Bob Myers, the former general manager of the Warriors, is leaving ESPN to become the president of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. Myers spent two years at ESPN where he mostly appeared on NBA Countdown and NBA Today, but was also prominently featured on the network's NBA draft coverage.
Myers leaves behind a complicated media legacy. Or at least he might have if anyone had ever let him talk. Covering the NBA for ESPN Myers often found himself sharing a set with Stephen A. Smith which mostly left the former GM waiting for a chance to talk.
He usually did a great job waiting patiently, but he was never afraid to slip in a line about how much Smith was talking or shouting.
Most recently Myers went viral during the 2025 NBA draft for his reactions to Smith's commentary throughout the night. Before the No. 3 pick was announced, Smith emphatically explained why the 76ers couldn't draft Ace Bailey. When they took VJ Edgecombe the former GM asked Smith if he thought he had changed Philadelphia's mind with the last-second rant.
Stephen A. Smith was adamant that the 76ers should not take Ace Bailey.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 26, 2025
They took VJ Edgecombe.
"You think they were gonna go Bailey and you just talked them out of it?' pic.twitter.com/DlxjdKkYSa
"Just because you yell something doesn't mean it's true"
During the '25 NBA Finals Myers listened to another Smith rant before he dropped one of the truest and most-ignored lines in ESPN history.
When Smith stopped yelling about how players act in game sevens, Myers jumped in to say, "Just because you yell something doesn't mean it's true." Kendrick Perkins and Malika Andrews laughed while Smith went back to shouting.
Stephen A. Smith rants about why Kendrick Perkins is "REALLY ANNOYING" him ahead of Game 7.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 22, 2025
Bob Myers after the rant: "Just because you yell something doesn't mean it's true." 🏀📺🎙️ #NBA #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/R96DEjaaGv
"I don't get a chance to say anything"
During the second round of the 2024 NBA draft Myers was in-studio with Andrews, Smith and then NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski when he broke the news that Rich Paul was telling teams not to draft Bronny James.
After another rant from Smith an exasperated Myers, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, said, "I don't get a chance to say anything. I mean, Stephen A. talks a lot. You know, there's other stuff going on."
Everyone's already posted the Bronny piece but Bob Myers saying he doesn't get a chance to say anything because Stephen A talks a lot killed me pic.twitter.com/YC8UeqzErQ
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) June 27, 2024
"I was going to say something interesting"
Myers also spent Christmas with Stephen A. Smith in 2024. During the broadcast of a 76ers–Celtics game Myers had a very brief point to make about how good Joel Embiid is when healthy, but both Smith and Kendrick Perkins kept cutting him off.
During a surprise win by Philly over the rival Celtics, ESPN's analysis devolved into an argument over whether Joel Embiid or Tyrese Maxey is the best player on the 76ers
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 26, 2024
Bob Myers cut in with an "I was going to say something interesting" as Kendrick Perkins offered a retort 😬 pic.twitter.com/YmZfjfRuWc
When Smith finally granted him permission to speak Perkins butted in from the other side of the table saying, "Timeout." Myers dropped his head, but had had enough. In that moment he decided that he needed to speak up for himself and as he raised his head he assured his co-stars that he had something interesting to say.
Whether he did or not didn't really matter. Myers had opinions and he wasn't afraid to advocate for them, even if it meant needling the network's biggest star. Of course, he also realized that sometimes it was best not to have an opinion. And sometimes, even when he did have the floor to himself, fate would intervene.
Take this December 2023 broadcast of a Knicks-Suns game that took place a few days after Draymond Green punched Jusuf Nurkić. Myers, who drafted Green to the Warriors, had both a personal relationship with Green and a professional duty to discuss the incident on the air. Which he did, technically. And boy, was he happy about that technicality.
Bob Myers talking about Draymond suspension, but a timeout saves him and they go to break lmao pic.twitter.com/rEU2peHX7V
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) December 16, 2023
"Adam Silver I think was very smart and asked Joe Dumars to say—look! A timeout saved me," Myers shouted. "We did it! We did Draymond Green. Moving on! Moving on!"
Myers was a solid and informed on-air personality at ESPN. He wasn't afraid to say what he thought, even if some of his most memorable moments came he was talking about not being able to to talk.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bob Myers’s ESPN Legacy Was Being Constantly Drowned Out by Stephen A. Smith.
