KJ Live - BONUS CONTENT - Bob Myers

On this special bonus episode, Warriors GM Bob Myers and KJ had a conversation last summer after a disappointing season, and you'll see why it's no surprise they were able to turn things around and be crowned champions this season. They chopped it up about:

Winning the 1995 NCAA Championship at UCLA.

How working for Arn Tellum  prepared him to be an NBA GM.

Will the Warriors win another NBA Championship in the next 5 years?

Managing egos and personalities on the Warriors championship squads.

Relationships and why they matter. 

Why “winning” is an attitude.

Ed O’Bannon in all his chair slinging glory.

Warriors organization commitment to social change. 

Is Steph Curry the greatest PG to ever play?

#allball #douggottliebshow

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is kJ Live with Chris john Silis and Chris
is having conversations with influencers in the sports world and
entertainment in the stray. Now here's Chris Johnson. Good afternoon everyone,
This is Chris Johnson. You are now tuned into kJ Live.

(00:24):
Today's guests on the show. Three time NBA Champion executive,
two times NBA Executive of the Year, the President of
Basketball Operations and general manager of the Golden State Warriors,
none other than Bob Myers is in the building. Bob,
what's going on? Man, it's a it's a pleasure and

(00:46):
honor my friend. Uh never thought I'd be doing a
podcast with you. I mean, it's a long day. It's
a long way from our days back at u c
l A lockers next to each other, and you always
complained about stuff I was doing in life. But uh, well,
we'll touch on that in a little bit. That later.
We'll touch at a little bit, Bob. So, So, I
wanted to start the show off, like I do with

(01:08):
all of our guests. Okay, we want to give our
audience and our listeners an idea of who the person is,
the foundation that made the man or the woman for
that matter, souse. I've had female guests on the show
into the person they are today. UM, I just want
to know where you're born, city, the neighborhood, and how
did that community impact you sort of who you worked
are today? Um? So yeah, born and raised East Bay.

(01:32):
We were joking before I came on. I was a
Warrior's fan growing up. So that's uh, that's a little
known factor, maybe well known. I grew up in a
nutshell Chris white, middle class, you know, basic basic two parents,
parents still together, fifty years married, and backyard with a
basketball hoop and the pool. And you know why is

(01:55):
that relevant? It's not really. Um. The longer I've lived,
of the more I appreciate the saneness of my upbringing,
the normalcy, the more people I meet, even when you
want to talk about the locker, we're skipping a step.
But sitting next to you and and judging how you

(02:15):
would act after practice and who you were, I've realized, like,
that's not fair, Um, because I presumed you were raised
like I was, which was dumb, right, that was naive,
But no one you now and and stuff we've never
even talked about. Um. I have a better understanding of
people and you and kind of like for me to

(02:38):
think people get to have what I had is really,
um pretty dumb on my part. So I had for
the people listening, I didn't have, you know, nothing was
given to me professionally, and I wasn't born into a
bunch of wealth. But as far as a chance to
succeed in life, I had that, you know, and and

(02:58):
and haven't gone into play is just like saying, Quentin
and played with those guys and basketball and seeing hearing
a little bit about their upbringing makes you really um
appreciate what I have and it also wakes you up
to life and that what I had is not you know,
my idea of normal. Many people don't have that. But Bob,

(03:22):
you only know what you know. You know, so you
can't blame You can't blame people like yourself that grew
up a certain way because that's where you live, just
like you can't blame folks that grew up, you know,
on the other side of tacks. But they get blamed, Chris,
that's the difference. Though. They get blamed, you know what
I'm saying, And we can go down at a different time.
But that's where I agree with you. But but you

(03:43):
may have a better understanding of that than I even do.
You may not blame him, but speaking from like what
I the stuff I'm around, like people do understand like
when we give a prisoner a chance to former inmate,
that could call our game. I don't if you saw, um,
we let a guy that about of San Quentin, which
was which was great. Um. A lot of people wouldn't

(04:04):
say it publicly, but we're going, why would you do that?
Why would you help X? And why would you help
a convict get a start back in life? There's many
people that would say that and judge like, why would
you help somebody? And somebody asked me, I said, why
can't anybody get a second chance or a third? You know?
So anyways, we're going off the script, but any that
my upbringing matters for that reason. That's at what point

(04:26):
growing up in Danville, did you fall in love with
the game of basketball? Because I know you're you're you know,
you did a bunch of stuff. You're an athlete, Bob, Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I mean not like you. I um, I love basketball,
uh and I basketball even to this day. I don't
know how you feel. I know you love basketball too.
If I'm driving anywhere or walking around a bike, and

(04:49):
I see the game being played by a ten year old,
the thirty year old, the fifty year old inside outside,
I have to look right. I'm not an alcoholic like that,
Like if an alcoholic sees a drink, they're just drawn
to it, you know. So for me, I would pull
over if I could. If I had a life where
I could just stop and jump in every pickup game

(05:11):
that existed in the world, I would pull over, and
I would do it for free, and I would do
it as long as I could. Um. So basketball is
the one pure known of my life, Like the only
thing I've ever known cold was that I love basketball,
and I think that won't change, and that hasn't changed
for me. It's a little harder Chris in the position
I'm into just love it purely, I know too much.

(05:33):
Like if you and I went to watch a movie
and you directed it and produced it and started it,
you can't watch it the same way I can't. I
walk out and I go, Chris, that you're unbelievable, and
you go, you have it. They couldn't pay me much
that I'm supposed to get paid, and they cut out
that one. Yeah, like I wouldn't have done a different ending,
it would have been better. So I can't watch the game,
at least the pro game. That's why when we can

(05:54):
talk about U c l A. My best moments of
just happiness was watching U c l A this year
because I didn't have a say and who they recruited
and what plays Crowing was calling. I didn't want to know.
I want to watch it basketball in my whole life.
Um longs backs that can remember love the game. The
Bruins were unbelievable this year, and we're going to talk
about them, Um a little bit later. What I read

(06:16):
a story somewhere where you were actually trying to follow
someone's footsteps and rowing somewhere, and then laugh got with
you and said, hey, maybe you know you can help
us here. Talk about how you got introduced to u
c l A basketball. Yeah, so I didn't my um
A A. You was just starting, right, I mean you

(06:36):
might have played in it, but down in the Bay
Area up here it was pretty new, right and so
and so was the internet. It was non existent really,
so I wasn't very good until my senior year. I
was okay my senior year of high school, and I
played in AH like a local all star game, and
the coach of a Dabla Valley junior college said, hey,

(06:56):
I wasn't getting recruited anywhere. He said, hey, you want
to play for us. If you played for US and
play well, maybe I could get you into Oregon State
or some some some packed twic And I said, you know, look,
I got good grades. I don't want to go to
junior college. I just want to go to college if
I could play basketball grade. So I went and visited
a bunch of schools and even some IVY leagues and
looked at them in other schools and said, maybe I

(07:17):
can play basketball here. But nobody looked at my tapes,
so nobody cared, which was fine. So I decided I
was going to pick the school I want to go
to and forget about basketball. So I was touring around
U c l A's athletic department with my dad, and
my brother was a rower at University of Washington up
there in Seattle. So I thought, you know, i'd like

(07:38):
to do something in college. Maybe i'll try that. I've
never done it, and I stumbled upon lavin where in
the cubicle and the cubicle which they don't even have.
They had totally redone, you know, the athletic department. Um.
But he had a picture of John Wooden because Lab

(07:58):
was an assistant to Purdue. You remember a graduated system
and he was assistant for Gene Katie. John Wooden tend
to Purdue or play to Purdue, I think. And my
dad went to produce. So we were walking and he
saw a lab and and lab, you know Lab. He
starts up a conversation with whoever is walking by, what
are you guys doing here? And I said, I was
walking around, you know, and my dad said you Purdue.

(08:21):
I went there and said John wyn and then laugh
said what do you what do you are you going
to school here? And I said yeah, And I said, um,
you know, yeah, I'm looking for the recruit coach rowing.
He said, I don't even know if we have that
program here and I said, well, he said it might
be a club sport and a club sport people listening
is it's not really affiliated with the school. They just
have a tangential relationship. But it's not really school sponsor interview.

(08:45):
It's not even it's a little step of but it's
in between that right in between. So he said, what
about basketball, because I'm six six? And I said, I
don't think I could play here, and and he said,
what do you mean? Because if you look at the
guy and he's six and I look more athletic than
I'm not athletic. I'm not an athletic, but I'm not athletic.
Just being honest, And don't don't correct me there, because

(09:07):
I know what I am and what you can do.
Practice okay, but that's nothing special for somebody that's sticks anyways,
Let's just move off my athleticism. So so so I said, um,
I said the last he said, I said, what if
I was a manager? But could I manage on the team?
And he said, well yeah, but why don't you try

(09:28):
to walk on? And I said, uh, well, I don't
think I can play. I don't you know. I you know,
I'm not. I'm not. This is the best basketball school
I got into, Like this is the lead. If I
wanted to play basketball walk on, I would have picked
any other school. I basically gave us I'm gonna go
to u C. L A. They're the best basketball school
by far. I just want to go to school in

(09:49):
l A. So you had no intention, you had no, Chris, none, none.
So so then he says walk on and then I
said okay, and he said you can condition with a team.
And you were you were year younger, so you weren't there.
So what we did was for a month, and you
know my personality, and we could do a long podcast

(10:09):
for a month. I conditioned with Ed and all these
Charles and Cameron and all these guys. But I didn't
talk to anybody, and I wasn't in a recruiting class
to anybody. You know, Charles and Cameron, you know they're
duced and the whole deal I was. I was like,
you know, I don't know what I was. I don't
think they cared about me one or the other. I
was just there and I wasn't talking to anybody. I
wasn't bothered anybody. So but my buddies that I went

(10:30):
to college with, anybody I ran into, I was asking
me like, where are you going? And I'm going to
condition with the basketball team. And they said, what, You're
not gonna play basketball? U c l A. And I
kind of said, well, I probably not, but I figure
i'll try. And they said this is They're kind of
laugh at me like a friend would like, Chris, what
do you do? But but not mean spirit. It just
kind of like you're wasting your time man, like this

(10:50):
is U c l A. And I didn't push back.
I was like, maybe, but let's you know, I might
maybe I could walk on. Long story, I try out
and here shows up our coach and it's it's in
a men's gym, no, sorry, the Wooden Center, and there's
like guys and there's one spot and we watched for
a little while and I'm just the tallest guy there. Right,

(11:11):
I'm sick. There's nobody six six decent because those guys
play basketball somewhere, like they go to schools. Eric watched
it in ten minutes and he gets it from his chair,
you know him calls me over congratulations son. And then
and then I didn't know what he was talking. I
couldn't process what he just told me, which was I
basically made the team as a walk on. I didn't
tell my parents, I didn't tell anybody because I didn't

(11:33):
believe it. I thought this is some kind of joke. Um,
but yeah, it was real. And then and then I
found out either gonna let me travel, and I think
what makes it interesting to me? In hindsight, Chris, is
when something's unexpected or you achieve something that you didn't
think possible, there's a level of appreciation. Like I look

(11:54):
at somebody like you. You got recruited. I don't know
how many different school You just knew you were gonna
play bass on college. You knew you were probably concerned
about what number you're gonna have and what shoot. You know,
I had it. I had from a basic level, like
I get to play basketball with these great players and
my first practice I was scared and it wasn't football, right,
it's basketball. I wasn't gonna get beat up, but I

(12:15):
was scared and I remember it and the players were
so much more athletic and faster and stronger and better.
But you know, over time I became, you know, decent, right,
like okay, enough to kind of help the team a
little bit. And uh, what you play one? I wanted
the post? Why? Why why do you think that was Bob? Like?

(12:35):
What what about your mentality? Because a lot of guys
could have been thrown in that position and just wilt
it because you know how we were. I know, you know,
i'd go act you. It's a lot of talking. It's
a lot of disrespectful stuff, so wing out there on
the court. So some guys you know aren't gonna be
able to take that. You know, what did How did
you prepare yourself mentally to deal with the athlete, high
level athletes like that on the court competing against them. Yeah,

(12:57):
well I think I just had it. Sounds cliche, but
I just had to do the best I could. Like
in life, I think we're most pleased when we give
our best effort. Right, if you're being honest with yourself,
you fail a test, you don't get a job as
long as you know you kind of left it out
there a game. That's why players, I think, always have
it the best, even the position I'm in now, because

(13:18):
they get to compete, you know, they get to lose,
and they get to be spent on the court and
they put it out there. So when I put it
out there in practice. But the things I love too
was like even you, I got to play basketball, and
I always remember how good you were and how how
how the touch you had around the rim and your
hands and your ability to move and just to just

(13:39):
to be around somebody. It was that good at something
I loved was was something for me you know, it
was something for me to be like, I'm getting to
play with these guys. And when you surround yourself with
people that are that much better than you, inevitably you
you'll get better. So that was the fun thing. It
was never about starting or playing. It was like, I'm
getting better at something I love. That was good, that's

(14:00):
that's that's amazing. I didn't even know that part of it,
to where you started off conditioning. I thought it was
already a done deal on the wall, and I didn't
know you have to earn it. And so now it
helps me understand looking back on it, just your whole
disposition towards every ye. It was because you remember used
to leave you when you were taking that one economics
class or something. Remember used to like leave halfway through

(14:20):
practice to class. I remember. I remember. I think I
was the only guy on the team that knew I
wasn't going to the NBA like that. I remember. I
remember I would bring my books to the because you'd
be working out pre pre practice and then I'd be
like reading my big whatever the hell book it was economics,
and you'd be like, what are you doing, Chris, Chris,

(14:43):
I'm not gonna make a career of basketball, like I
know it, it's over true story and so but anyways,
it was yeah, man, I it was great, fun times,
good times. Ninety We want a championship with ninety five together,
but ninety four. I wanted to just touch on a
moment that happened after you on the team that lost
to Tulsa. Uh in the locker room, I know ed

(15:04):
it was pretty disappointment. Talk about just how sort of
catapulted the momentum of U c l A basketball, the
end of nine catapulted us into and the run that
we eventually went on. Yeah, I mean people in abandon
is one of my favorite people. Um you know him, Chris,
and I think you probably feel the same way in
the world because of his humility right in its great

(15:28):
talent like what a and um soft spoken, nice heart,
like great human being giving all the things that are
pretty hard to find these days or in any day.
But we that championship running ninety five started in at
halftime of the lost a Toulsa like that. That's when

(15:48):
it started. And I know you weren't there, but you
would have loved it because we go through life and
I'm older enough, like top five most vivid memories was
him and halftime and and literally the people in life
like you're you know, you've lived now and we've seen
things and done things. It's the it's the stop spoken
ones You've gotta be a little careful around. It's the

(16:11):
ones that don't raise their voice very often. And Ed
was that and he did and oh my god. That So,
so what happens is the halftime, the coaches they huddle,
as you know, and then they talk about what they're
gonna tell the team and then they come in. So
the team's in there alone for a minute at halftime
of even the NBA. So so that's the moment where

(16:31):
you yell at me and Sam and an idiot like
why did you? Why did you get that rebad? That's
when all that ships happened. So Ed Ed Ed came
in and picked up a chair and just fired it
across the room and and was like, I can't if
and go back to l A. I can't. I'm embarrassed.
And we were down twenty in half, right and we
were four and they were thirteen. I think, oh no,

(16:54):
we yeah, that's right, that's right. And so it was bad.
And so but here's the the point of it. What
And then the coaches started walking in and they just
stopped and walked out because they knew this, this moment
needed to happen, like without them and like they needed
to let this moment happen. And it was ten minutes
to add just embarrassed, like at the highest level of

(17:17):
appear like frustration, rage, passion um. And it wasn't against
it was him too, like he was owning the failure
in the moment, like not just you did this, you
didn't do that. And it was the truth, right, that
team had a softness to it that they got exposed,
bottom line, like and and a lot of people don't

(17:39):
want to hear the truth, but we did. And so
for me, you came the following year and when he
made sure he was first in every sprint, and he
made sure he didn't miss a practice, and he made
sure his team on every drill that championship run. And
you were there when we were down against Missouri Emboise, right,

(17:59):
were down one pot and four point eight seconds. Everybody
knows what Tis did the second round of the tournament.
So one time in my life where I actually thought
professionally at least this isn't how it's supposed to be.
Like this team can't lose right now, This can't happen,
Like this cannot happen like this, that makes no sense,
Like everything I've learned in my entire life about doing

(18:22):
things the right way, acting the right way, putting the
work in, failing then succeeding. In that moment when we
were down, I could not fathom We're gonna lose. This
is gonna be any of our season. And I know
a lot of people say that, like there's other people
that that played college but something didn't go the way
it was supposed to go. But this one, for real,

(18:42):
I knew were there um and then obviously Tias makes
a shot and we win it. But it was all
part of Like I said that the one yard line
going the other way on the field was halftime at Tulsa.
And then culture was already set. You said basketball when
I arrived, you know it was. It was a hierarchy
and you just knew what time it was around there.

(19:04):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app
search f s R to listen live. What was your
favorite memory of just not necessarily during the season, but
if our championship celebration, I should remember and look, l A.

(19:27):
You know you're you're in l A. You know, born
and raised guy. U. L A loves a winner. Man. Yeah,
they don't love. They don't have much else, but they
love a winner, and so they treat when they treat
you like royalty if you win. It's not many better
places to win in l A. Maybe New York too.
But I remember not going to class and my class

(19:47):
not to not to knock on anybody out, but my
classes were real applied to show up. I couldn't not
sh up for class. And so I remember walking into class.
This class had started three weeks ago and I hadn't
been and I walked in and I remember just being
like a barratt, I hungover whatever. And the teacher said,

(20:09):
in front of the whole class, he's like, I was
wondering if you're gonna show up. I wondering when you're
gonna show up, like and then but he started laughing,
he said in a nice way, you know, but that
was my moment of like this is in life. You
don't often get to kind of float around like you
don't get to do whatever you want to do and
break all the rules and kind of be that. It
was one time in my life, but it was kind

(20:30):
of like I get to not be responsible for a
little while, like I'm not good at that, you know,
I'm not good. I get to kind of do whatever
the hell I want for two weeks. And obviously we did,
we all did, so that was my I mean there
wasn't one you know, we went on the TV show,
did the Disney Parade, and but for me, it was
all of it combined, right, I mean we we all

(20:50):
of the whole thing and doing it with the team
and doing it. That's what people don't get when you
talk about what it means to win a championship. It's
the bond that we have, that's it, because nobody can
touch that, right, nobody can take that. I see you,
I see Toby, I see Coach Harry, I see anybody,
the people that were there and Charles Tis that's ours.

(21:13):
That's not the listeners, that's ours. And in life, you
don't get too many of those type of things where
nobody can mess with it, because people are always messing
with how you should feel and how you should act,
what you should do. That's us and so that was
probably my favorite part of it. Absolutely, absolutely, those are
memories I'll hold on to the rest of my life. Man,
Just the moments with us, the drive to the movie premier,
you know, the riding of the Jay Little show, you know,

(21:35):
those experiences on the bus, man are the ones you
always will rever. I want to talk about how your
experience with Armed, your experience at Wasserman for fourteen years
is one of the top agents in the game. How
did that prepare you for the for to be elevated
to the GM of the Warriors after only a year? Um,

(21:56):
because you went in April too? What was the two
eleven April too? And did that stuff with Arnt and
Wasserman and that experience prepared you any or is it
not even related? No? No? And prepared me? I mean,
I think it's so much of it prepared to me.
There's a life of the NBA is not real, right,
it's not people listen. It is a different world, you know.

(22:18):
It's almost like being on a movie set all the time.
It's not relatable. So when you're talking about the business
of it, there's so much money and a star. You've
been around stars right in your life, whether it's an actor,
they're different, man, And it's not it's nothing against that,
but like the way we treat celebrities athletes, it's not

(22:39):
their fault. They're different. So so why do I bring
that up. There's a relatability, there's a way to communicate,
there's an empathy, there's an understanding, there's wealth, there's all
these things that growing up in the agent side of
things immersed me and kind of like, what is this world?
How does this world move? If that makes sense? I mean,
obviously it moves a lot with money. Arne was great

(23:00):
because he was relentless and he was smart, and so
I got to learn these traits of he. He I mean,
aren't taught me you don't wait for a return phone call? Right?
I was never understood that, right, yeah? Right? Did Chris
call you back? No? I called him and be like,
why did you call him? Bay? So he didn't were
you talking about you reach? I told you to get
a hold of him. I didn't tell you leave a message.

(23:22):
I told you to talk to him. And so I
learned that no boss demanding or or successful. Once the
reason why you didn't do something they want you to
do what they told you to do, and being young
and having to call Jerry West and asked him if
he would consider taking Johnnie McCoy the second around, and
he didn't call me back, And I gotta called Jerry

(23:43):
West back even though he didn't call. Isn't he does
he really want to talk to me? Like? What aren't
I bothering him? Uh? So I had to learn the
the part of you're You're not that important, You're not
nothing's beneath you, um and that there is h no
boundaries to that, to this profession, that even that I'm

(24:04):
in now, there's no structure. It's just all in all
the time, and so you learn how it operates. And
that taught me that and also taught me you know,
in some ways. I guess if I had to translate
it to what I do now, what kind of player
might be the winning kind of player? You know, like

(24:24):
you won, right you won in your career. You want
like if it's a pickup game right now, your team
is probably gonna win, Like you win. It doesn't matter
how you do it, but you do it. And you
see people that have that mindset and by the way.
They don't. They're not always the most normal people, right,
Like Kobe. You know, God rest his soul, but that
that guy at dinner like you, you might be like, dude,
I gotta get up and go like he wants to

(24:46):
every every conversation, the competition. And I'd say, because that's
kind of who he is. When I was taking the
else at one year to get into law school, I
remember he was shooting. He was with the Diadas at
the time, and I was sitting on the side practicing,
like we talked about, I was. I was working on
my else set because he said, you want to be
in this movie. I mean this commercial and I think
Nigel is doing it. Remember you know who's casting it, Yeah,

(25:08):
Nigel and so so I was sitting and you know
you've probably done this too. There's not really any They're
just waiting. I'm waiting for my two seconds to play
in this game and they cut and film or whatever.
So I have a bunch of free time and Kobe,
what's going what do you because he's always he was
always angling like what's going on? Like like Jordan, Michael
Jordan's same way, Like you watch Last Dance. He's always
surveying the room, like where where's the competence. That's why

(25:30):
he had to play cards all the time, and golf
like his whole life game like competition. Kobe is the
same way. So he'd be like, what are you doing?
And I said, I'm practiced for the el stat Let
me see that. I said, Kobe, you can't just do this.
You can't just pick it up and do it. There's
methods to how you learn these things like that. It
was a math problem. It's called a logic game for
people that are listening. And went to law school and

(25:51):
he said, let me try it, and I said, all right, fine.
I said, there's a practice test do it. And it
was about five questions you get twenty five minutes or something.
And so I watched him do it. He wasn't doing
it the way you're supposed. He wasn't doing it anyway, right,
he was just doing it in his own head. So
we check his answers and he finishes like in fifteen minutes.
I go, Cob, he didn't even use all the time.

(26:12):
He said, all right, whatever. So we checked his answers
and he got one right out of five, and I go,
see what I'm talking about He goes, yeah, see I
got one right. What if I had more time to
study like you, I've got them all right? You know,
but that's how this guy thought and fix and you're
kind of like, that's why he was great. That's why
he was great, and that's why you understand greatness. If

(26:33):
you're around greatness, you see it. You don't have to
even identify because that's not how I am. But I
think some part of that knowledge of working around players
and learning it and negotiating it probably helped. So I wasn't.
So when Raymond Green goes off on our coach or
something like that, you can go down and say, Drayma,
what are you doing? And not because you know, Chris,

(26:56):
most people act like idiots when they're around professional They
don't know what to say. Not you. But you know,
if Steph Curry was sitting here, like, hey, steph, uh
would it like to shoot so many threes? And they'd
be like, what are you talking about? Like who are
you what? They don't Yeah, they don't have to say, right,
what are you gonna say? If step could? You know? So?

(27:18):
So it's not even their fault, but you learn you
have to break down those barriers to have to lead
my position, have to lead to talk to Steve Kerr,
like you learn you're around it so much like you
your dad, you know, like you the people you met
growing up. The NBA is not an intimidating thing for you,
Like it's just your life. Like people say, why does

(27:39):
step Curry played Thompson because their dad played in the NBA.
It's nothing to them, you know, Like do you if
you played in the NBA, sure you would have loved
it and like, but but it wasn't like this mythical place.
You're like, yeah, my dad played the NBA. Yeah, it's great,
but those guys are the same as you, me and
everybody else. It is really good at basketball. So anyways,
hi help. Wow, No, that's that's an amazing answer, Bob.

(28:02):
I like when you do this. I've watched a couple
of your interviews that you've done, and you've really grew
grown into a guy that's really thoughtful and mindful. And
I just really respect you, my man, I really respect.
Let me ask you though, what it was like. You know,
you guys signed Katie, So you have three basically Hall
of Famers or four four, I don't know, whatever they

(28:23):
used to say, what do you want to argue? But whatever?
They whatever, they used to say, how difficult was it
to manage those different egos and status is on that
type of team? Yeah, I mean it wasn't It wasn't.
It depends on See, there's guys on our team that
all those guys that were on the team had individually
done at all, right, like m v P, Grant steph Um,

(28:47):
championships for some of our guys, money all of them,
money has money, respect, all Star games, all NBA, all
that stuff. So now it's kind of like what do
you do when you put it all together? And what's
the goal? And I think the goal for those guys,
because they've done it all just to win, right, Let's

(29:07):
go win the championship. It's one as many as we can.
The hard part with all of it is when and
I don't not like I don't I don't say this
to degrade the media, but media is powerful and people
are insecure. We're all insecure. So when you start pressing
buttons like well, the reason you cel a one was
was just that O'Bannon like that, you know, if you're

(29:30):
on that team and your TIS or your Charles you
know that. You're kind of like, I kind of did
some stuff too. But but but then you go to
the media, doesn't know what they're talking about because I
know I helped. But then your buddy goes, hey man,
why are they giving it all the critics And you go,
I don't know. It's a good good dude, And you're like,
but but don't you think you should be getting more?

(29:52):
And you go, well, yeah, but we're winning. And then
your wife or your parents like, hey man, they wrote
an article that said you're umbers are down. It's all that.
It's all that. Like I talked about Igodala and we
Steve came in her and brought it, decided to bring
him off the bench, and I said for people to

(30:12):
understand that. So you're a starter, you want a limp
the gold medal, you've been an All Star, and a
new coach who's never coach says you gotta call the bench.
It ain't accepting that decision. It's accepting that decision in
a very public way. So you're a Goodala and I've
talked to Andrew about this. Hey, you go home that night,
espn Idala set to come off the bench, and you

(30:34):
look at it, and you're like, whatever, A little big deal.
I don't care what they say. Then your wife they're
bringing off the bench Chris, and you go, yeah, I
mean coach, you know, really aren't you. Aren't you one
of the best players? Aren't you like the top five? Yeah?
I am, but you know, huh, all right, good night.
And then you're going to bed. You're going ship should

(30:54):
I be? Should be okay with it? And then and
then I'm interviewing you after the game on the local
go beat writer. Hey, Chris there bringing off the bench,
like microphone's on. You are okay with this role I
mean new coach and you go yeah, yeah, yeah, that's
what coach wants to know. Then I turn off the microphone. Chris,
come on, man, this kind of sucked up and you

(31:17):
go no, no, So there's all these chances for you
to say, yeah, man is fucked up because I should
be stunned. But you don't do it. You don't do it.
And in the NBA Finals we're down to one coach,
caps on the shoulder goes, I need you to start now,
and you're ready to go because you didn't feed in

(31:38):
to the negativity and all the noise. So when he
did say I need you to start. You go out
and win finals m v P. That is hard to do, right,
So for people, I'm not even saying I could do
something for people in success to not. It's why TV
shows get canceled because their success success and all it's

(32:00):
and you're making more than me, or or you get
to stand in front when we get the Emmy. Why
can't I that's the problem. So it's hard. Yeah, yeah,
it's people. But I don't blame it was all good.
I think it was great. No bad, like one guy
did this wrong or that. It's just life, just how
it goes. It's hard to keep stuff together when you
have success and you guys have done it. I mean,

(32:21):
I've been surprised how well you've actually managed everything up there.
It's it's difficult, and these guys are good. You got
some really good players Steph Curry, arguably, I want your
opinion on this. Do you think he's the greatest point
guard ever? What is the point Like, I'm not I'm
not trying to not answer the question. I don't know
what a point guard is anymore. Well, it's so okay,

(32:41):
how about we say what do we call him a guard.
Do we call him? Well, I don't know what do
we call the problem? I don't know, Like, okay, you
should probably should come a point guard. I'll tell you
what um he besides maybe a Magic Johnson which you
grew up watching so did I you're a basketball player,
I can to your basketball there. Thank you. As far

(33:02):
as messing you up on both sides of the ball, Chris,
he nobody probably ever would mess out with your head
more than he does. I don't know. I think that's
a compliment, Like I've played pick up with it. It's
it's ridiculous. What does he do? He changes the whole
you were watch. First of all, if you're on defense,
you're watching him, you are you're supposed to keep like

(33:23):
one eye on the ball, one on your man, right,
So it's fun. It's so hard not to watch him
because he can do things that don't make sense at
a distance, that don't make sense, and then people forget
when he gets around the rim. His finishing percentages are unbelieving.
His his ability around the rim to finish for a
guy that doesn't do with power athleticism. He he messes

(33:45):
you up because he's the guy that if you're playing
pick up against he makes a shot and you go, yeah, yeah,
you can't live on that, like he ain't making that again,
and he does it again and again and again, and
then and you go, yeah, I dude, had a lucky day.
And then you show up at the pick up again
the next day and he busts you again and and
you and finally, as an athlete and as a competitor,
you go, I don't know what to do with this, dude.

(34:07):
There's not many guys in the history of our game
where they leave the competition shaking their head being like,
I have no answer for this. And he does that,
and magic maybe in a different way, like magic physically guarding,
magic physically different. Here's the thing, okay, Steph to me,
the way he moves without the ball, so it's the

(34:28):
movement without the ball is probably the greatest I've ever
seen at it the jukes to get open and then
from the catch to the up. It's just like how
how does say you know what it is like if
you look at if you watch them like in our
practice stility out behind me, if you watch him shoot
the motion, it's not claim has got the picture perfect
motion like play does. Steps, steps is different. Like it's

(34:50):
like it's like plays is like and plays as good
as you can get with what you're talking about. What
is getting it off fast? Plays like here here, like
here here like so but us is all one motion
and so soft and like it's to watch him do it.
I don't know how you teach it or duplicated and
the ways if you looked at how many different you're

(35:13):
taught to shoot squared up the same way, so different
ways he shoots and angles and speed of release, that's
what doesn't make sense. Bob off the bounce. I mean
for him to be doing that thirty feet out, all
the combos and then just step back up fake you
know he didn't, you know, but just like it's just
like I can't believe it's it's years and years of

(35:33):
this to make this. He's just you know, and and
that's a good way to put it. If you were
guarding him, here's the other thing you would do. You
would there'd be a dead ball and you'd be you'd
be like, dude, would you just stop moving? Like just
stop like because it's hard enough to go on a
guy like that with the ball, But the second he

(35:55):
passes the ball, he's gone like he's often going. And
that's as a defender, even if you're playing against somebody
that can't do what he does. We all it's easier
to guard a guy that's just sitting there. But when
he's moving the way he does, you're kind of like, dude,
you're stopped, like you're bothering. Stop moving so much. And
the thing about it, too, is everybody's gearing up for him,

(36:15):
so you know, the whole league, the whole league has
some type of gimmick and you guys have adjusted the
creative offensively. I mean, it's been unbelievable. Um yeah, quick update,
Quick update on Clay Thompson injury. How's he doing? Yeah,
he's a good Today. I walk in the facility and
he's he's rehabbing as achilles and he says, um, I said,

(36:38):
what are you doing? And he's got on his uh
on the on on this floor of his right from
his locker all his fan mail and he goes, bro,
I'm responding to fan mail man. He's like, I've never
done this before, and he was kind of laughing like
this this superstar life, you know, playing every game iron Man.
And now he's he can't obviously can't play this year.

(37:00):
He's It's kind of like a moment, a full cycle
of life. Like you come up, you get all this
fan mail, you I don't got time for this, you
don't read it, you don't look at it. And then
as you get older and wiser in life obviously stopped
for him athletically you start reading it and you're like,
all right, I got time for this now. So he's good.
He's a great dude. He's um play like like I

(37:21):
talked about the mbiate, Clay respects the game like he
respects the game. And I said, I said, when he
got hurt again, uh Achilles, I said, I think people
and it's not fair to say the only two, but
I think from being around the league, he him and
Derrick Rose, I said, are the two most respected players.

(37:42):
Nobody's ever got a problem with play. How he plays,
how he competes, how he lives, how he talks. He
every player in the NBA will want to play with
play Thoms. You can't say that about every player. I
don't care. Like even with Steps, sometimes people have people
hate on Step. Nobody hates on Clay, which is a compliments.
But he's doing all right. He's rehabbing and James Wiseman,

(38:03):
I know he just went down with the meniscus, but
his progress this season. You guys took him at the
number two overall pick, had some other options. You're happy
with his progress this season? Yeah, no, I mean you
always have options, but James is Yeah. I mean it's
a long game, right, I mean, and it's tough for
a center now. But James and I don't grade players
good or bad. Five six months, we do it. You

(38:25):
can do it. I just can't do it. Um and
people do do it. I got no problem with it.
It's fine. Like great him at the end of year
one year, two year, three, year four and it changes.
I think the best thing about him and big guys.
You know, most big guys don't love basketball. In fact,
they're they're se pet all. They played to the tall
and you know, not on all of them, but many

(38:45):
of them some yeah, decent representing some of the guys
I did, like, it's not the most important thing in
their life. It's a job, and it's a good job.
Here's a lot of money, but they don't bleed it.
They don't like need it. It's so it's like they
grew up some coaches like, definitely basketball. You're six, okay,
I'll just we'll go play basketball. You and I went,
whether I was gonna be six ft or six five

(39:05):
or six two or six eight, I was gonna play
basketball wherever it ended, it ended. I just loved it. Um.
But for him, he does love it, and I so far,
he's shown he loves to work. And I've never met
a player that has that talent and puts in the
work that doesn't succeed. But he's gonna. He's gonna. Now
he's hurt, so he's gonna put in the work and
that's mental work, that's physical and and I think he'll

(39:29):
put it all together. But it's gonna be a lot
on him to put the time in. But I'm betting
that he will. I think he will. So you see
that he has that the obsessiveness. Yeah, if you were
playing with him, you'd come over. Here's what you'd say,
you say, do that guy's talented, but he's got to
figure out the game a little bit better. And you
but you would know like one skill. I think you

(39:51):
knew innately how to play and what to do. Um,
but you weren't seven ft tall with the vertical like
that kind of weeks we don't get at all, Like
we don't. So his part is he just got to
learn and grow and play more. He's gotta play more
basketball and he knows that. We know that. And so

(40:12):
that's the hard part of the injury, wanting him to
be able to play finished season, do summer league, because
he didn't get smmer league, he didn't get training camp,
and so that's the toughest part because he needs to
be he needs to play. He needs to play basketball,
so that that'll that'll be a key part of his group. Um. Absolutely,
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports

(40:34):
Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app
search f s R to listen live. Kelly Oubrey Andrew Wiggins.
They've been playing well as of late, and you guys
have been on this push to play for that playing spot.
What do you guys got to do to close it
out over the next you know, to the end of
the season to be in a position. Um, we need Steph.

(40:55):
I don't think we I don't know that we needed
to score forty Maybe we do. Is this is this
till he's got the tailbone. Is it Lincoln. Yeah, but
that's that's he's he's over I mean that's pretty much
in the past. It's maybe slightly there, but overall, he's good. Um,
what we need to do. Play smart. We got a lot.
We like a lot of teams. We used to have
this huge margin for air, big margin when you had
grant all these guys. We could play bad and win.

(41:17):
We can't. We can't. Excuse me, we can't play bad
and win. Now we play good. Um, the best teams
in the league. A bad night still get some a
w instead of winning by fifteen and went by five.
We can't do that. So we gotta play well. We
gotta show up. We gotta be a mentally prepayer. We've
gotta give it an effort. And guys gotta make shots,
you know, the whole deal. But but things don't go

(41:38):
your way. You know, make mistakes, you're probably gonna lose.
We just don't have that cushion without play on the team.
But we we like our spot. Now we get a
lot of games at home, Chris, we got we've been
better at home. We got nine after tonight we played
tonight in Washington. Um, we got nine and thirteen at home,
so we'll see. Hopefully we can keep the momentum going.
And you guys, I think you guys will. Man, you

(42:00):
guys are in a good spot as you sit there
with your late show shirt on and you're like l
a dog. I mean, that's just you don't have to pretend.
I'm not pretending. I want to know about our competition.
All right, there you go, it's good. Tell me something,
Tell me something. What is your absolute most favorite part

(42:22):
about working in the NBA? The people, um, the people
I met, and and competition, Like you know, I know
you you like competition. Um, you get to compete. But
but it's hard, man, because you lose a lot. I mean,
we want a lot. I got pretty lucky with that.
But you know, you go home after loss, bad loss.

(42:44):
You make mistakes. I made mistakes, do good things, to
do bad things. Living with that stuff like not waking
up at three in the morning. Um. But but when
you do well and you make a good call, or
you work with people you like, getting to know our coaches,
I mean, Steve Kerr is gonna be a friend for life.
And players i've met. Um. I told Draymond that he

(43:05):
was talking about the day about a teammate, and I
was like, why don't you call him? Because they had
to have a conversation about something. I said, if you
can't call him after all you've been through, then that's
your fault. Then you got what do you what do
you have? Then you've got rings sitting in your lock,
in your in your safe And what is that? Like?
If you and I and we I mean, if I

(43:25):
didn't couldn't do this with you, what was the point?
You know? If I can't see Charles or ed or
this is that? Like, if I don't have a relationship
with Lavin and coach Herrick, what was the point of
it all? So? What? So what I can walk around
like we were champions you talk to those guys. Ever, No,
I don't even know any of them. I don't like
those dudes. Like this is what people don't When we
went seventy three and nine outside here and a lot,

(43:47):
there's a banner we had the best record. I don't
think that records can get broken, by the way, but
we lost in championship. Many people, many people that's a failure.
As a failure, you do win the championship, and I go,
I listen to that because we're all vulnerable. I said it.
I I don't think so. I said, that's pretty hard
to put a team together. It's gonna more win more
regular these games in the history of the NBA. And

(44:08):
I said, it's hard to do. And then I was
telling our coach. I said to Steve, I said, I
get to decide what that means, right like you and
I get to decide what that you say championship means.
You get to decide what it means for you. I
get to decide what it means for me. That's all
the matters. It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks about it,
except for what you think about it when I think
about it. But what I think about any success is

(44:30):
the people. Like in ten years, if I if I
say that restaurant, you're I'm sitting down with you. What's up?
What are you up to? Remember this? Remember that if
we hated each other or I didn't know you or
get to know you, then what the hell is it?
So it's the relationships, Chris, It's not I don't have
a picture on my house, I don't have a trophy wall,
I got nothing. I got the fact that if I

(44:51):
need to talk to you. I can pick up the
phone and talk to Kevin or Steph or Clay or
Draymond or Steve or anybody, David West, who play anybody.
I can do that. That the gift other than that money.
You're not kidding. It must be nice. I'm joking. I'm joking.

(45:11):
I just got a couple more questions. I know you've
got thanks to do, um, just as far as how
and I know that you probably I probably know the
answer to this. But will the Warriors win another NBA
championship in the next five years? Oh boy, I hope so. UM. Yeah,
I get lucky. You gotta be healthy. UM. I'll tell

(45:33):
you what. We have guys that have They know the way.
Does that make sense? They know the way? That matters. Um,
there's a big when you haven't ever done it, you
always wonder if you can and does that make sense?
Like if you were a college coach, you can look
at the team that guys have done it. I've been
a part of it. I know what it takes. That's powerful,

(45:55):
UM to have the most important thing is to have
players that have done it. Because I can promise you
there's so many moments in the journey where it's it
could fall off. But one year we were down twice
in the Western Conference Finals Game six and seven to Houston.
Good Houston teams by ten a halftime and people are like, oh,

(46:16):
you were just better. No, no, if our fabric was weaker,
we lose one of those games, and people like, how
do you know? I go? I walked in the locker
room and a half time I look around. No panic,
no blame, no letting go of the rope. So Chris, Yeah,
I mean I can picture a championship again because of
Steph Curry, played Thompson, Draymond Green. I know who they

(46:37):
are in those championship moments. They ain't gonna They're not.
You know, I don't even need praising them. You've seen
it too. You know who they betting on that. Now.
Look people say you get older and said, I'm still
betting on them. You guys, stay healthy, but nobody would

(46:59):
want to play. You gotta beat those. It's like a boxer, right,
you gotta knock him out. He's not gonna throw in
the town. You gotta knock him out. And it's gonna
be a long heavy heavyweight fight. It's gonna last clove
rounds and you know what, we'll see, We'll see. Yeah,
I wouldn't bet against you guys. That's for dango full
strength of full strength. Yeah, it's yeah, yeah. Um, we'll

(47:24):
see you now, we'll see, we'll see what's you guys.
Luck although you know we're over here with you. You
see what you're wearing. But I got I got one
more question and then I'll let you know. Um, the
George Floyd Child the trial, Derek Shot found guilty. Um,
the NBA and your organization have been, you know, very
outspoken about their support and advocacy against situations like this

(47:49):
from happening. Talk a little bit about that, the community
involvement of the words organization and just comments on this,
the trial and where we are as a nation. Yeah, well,
we're better than we were, but we're not. I don't
think we're good enough. Um, we all you know, we
all have to acknowledge how far we have to go?

(48:12):
Is That was what I would say. And that starts
with making decisions like it starts with holding people accountaboo,
and it starts with being honest, And it starts with
raising your hand and saying I need to know more,
I need to do more. Um. I heard a great
story where I was talking to a guy knowing our community,
who I've reached out to locally to understand rates better. Right, Like,

(48:34):
I could talk to you and you could be like
I used to talk to Igdala on our team and
he's like, have you ever walked into a store and
felt like people were looking like you're gonna steal something?
And I was like no, And he goes, you know
how many times that's happened to me? And you maybe
you'd say, wow, you understand what a gift that is,
Like you getting the elevator, the woman grabs her purse,

(48:56):
you know what that feels like. I'd be like no.
So so there's that, But the other part is there's
understanding how life works and how it is and and
just having that knowledge and trying to be better at that.
But then there's moments where this guy was telling me
his wife was in a law school class and they

(49:17):
were the professor was teaching a course on property and
he showed a scene I think from Amistad where he
referenced slaves people as property and it was so um
irresponsible and so wrong on every level, and she wished,

(49:37):
in hindsight, she's she's a black woman that she had
had to strength to raise her hand and say this
is bullshit, like you can't do this, like this is wrong,
Like why are you doing this? Why are you showing
this scene like this isn't right, this isn't good, Like
don't use this as an example of probably this is bad.
And she said, but the next step is why didn't

(49:57):
any of my classmates white, black, round Why didn't they
raise their hands and say it's wrong? And that really
hit me with like being not guilty of doing something
doesn't mean you're not guilty. Does that make sense? Like
do you understand like being an observer as is not enough.

(50:19):
You have to be a participant, right, And so I've
learned from an organizational standpipe from an individual standpoint, just
because I don't think I'm racist, that's not enough understand
Like that's not enough for me, that's not enough for society. Um, well,
I didn't do anything wrong. I like black people. That

(50:39):
that's pathetic if you think about like that's not it.
So learning individually that it takes a step forward, right,
Like standing still, Chris, even if I'm not doing anything
wrong is wrong. So I think what we've all learned.
I hope is at least that like this ain't gonna

(50:59):
change ange you as a black guy and as a
black community. It's not fair for me to go you
gotta figure this out. It's fair for you to be
like can we get some fucking help? Can you help me?
Like we're not the majority here, like can you can
you help me here? So I think once we all
have woken up to that, then it becomes about what

(51:23):
are you gonna do? So for us, it's programs in
our community, it's it's educating ourselves, it's giving opportunities, it's
putting black people in leadership, it's all the things we
all have to do a better job of. Um. And
we could go on and on and on. But in
the in the trap specifically, like yeah, that's the like
you should pay for you that, I mean obviously you

(51:43):
know that's justice served. I mean, that's that's that's it's
so sad that it's you shouldn't take a death why
a death? Like a death is not correct. It's not death,
is sir. It's done like you can't it doesn't change
this punishment doesn't bring someone back to life. That's the

(52:04):
hard part. Um. But yeah, we all gotta I appreciate
you asking about it, but we'll have a long way
to go. Yeah, we do, and I think we'll get there.
But like you say, it's gonna take everyone and not
just you know, standing around. We need active participants to
get the job done. But bye, thank you so much
for you today, My man. God, just come to a game.
Come to a game up here. I would like to,

(52:26):
but when I wear that, but whenever I come up there,
you never invite me anywhere? Don't. I can't. I can't
put you in the I can't put you in the
gym with something like that. I'm not gonna wear this
if I come up to the You can wear a
Dodger's hat if you want, okay, but that that might
get me beat up though, So I got Yeah, they're

(52:46):
pretty nice. It's not that you know, they're l A fans.
Don't beat jump either. We're not to las man. You know,
it's a nice society. It's a good, good deal of
let's take it to your expense too. Yeah, we've involved, Yeah, evolved, evolved.
So what's good talking to you? Chris? You're talking to
you're talking about gets identity,