]>> The only tweet of his I remember is the the China one.

[00:31:24]>> Yeah. Yeah, that was pre pre that.

[00:31:27]Find the context for that somewhere in the internet archives.

[00:31:31]>> Apologies to Daryl.

[00:31:32]>> Good old Daryl. Well, he did follow the yoga pant girl Twitter account.

[00:31:37]>> I did not even know about that.

[00:31:39]>> Yeah, Daryl, he likes the job. There's an absence of neurosis. Bob is ultra careful. Everything is lawyerly studied and lawyerly whenever he's talking publicly. Daryl, I've been to the Sloan conference. It's the craziest thing I've seen how he runs that thing. He just waddles from panel to panel, sits down and just talks in that easy breezy Daryl like, "Yeah, you know, I did this and that, you know, AI and you know, we use AI to make our draft picks and you know, I like it and if it works, it works, you know, and it'll just go to the there's just not much of a filter." So, it's funny. You'd think that the nerd would be the guy who is so neurotic and pained and has anxiety versus the jock. But in this dichotomy between those guys, it's the opposite. The right to Ricky Sanchez podcast is presented by the great DraftKings Sportsbook and official sports betting partner of the NBA. Mike, I can't believe the Knicks covered that [ __ ] spread. It was seven and a half yesterday.

[00:32:43]And did you watch the game? Uh, not live. No.

[00:32:47]>> Okay. So, I'm about to go to bed. I think I watched the I watched the Phils before I went to bed. I checked in on the score. Knicks were up 22. I'm like, or not Knicks, Cavs. And I was like, "Haha, [ __ ] Knicks fans. Get out of here." And then 15 minutes later, after, you know, done brushing my teeth, I looked at it and I was like, "Oh, man."

[00:33:08]And after all that, they also covered.

[00:33:10]Knicks are six and a half point favorites in the next game. Uh, you believe what do you think? So, the Knicks are plus 400 to win the title, which seems pretty short to me. What do you think the odds the Knicks would win the title are? Does that feels a little cheap to me, right? Plus 400. I guess maybe it's more guaranteed because they're actually most likely going to be in the finals. What do you think?

[00:33:32]>> Yeah, I think they're only going to have to beat one of the Spurs or Thunder and if those two teams just beat the [ __ ] out of each other in seven double overtime games, then >> yes, >> they I guess have a better shot.

[00:33:43]>> Yeah. Uh, I don't know. I I I want whoever comes out of the West to win. I I just can't find myself rooting for either Eastern Conference team.

[00:33:51]>> No. Uh, the odds are up on DraftKings Sportsbook for finals MVP. What's it?

[00:33:56]Well, I mean, SGA plus 135, of course, WBY plus 170. This is before the end of uh game two. Uh, Jaylen Brunson plus 550. Cat plus 2,000.

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[00:34:48]>> I want to talk about the the two timelines era of the Warriors and the branding of that and everything.

[00:34:57]Obviously, the Sixers are in a a somewhat similar two timeline space with the big caveat that the first timeline for the Warriors >> actually one something uh multiple somethings. We have the first timeline of just uh pain and suffering. Um would you say that the >> the two timelines was like a Bob sponsored idea?

[00:35:25]This is straight leubian branding and that was attention. This is the other reason I have I have sympathy for Bob because it's very clear that he's dealing with the owner and the owner's son wanting to assert power >> to a certain point to where, you know, he he comes across sympathetic to me and like a large section of Warrior fans with this idea that he stepped away where he's just like, I was the GM for four titles and I still have to deal with an owner who won't let me hire who I want. And I see here's the thing. This is the negativity now.

[00:36:03]I'm sympathetic in the sense that I understand those dynamics, but for a lot of the time with Bob and the belly aching.

[00:36:13]This is big boy world.

[00:36:16]Write your own write your own power.

[00:36:18]Create your own power. You know, I I don't understand why you're trudging around and everybody in the NBA knows you're miserable because you've got these checks on your staffing. You've got you're blocked here, you're blocked there. Everything else everybody knows about. Use the media. Use the media.

[00:36:37]Cultivate your own ability to have more.

[00:36:42]>> Isn't that noble? Isn't that noble though that you didn't do that?

[00:36:46]>> I don't know. Not if you're going to complain about it.

[00:36:49]>> Sure. Not if you're going to be checked out for a couple years because of it. I just look this is the NBA at that level is sharp elbowed corporate world and if you hey he did ultimately leave. I'll give him that. But the exit the exit was I mean he I don't believe was that invested towards the end.

[00:37:14]>> Right. And when you see and hear complaints of that nature, I'm just reminded of Dan Fagan, the late former power agent who ended up running the Dallas Mavericks in secret.

[00:37:30]>> I can curse on this. Yes. Is this, you know, like the story with Dan Fagan, he would say GMs will come to me all the time and they'll go, "Oh, I can't do this. My [ __ ] owner. My [ __ ] owner. My [ __ ] owner. Dude, your job is to get your owner to do it. That's your job. That's why you have the job.

[00:37:50]Don't come crying to me. That's the way I see it. And so, I understand the lakeups can be difficult. But it's your job to manage them. And if you don't feel like you have the power that you want, there are ways to go get it. I feel like because of what you mentioned earlier about that billionaires do seem to love his the smell of his [ __ ] I feel like Josh will be an easier convince than the lakeups were for a time because the Lakups probably felt, hey, we hired you. We were responsible for >> those titles. Whereas Josh Harris is like, please let me win something so these people stop yelling at me. Well, it doesn't. I mean, time has a way of just like whatever it is that your feeling is, like eventually it fades, you know, like I think you're correct.

[00:38:42]Josh Harris is probably going to be more receptive to Bob Myers than Joel Jacob was at the end.

[00:38:46]>> Yeah.

[00:38:47]>> But at a certain point it's going to drag out and it's it's like any relationship, professional or or business. Like you you stop caring about those little things and then your true personality comes out. And if you're a billionaire and you're an owner, your true personality tends to be very aggressive, tends to be very go get it because that tends to be how people get to that position. Uh, and maybe Ethan's right. Maybe Bob is a little too sensitive.

[00:39:13]>> Well, I also think it if it works, then Josh Harris will be happy. And if it doesn't work, he won't.

[00:39:20]I think it's worth noting cuz Mark Stein wrote this uh with Jake Fischer's thing about like it it doesn't look like Josh Harris or David Bletcher are going to be in the president of basketball operation interviews that Bob Myers is representing ownership in these interviews which shows how much Josh Harris just wants somebody to just [ __ ] do it for him >> and and you know and as long as Josh Harris feels as long as Bob like looking back on that press conference Now, I think like I I I thought it was either Bob Myers is running everything or Bob Myers is trying to convince Josh Harris he's running everything so he leaves him alone so he can go hire him. I definitely think it's the second now.

[00:40:03]And I actually give Bob Myers credit for like publicly convincing Josh Harris to let him go do it, to hire him. I just I don't think I think it'll really just come down to if it if whoever he hires is good at it and things start to work and Josh Harris gets off his case and lets him go do his other stuff, I think it will be fine. And if it isn't, then he will hold Bob Meyers to account because that's who he thinks is running things >> right there. There's like the the way that I'm trying to separate my general distaste for the kind of guy that Bob Meyers seemed like he is on that press conference where it's just like not answering any questions and just sort of speaking platitudes about how competition's important. Thanks, man.

[00:40:50]>> But like while also giving him credit for the way that you guys were talking about him of going like, "Hey, I don't need the credit." And I it's human to be like, "I kind of wanted a little bit um and get some of that." And those draft picks were were huge. Like the the my issue with even the two timelines theory was not to do it because you had a you had such good picks there. It was just drafting Wiseman. Even the Kuminga pick obviously didn't work out great for the Warriors there, but he was a fine pick for like seven or whatever in that it was seven, right, in that draft class.

[00:41:20]Uh Wiseman taking Wiseman where he did was the problem. He was a bad pick from the moment he made it and it never made sense. And it certainly didn't make sense in an ecosystem where go play with Steph Curry who's an incredibly specific player to play with and you have to be able to like think on your feet very fast and move and he's just like he's just a big hunk of clay that doesn't really know how to do anything. Um and so that that was the issue which is just like Sam Hanky made a bad pick in drafting Okafur. That's really what it was. And everyone I think is um maybe and I am surprised to find myself defending Bob Myers, but the successes are so much greater than the failures. I think >> certainly >> and and having him here to just be like Josh Hires can go tell his billionaire friends, hey, I got the best guy. The best guys, you know, remember the Warriors? I got that guy now.

[00:42:10]>> And he can just go hire somebody that he finds to be dynamic and interesting to be the day-to-day person. And hopefully Bob can just keep managing up and maybe it's [ __ ] fine. I don't know.

[00:42:20]>> I I actually thought the most telling part of that press conference was at the end Josh Harris out of nowhere said, "Hey, by the way, >> we have a four-time NBA champion overseeing basketball operations." And it was basically him just going, "Hey, look, I hired the best guy." I thought him hiring Doc Rivers was the same exact thing.

[00:42:37]>> Same thing.

[00:42:37]>> And I thought him hiring Daryl my was the same thing. You told me this is the best guy, I'll go [ __ ] hire him. that that's you know I think it's it's all the same and he's you know he's wanted to hire Bob Myers for years. So um I just want Bob to do the job. If you felt like that people don't give you this credit maybe he'd say it doesn't matter to him.

[00:43:01]I don't know. I'm sure he'd say that.

[00:43:03]But I just want him to do a Tom Brady win a Super Bowl in Tampa Bay. Do the job. Run the Sixers.

[00:43:11]>> But I give him credit. I I I'll tell you I hate to >> when I I I felt like I was pretty good program director, right? I felt like I couldn't do it anymore because the things I like doing was too small a part of the job and I went and I did something that makes me happier.

[00:43:29]>> And I could imagine the allure of somebody saying, "Hey, you're really good at that. Do you want to do that again? Like you're the best."

[00:43:36]>> But I would respect Bob Myers to say, "I actually was not happy. I I will go hire a guy and convince this guy that I'm happy and I'll continue to [ __ ] cash my checks and not have to go see some two-way guy in Greece >> because and I'll go to my my kids birthday party instead of going to Greece to see a two-way guy. You know, I would have respect for that if he >> I mean I have respect for it in the same way that sometimes we like basketball players who are more like ourselves. And by more like ourselves, I mean they're not doing the mamba mentality and grinding to an insane degree and they treat it a little bit more like a job and they're still great at it. They still get paid handsomely.

[00:44:24]But as a basketball fan and a fan of the Sixers, do you respect that?

[00:44:31]>> There's a lot of guys that can run basketball teams. I don't need Bob Myers to run the basketball team. I don't care.

[00:44:36]>> Yeah.

[00:44:37]>> Yeah. I'm I'm not Yeah. Go ahead. I'm sorry. depends on what you think he's going to do with the Sixers. Sam, what do you think? Like looking at the Sixers roster, obviously you're a big Jared McCain guy. So, >> I want you to have a moment to Jared McCain.

[00:44:49]>> Have a moment to be upset about what we've done to him. Mhm.

[00:44:52]>> Um, but what do you looking at the Sixers roster and I I think you guys are right and there's not like a Bob Meyer style that it's about to get implemented onto the basketball team, but what what do you think he would >> I was actually going to ask you guys that, but like just listening to him speak and having seen him run the Warriors for a while, like I I do wonder if the first thing they do is look to trade Embiid or move in like a radically different direction >> because the time to do that would be immediately, you know, like you really only get one opportunity at that sort of thing. I don't know if that's an actual real thought. I'm just like, look, he he clearly the only thing I feel confident about is he has a disdain for Daryl my culture and personal relationships don't matter mentality. Like I think he does think that. I'm not projecting that on any Philadelphia 76er player, per se. I do wonder if he's just going to be like, "We just got to go in a different direction." That type of thing.

[00:45:56]>> The rights to Ricky Sanchez podcast is brought to you by the great folks over at Verb Energy.

[00:46:03]>> They make Verb Energy bars, right?

[00:46:06]>> Yeah.

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[00:46:30]>> I don't think I've eaten that one.

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[00:46:38]>> That's nice. And if you go to verbenergy.com/rikicky, they do have the s starter kit, which is 10 bars, eight of the snack bars, two of the protein bars. They're tasty little [ __ ] these things. And >> tasty little [ __ ] >> They're tasty. That's the verb energy.

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[00:47:40]Get yourself one of these uh starter kits or you can just go to verbengy, order whatever you want. Use code uh RTRS for 20% off. The starter kit is 20 bucks and you can even use the code on that too which takes 20% off. So, it' be four bucks off to be $16. Verbenergy.com code RTRS Verben Energy. We love you Verb Energy. I think it's worth Mike hasn't seen this clip. So Sam uh Sam sent me the the YouTube of the Sloan conference thing and pointed out one specific clip and Mike hasn't seen it yet of the two guys sort of uh debating.

[00:48:10]I just want to set it up in that uh uh Jackie McMullen is uh uh directing the what's it called? Um she is >> panel. She directing the panel and the question she asked is a little unclear.

[00:48:23]The question she is trying to ask um that it gets a little messed up as she's asking it is what do you do when your best player does not reflect the work ethic that you want the rest of the team to have like when your best player doesn't and she asked Bob Meyer. So here is the the back and forth which is pretty interesting >> and it's from 2016.

[00:48:42]>> Best player look this to you. If your best player doesn't exemplify that your work ethic, how do you instill it in the rest of the team?

[00:48:50]>> Is it possible?

[00:48:51]>> Why are we saying about my you have a guy that's going to be the MVP against?

[00:48:55]>> So you're saying if he doesn't exempl the question was if he doesn't exemplify a good work.

[00:48:59]>> It's hypothetical. We know that Steph does. So >> So if someone on your team doesn't exemplify then you got to trade that guy.

[00:49:04]>> Okay.

[00:49:04]>> Or if your best player doesn't even bring him into your building.

[00:49:07]>> Well, yeah. I mean, if your best if the most important person in your organization player-wise doesn't work hard, well, >> let's try someone else.

[00:49:14]>> That is the right question. It's like compared to what? So, like, let's say you didn't get Golden State, you got to take over.

[00:49:20]>> Pick another team that didn't have Steph Curry, >> right? Sure.

[00:49:23]>> And you don't have a best player, right?

[00:49:26]That like what do you what >> if your best player on your team isn't then you I guess you try to bring in somebody that is better that is harder.

[00:49:32]>> There aren't 30 of them, >> right? So, you're saying you're if your best player isn't hardwork, >> um then Yeah. Look, look, you can deal with Sacramento Kings.

[00:49:42]>> Well, you know, I think you can >> I didn't say that.

[00:49:49]>> Um but I think that if you have are faced with that, you try to deal with it front on and if you can't, then you have no choice, right? What's your choice?

[00:49:57]>> Well, it's just that >> you try to get back good value.

[00:49:59]>> You were talking about depth. I don't want to call you out, but it's again compared to what? Yeah, depth is great in concept, but like do you do you spend money on depth to the detriment of having money to go get Andre God dollar or to go to get um you know who you know you went you went out and spent on gigal is the best example. You spent a lot of money on him.

[00:50:18]>> So >> we spent probably market value on him.

[00:50:21]>> No, no, I understand. But it was >> No, no, but I mean I mean I guess the question is >> No, my point is >> $12 million for >> you could have done that or you could have gotten three better guys 8 n 10 for 5 million each, >> right? So >> why didn't you do that?

[00:50:35]>> Why didn't we do that? What we >> could have had better depth, Bob?

[00:50:37]>> We had d we had cheap guys that we drafted which >> because you draft amazingly. Yes.

[00:50:44]>> I'm not saying any of these things for the record. Okay, but anyways, I don't know. Go ahead. Move on. Unless you want me to try to answer that.

[00:50:52]>> All right. So, we'll give this one to Daryl. All right. How's that? Good girl.

[00:50:56]>> I just thought that was a a pretty enlightening because you you see Daryl there, right? He's like, and I think he makes good points. He's because this is I feel like every time I've defended Daryl, I go into this mode where they they say the Bob Myers thing, which is, well, if your main guy isn't a good hard worker, then go get a different main guy. And then your D are like, okay, go get a guy, a guy as good as that guy, but is also a hard worker. Have at it, you know, have fun. Um, and I think this is the I think it's the question you're presented with because Sam, I think to some extent, you're talking about trading Embiid. I feel like that might be so costly.

[00:51:34]>> Yeah.

[00:51:34]>> That you almost have to trade Maxi, too.

[00:51:38]>> I um This is funny. I've seen this I've seen this clip >> hundred times over the last decade. Uh it's a it's a Warrior fan favorite uh because they get to rub it in, you know, uh James Harden fans faces that this is why Steph is better. But it never hit me until this his actual criticism of Daryl my trading James Harden, it's enabling him.

[00:52:02]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:52:03]>> And it's it's the idea that if you which really gets back to his skill set, and I don't know why this never hit me for 10 years, maybe because I was just high off my own [ __ ] for whatever. But um he was just that's that's the entire point. So may maybe I'm wrong on saying he's going to you know trade Paul George, trade Embiid and more of need someone who's actually going to hold them accountable and be like do your you know you're a max player actually act like you're a leader of the team. But again that would assume he lives in Philadelphia and he's actually doing the job >> and not hiring someone else too. So I I don't know that the whole thing is kind of bizarre to me because we've talked about it for about an hour now. It's very clear his skill set is managing people, egos, getting everyone to move in the same direction, which is probably a skill that people don't give enough credit to. But if he's not going to be there on the ground, I don't know what his value is.

[00:52:58]>> Yeah. It's such an interesting place to be uh hiring the president here because the way that someone would answer in an interview, Vince Rosman, whoever would indicate how they would handle Joel, how they would handle Paul, what direction they would take the team in. I would trade this player and picks to get off of them so we can start the Maxi and VJ era. even if that makes us less flexible pick-wise moving forward. Like that's a that is >> that has to be a questions in the interview, right?

[00:53:38]>> And I wonder what what answers does Bob Myers want.

[00:53:44]Does he want conviction like this is definitely what you got to do or does he want more of the thing that he gives which is platitudes, generalities, nice quotes? Like what is he looking for? I'm I'm interested in that. Well, this is the void. And it's a remarkable void because any other GM who won four championships, although Cup track, he might be a good example where I don't know what his vision of basketball was, but I still don't know what Bob Ball is. And I I don't know it other than I'm managing people and I'm putting out fires and I'm organizing a team dinner because Draymond and Katie hate each other and okay, those are that's vital. It's important. It was important. I'm not I don't think it's just kumbaya BS. I don't know what the basketball philosophy is. The Warriors were big on getting big guys when Lacob took over and trying to get size. Is that the Bob Meyers vision? That size that that's the thing he he's expounded upon.

[00:54:54]>> Bring back Okafur.

[00:54:55]>> Bring back Okapor. He's expounded on playoff basketball at the Sloan Conference and how it's different. That reveals an insight and a deeper understanding of the game, but I don't know what that translates to in terms of which guys he gets. So, I I would like to know as well. I want to know what he thinks of this roster and what he would do because he does have opinions.

[00:55:18]They're just shared in private.

[00:55:22]>> Would would Sammy first and then you Ethan, knowing what you know of the situation, would you bet on Bob Myers in this situation?

[00:55:31]>> No.

[00:55:32]>> Why? mostly because unless he unless he uh moves to Philadelphia and takes a more hands-on approach, I think the whole idea of I'm going to manage this person with five Zoom meetings a week from LA, like it's just built to fail.

[00:55:53]>> So, it's less about him and more about the situation, I think.

[00:55:57]>> 100 100%. 100. And I want to preface it with if we find out he moves to Philadelphia and he wants to take a more hands-on role, I would take the complete opposite perspective on it.

[00:56:09]>> Ethan, >> just think it's funny. I feel like Target was on my back for being a negative Nancy.

[00:56:16]>> No, over here >> puffing up fluffing up Bob Meyers. And when you put a man to a decision Doyle Brunson poker style, that's I'm not gonna bet on this guy. I just find that interesting, but I agree with everything that Sam said. I would feel differently if he said, "I'm in both feet on the ground. I This is He wouldn't say it like this, but you got the sense that this is Tom Brady quarterbacking the Tampa Bay Buccaneers." I'd go, "Oh, yeah. Okay, he's invested. He's galvanized. He's got a vision.

[00:56:53]But if you're trying to do it in this halfmeasury, add or remove a remove. I mean, why would I bet on that? That's not even an insult to him. I don't think I bet on anybody >> doing well in that capacity >> really. And Mike, I think you would agree. I think the issue here, as it has been many times throughout the the history of the Sixers, is less about the people that are going to fail and more about the situation itself. I mean, like I if I were Josh Harris at this point, I would just simply say to Bob Myers, like, I'm paying you $15 million a year.

[00:57:30]I need you to run the basketball team, and if you don't want to do it, then we we don't need you. Like, I you know what I mean? Like, like that is, >> but it is these half measures that the Sixers have always taken from a leadership structure that have been their undoing, you know? So >> I guess my my answer to that question, I don't dispute what you guys are saying, would be how many years are you giving him? How what is the what is the Josh perspective on how long this is going to take if he's if he's hiring Bob and then letting him run this uh next era with whoever he handpicks below him to save the Joel era. I would say that because of circumstances is very unlikely.

[00:58:18]>> It's just very unlikely. But if you say, "Hey, the next 3 years, Joel's contract length are going to be something like the one we just had where Maxi and VJ keep getting better. Joel's Joel plays 30 to 50 games a year. He's available for some playoff games. Maybe they win around here or there, but pretty much it's just this is what it is for a while." But then in three years, Maxi is going to be, you know, a better player or at least the same player that he is now. VJ is going to be way better and maybe even a a franchise cornerstone, maybe even better than Maxi at that point if you if you believe in him. And they have plenty of Sixers picks that they have and Clippers picks and PG and Joel will be gone by then. And now we can build that together starting in 28 or 29.

[00:59:10]then that sounds fine. You know, that sounds like I if if Josh is going to be that kind of patient with this leadership structure and what it's going to take and the sort of mess that Joelle's injury history and Daryl's bet on Paul George being that missing piece that that that got us in and we go, we just kind of instead of trading picks to get off of that because that's going to burn us down the road, we're just going to kind of wait it out and we're going to see uh in a couple years how good Maxi and VJ have gotten, what they get out of 2 this year, the Clippers picks and the pick swap and all that stuff and then we'll and then we'll go from there and there's there's your franchise cornerstones going forward with a ton of cap space and an enviable situation.

[00:59:53]That that's that's fine to me. That seems like realistic. But the problem with the Sixers starting from the moment they traded the uh the Daario Coington uh Simmons Embiid era away for like star chasing going after Jimmy Butler going getting Tobias Harris getting Al Horford getting everybody Harden everybody that they've gotten they've brought in to be the savior has been mortgaging the future to try to pull a rabbit out of a hat. now and save the whole Joel thing because Joel's been good enough to make it worth it. Right now Joel is no longer good enough to make it worth it. And so if you just the it's weird to be like hire a guy and make him as patient as possible because if you just wait a couple years for those contracts to expire or for Jo Paul Paul to be an expiring Joel to be an expiring then all of a sudden things look a lot brighter whereas right now it looks very messy and expensive. I I agree with all the I think the the biggest challenge for Bob Meyers in that would be convincing Clutch and Tyrese Maxi to spend the next two years of your prime by the end of this contract he's going to be 28 29. Um so he's 26 now like and and the next time he'll really be able to compete is at the end of this contract is he's 29.

[01:01:16]>> I don't think Maxi doesn't think he's competing right now. I don't think Maxi doesn't think he's competing right now with with with Paul and Joel and VJ and him.

[01:01:23]I don't know. I wonder what Clutch would say. I I don't I'm not I'm not doub I'm just throwing it out there that it would be I think that would be the challenge.

[01:01:32]That would be something that, you know, Meyers could culture his way through.

[01:01:39]>> Who do you guys think he's going to hire?

[01:01:41]>> I don't know.

[01:01:43]>> I >> How good do you think VJ is going to be?

[01:01:46]I think that's key in this. You guys would know. I don't know. He just seems to be a hit of the draft pick to a degree that it's surprising to me that Mory's gotten fired. So, what's the expectation?

[01:02:00]>> I mean, I think he's really good and he's the kind of that the clip that Sam brought up is like exactly Maxi and VJ are the kind of Steph type workers and culture guys that you would want to build a team around when you're starting from that.

[01:02:15]So, I think both of them I think Maxi is pretty close to his ceiling, but I think VJ is capable of being I mean somewhere between best version of Oladipo and Anthony Edwards like somewhere somewhere in that realm. Um he's I mean he's excellent and he he plays hard as [ __ ] and that's really fun to see with a guy that talented. Um, but I if if I'm signing on to this, if I'm if I'm an assistant GM right now somewhere that is like I can I'm eventually going to get a top spot, I have to really believe in I think your questions are related like how how good I think VJ Vegcom can be is exactly as like well I'm willing to get take this job and go for it. And so I I hope it's some guy that's in his like late 40s, early late 30s, early 40s that just believes in something and and is allowing him the, you know, essentially setting, you know, the a Gortat screen to allow him the runway to to finish it off for the next couple years. I always think the problem with projecting somebody like VJ is like all the hard work in the world like sometimes a ceiling is a ceiling regardless of how hard the guy works you know like does anyone think Demar de Rozan doesn't like work really didn't work like really hard I actually think he probably did so I think VJ has got better throughout his rookie year was better than I think either Mike or I thought he would be in the NBA his rookie year shooting ball handling, all that, but shooting and ball handling are still probably a ways away from like a star level player if you're going to be a guard. And I just I have no idea how good that's going to be. So, I do agree though with Mike that the the questions are related because >> if you're a if you're has already done it and will probably do it again like a like a retread guy, you just take this job because it's one of the jobs. Yeah. If you're a highly, you know, if you're like one of those assistant guys or a GM for a president of basketball operations that's just waiting for the right shot, then honestly VJ would be the only thing that would talk me into it.

[01:04:29]>> And Maxi, but yeah, I just >> Yeah, but Maxi Maxi's good, but Maxi is not talking me into it. Maxi is a good thing to have, but I think the peak of VJ is what would talk me into it.

[01:04:39]>> Yeah. I'm curious if Bob hires someone outside of his network. He strikes me as a guy who's going to hire someone who he knows.

[01:04:47]>> And so you're mentioning some OKC guy who's >> Yeah.

[01:04:51]>> getting a bunch of credit, you know, very smart organization deservedly. Does he have a relationship with Bob Myers? I have a very hard time seeing Bob not hire someone who he either represented or >> It's going to be It's going to be Adam Peters is what it's going to be.

[01:05:06]>> Who's Adam Peters? That is I don't know who that is.

[01:05:08]>> The GM of the uh Commanders. I almost said the old >> Oh. Oh, right.

[01:05:13]>> He was He was the number two for the 49ers. They had a very uh friendly relationship.

[01:05:18]>> What if he just hires Igodala?

[01:05:22]>> That would be hilarious. But that's far more in the cards than the OKC guy to me. So, >> wow. Could you imagine they hire Aggy?

[01:05:29]>> I can't imagine him coming back to Philadelphia. Not in a million years. I love golf too much. Grind like that.

[01:05:37]>> GM Sean Livingston or Leandro Barbosa.

[01:05:39]Let's go.

[01:05:42]Uh maybe wait maybe Kaminga. I don't know. Maybe that's his uh you know that's his destiny. Um well thank you guys. Um uh Sam's podcast is light years. Anything else to promote Sam?

[01:05:56]>> That's it for me.

[01:05:57]>> And then Ethan is House of Strauss which is the newsletter and also the podcast.

[01:06:03]The newsletter coming out all the time now. Got to give you credit. Look at you right little busy bee writing almost every day. It's amazing.

[01:06:10]>> I really value that credit actually because when you when you grind, you want somebody to go, "Yeah, you're working hard." It feels good. Thank you.

[01:06:18]>> You are. Um Well, thank you guys. Uh we appreciate both the insight. We can't wait to see how the Sixers [ __ ] it up.

[01:06:26]>> This time with a four-time NBA champion.

[01:06:29]>> I love your I love your guys fan base.

[01:06:30]The just the >> You're just waiting to see how it gets screwed up. It's It's a phenomenal angle. It's the opposite of It's the opposite of what I had to deal with was just people calling me a hater for not thinking James Weissman was good for five years. I guess you dealt with that with Ben Simmons. So, you know.

[01:06:45]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it was funny after the Celtics series I was on with Habberstro and a mean on Basketball Illuminati and they were like, "Well, this is going to go great now, isn't it?" Like after they beat this. I was like, "Nah, of course not."

[01:07:00]>> And they were laughing and they're like, "What do you mean?" I was like, "The beads got to play every other day.

[01:07:04]everything always goes wrong and they there there is just something about our uh our fractured uh you know pained fan base of the last 13 years when we just know it's not going to go good. So >> we keep doing it anyway though. Keep doing it anyway.

[01:07:19]>> Well, I actually after that feel like I talked myself into like respecting Bob Meyers not just for being successful but I think his role at this moment is probably harder than I gave it credit for. Hm. Yeah.

[01:07:34]>> You know, >> I mean, I I don't think that he >> I think he probably was like, "Yeah, that job wore me the [ __ ] out."

[01:07:42]>> Yes.

[01:07:43]>> And I did it for a long time. I when I looked up it, I was like, he was there for a lot longer than I >> gave him credit for being there. And it makes sense to be like, >> "Look, man, I don't want to do it. I already did all the hard stuff and I won four [ __ ] titles out of it."

[01:07:56]>> And I had to have a ton of hard conversation with Draymond Green and I don't want to do that anymore. So, I'll come for the big stuff. I'll be around.

[01:08:04]I'll pick the guy that's going to do the main stuff and, you know, I'll be able to talk. I'll I'll be the guy. I think I said this last podcast. I'll be the guy that convinces Josh Iris's stuff and I can I can uh throw my four dicks of championship trophies on the table and tell them, "Yeah, pay the goddamn tax, man. This is going to help us contend in the playoffs and and finally stop the embarrassment that this franchise has has been for a decade plus." So, I guess I I'm not saying that it is going to work in the sense of the Sixers will magically survive everything. I am sort of talking myself into patience being the right answer and not like cutting off their 2028 2029 nose to spite their face currently. Um, but I think the idea of Bob being the Josh Harris whisperer while he just picks somebody that hopefully he genuinely believes in to navigate the next era of this team because there is a lot there's a lot of good stuff to like get behind here. And that's 20 that that Sloan conference clip was very interesting. I think Daryl was mostly just [ __ ] with him in the way that he [ __ ] with people about this where it's like, yeah, you can't go to the superstar buffet and pick all the right pick the one you want.

[01:09:25]>> Yeah. He's like, there's not 30 of them.

[01:09:26]Like, what if you didn't have Steph Curry? It's >> exactly. And and Bob is sort of like, you just, you know, read a a nice book about of quotes that you believe in from competition and that and then you just say those and that works out. But I don't know what he actually thinks privately cuz that's obviously his public persona.

[01:09:45]>> Yeah. Yeah. Um whereas Daryl doesn't have there's no difference between Daryl publicly and privately.

[01:09:49]>> It just he looked so irritated by Daryl.

[01:09:52]Not Yeah. And Daryl looked like being irritated by the question.

[01:09:57]>> He did. And Daryl >> is never irritated. He's always just sort of like happy to be the guy that's like I don't know. You [ __ ] who cares? I'm just like [ __ ] just like digging into somebody always. And that's why me and him have gotten into so many long arguments on this podcast >> that I shouldn't be getting into an argument with someone as powerful as him. But um >> Oh, he's not that powerful anymore.

[01:10:20]>> No, now I am more powerful than he is.

[01:10:22]Finally. Finally, I win.

[01:10:26]Uh and and the thing that you said there is is correct in that like I I remember uh there was a a guy that worked for a company that ran a very successful sports radio station, like one of the most successful. He decided to just leave and go work for some tiny station somewhere. And I called him. I asked him, I was like, "Why are you doing this?" And he's like, "Well, what else can I do at this place?"

[01:10:49]>> Mhm.

[01:10:50]>> I already We're already number one.

[01:10:52]We're consistently number one. the only thing I can do is be here for when we're not number one again. And I think about Bob Myers's legacy. Unless he loves doing the job, what could, you know, making the Sixers good do, >> you know, for for that? He's done the good thing. He's done the thing that he he probably never reach again. So, >> I get I get not getting back in the main seat and just being like, I'll get credit and I'll feel good if we do it, but I'm not I won't ruin my life if if we don't do it. and it's the Sixers, so he probably won't do it. Um, it's a very human thing that's kind of going around a lot. Uh, it happened after Michigan just won the National Men's Basketball Championship. Um, Dusty May and a number of other coaches that had been in a similar position, um, uh, Hurley as well was like, I'm immediately back to work. I don't, it doesn't feel as good as I thought it would. Like that kind of thing. And that's a human conversation and I guess like that's up to them and their therapists and their families to to deal with. I will like it as we are go as we are winning four series >> Yeah.

[01:12:05]>> will be exhausting but I it will feel if the Sixers ever get there like I am destroying the ring in the fires of Mount Doom. It will feel that way and I will die in that fire >> and I will >> imagine doing >> Sam continuing to do Oh my god. Well, Sam even continuing to do his podcast after the Warriors have It's like you you're It's over. You did it already.

[01:12:28]>> You won. You won.

[01:12:29]>> Get out of there.

[01:12:30]>> Yeah. Bob Follow Bob Myers.

[01:12:31]>> Follow Bob Myers. Go run the Commanders.

[01:12:34]You should be running the Sam should be running the Commanders by now.

[01:12:37]>> Check in with us once or twice a week and see how our podcast is going. That's >> pop in. Why not? But it's uh I mean he's had a tremendous amount of success. A lot of it was just because he walked into a situation where Steph Curry was incredibly undervalued and had bad ankles for the couple first couple years of his career and then became one of the best players of all time >> and one of the maybe the most singular player of all time, maybe the most unlike any other superstar in basketball history player of all time. And that is lucky for him. But he also built a lot of guys around him like Dre Draymond Clay being as good. I mean, even Harrison Barnes, uh, Cavan Looney, like he's drafting up and down, as Daryl did, drafting up and down the roster of very successful teams. Um, I I after doing the Daryl stuff, I'm I'm excited for a little more depth. I'm looking forward to guys I really believe in. Hopefully in concert with Nick Nurse actually being willing to play those guys, which is not a guarantee, but you know, draft in a month, 22 22nd overall pick. They're not going to take James Weisman. There's a lot of players in the draft I really like.

[01:13:47]>> I know.

[01:13:47]>> So, I'm I'm getting back to being excited about it. And I think we should talk more about the patience thing because that's that's going to be a weird position for some some new GM to walk into and basically say my plan is to do almost nothing.

[01:14:00]>> I I think yes, we should talk about it because there's I think I think this year is a good example of what nothing uh what nothing feels like versus what the idea of it is, you know, like going into it because they didn't really do anything this year. Well, they they drafted VJ, I guess, is the they they were gifted they were gifted VJ and they go in and being like now he's going to be an integral part. Next year >> theoretically could be very very similar to this year as far as what the what the roster looks like.

[01:14:33]>> Yes.

[01:14:34]>> 22 is not going to be as exciting as three.

[01:14:36]>> Yes. Well, the roster next year would be a hard time looking much different. It would take a lot of more maneuvering than we think, you know. Um, it's either, you know, is Grimes or Grime Grimes and Ubé on the roster or is it somebody instead of Grimes and UB and then whoever they draft, unless there's a bigger trade.

[01:14:54]>> Yeah.

[01:14:54]>> Uh, all right. Well, uh, thank you for >> I did I did um play basketball for the first time since I broke my nose.

[01:15:02]>> Oh, shoot.

[01:15:06]>> Nope. Well, there we go. It's been a while.

[01:15:09]>> Oh, wow. I'm pretty intense.

[01:15:12]>> Wow. The phantom of the process returns.

[01:15:16]Obviously, sign me.

[01:15:17]>> Wow. You tune in video for this video.

[01:15:20]Video video.

[01:15:21]>> Well, I did wear this to play. I did actually wear this.

[01:15:24]>> Wow.

[01:15:25]>> And it is tricky. Cuts off a little peripheral vision, which is important on a basketball court. Um, but I, you know, I I I penetrated into the lane and got fouled a couple times. So I I was I I played I would say >> maybe like >> 90% at the speed and intensity that I would normally play at.

[01:15:48]>> Wow.

[01:15:48]>> So just like a shade less of like well I'm not going to go for that ball maybe just in the first first game back. So >> we'll see how long that lasts. But no injuries to speak of >> and uh hopefully my beautiful little nose that I will be getting the full surgery on in a few months >> stays protected until then.

[01:16:07]Well, good luck. Wow, that looks great.

[01:16:10]That looks great. Yeah, >> thank you. I look like a little bit little bit more of a duck on camera than I >> Yeah, it does. It does look a little ducky. That is an Abby t-shirt right there.

[01:16:18]>> It is hard as hell. Like you can hear I'm >> hard plastic. Serious stuff.

[01:16:23]>> Is it comfy?

[01:16:24]>> Um, >> it gets sweaty in there.

[01:16:26]>> There's like I put some padding on the inside of it so you can see. So, it's not, you know, >> it's like that.

[01:16:33]>> All right. But I took it off when I went to the line and I took it off like Joelle does when I on your forehead.

[01:16:38]>> Yeah, I did. I did do that and I was like because I saw Joelle do this. So I'll do the same thing and I did pinch my butt. Yeah, of course every time.

[01:16:45]>> All right. Okay. All right. Great. All right. We'll talk to you next time. Are you done with TTP?

[01:16:50]>> Yeah.

[01:16:51]>> You know, like face.

[01:16:51]>> If you don't [ __ ] with me, >> then I won't.

[01:16:57]If you don't [ __ ] with me, >> but if you [ __ ] with me, >> I'M GOING TO [ __ ] KILL YOU.

[01:17:18]See what happened.

[01:17:24]What happened?