Three Biggest Takeaways From Bob Myers' Press Conference

CAMDEN — Two days after dismissing Daryl Morey, Josh Harris and acting president Bob Myers spent 34 minutes fielding questions from local media on Thursday.

Here are the three biggest takeaways from Myers' first press conference as a stakeholder in Sixers business.

"I'm a big believer in character and leadership."

You'll be surprised to hear that Myers, a four-time champion as a lead NBA front office executive, believes in leadership. Wow! He sees the operation as an intensive menu of resposibilities. Myers rattled them off, naming front-facing duties, managing star players, managing ownership.

He also mentioned the more obvious tasks, such as contract negotiations, draft process, analytics and medical personnel.

"I’m a big believer in character and leadership. I’m looking for a person that embodies those things. But there are many characteristics under that that I believe kind of qualify in making a modern GM a success," Myers said.

"You go down the line and these jobs have an enormity to them. So I’m looking to find someone that can check as many of those boxes as possible."

But it was what Myers said next that was most interesting.

He wants someone who can evaluate themselves honestly, too.

"But also raise their hand and say, ‘You know what, I’m actually not good in this space. I’m going to need some support.’ Because the misnomer about these jobs is I had some success in my previous job, but it wasn’t me by myself. There are teams of people that make a team and organization successful," Myers said.

There will be weaknesses. No candidate will check every box. Myers' goal is to ensure that the next president is insolated with the proper supporting staff.

"Making sure we have the right person to lead them, but also the right people underneath them, which is important. The person that is going to get this job, like I said, I hope they check all those—they won’t. It doesn’t exist. How can we support them in roles that they don’t have?” said Myers.

"Them plus me"

Much has been theorized about Myers' true role here dating back to October, when he was named president of Sports at Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE). Myers could be seen sitting with Harris at games throughout the season, adding fuel to the speculation that he was keeping a close on the Sixers' operation as Morey ran the show on a day-to-day basis.

So what will his role be once the hire is made?

"I view taking the next few weeks, not sure how long it’ll be, to identify a day-to-day leader that will have a lot of authority here, which they should. What they’re going to get and our fans are going to get is them plus me," Myers said.

That "them plus me" thing feels a bit at odds with what Myers said next. While he won't be involved at a day-to-day level, he'll be involved in basically all transactional decisions.

"On the high-level decision-making, which is being here at the draft, being here leading up to the trade deadline, being available for free agency discussions, free agency meetings. Things like that. I’m going to be involved at that level. I can tell you that I imagine, and not saying this lightly, I will be communicating with that person daily if not five out of seven days a week," Myers said.

"I want to hire somebody that I can work with, I want to hire somebody that Josh can work with. Most importantly, I want to win. I think that I have had some experience in this space and if I have something to say, it’s harder for me not to say it than say it. But that’ll be my role. And obviously continuing to work with Josh on all this very high-level stuff.”

It is, at the very least, interesting that Myers ostensibly made reference to his original job with HBSE very briefly in the last sentence of a fairly lengthy answer.

"You need good people that are in harmony so there is no acrimony."

It's understandable that locals get shivers down their spines when they hear Myers endorse collaboration so full-throatedly. It did not go well the last time the Sixers had a decentralized decision-making system at the top of their front office. But, this is a little different.

Myers has the equity of multiple championship rings. If he believes that to be the best way to function, not many people have the résumés to question him. Nonetheless, the degree of autonomy the next lead executive has will speak volumes to who is really in charge of the Sixers.

How do you avoid inconsistencies in the organization's vision?

“People, right? You need good people. You need good people that are in harmony so there is no acrimony. You can debate, healthy debate. Actually, in my previous job, we had a lot of people in the room commenting on what we should do, what we shouldn’t do," Myers said.

He went on to state that he expects the chosen candidate to operate with sigificant autonomy.

"If I do a good job, a tremendous amount of autonomy because that’s what you want. Hire somebody, let them do their job. But at the highest level, you certainly give your opinion. You weigh in," Myers said.

In his eyes, the importance of collaboration is fostering a healthy organization. People can express differences without stomping off in frustration. There is no back-channeling to the outside world in an effort to clear one's name or assign blame when decisions go awry.

"I’m not going to hire somebody that I don’t think can be malleable, can be collaborative, that can be thoughtful, can take direction, can be humble enough to say, ‘You know what, that time I didn’t get it right.’ Or, ‘You know what, I really believe in this. You have to give me the strength to make this decision.’ All those things are part of hiring the right person," Myers said.

Myers can't atone for the sins of the past. But he can implement the practices that led to dynastic success with the Golden State Warriors.

"I believe we’re going to get a very high-functioning, quality front office with this hire," he said.

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