Bob Myers, the executive universally credited for the Golden State Warriors’ four NBA championships between the 2014-15 and 2021-22 seasons, recently dropped a mind-blowing revelation on the Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter podcast. He pulled back the curtain on a veteran player who made a critical, totally unexpected call, urging him to keep the team’s roster intact right before their historic dynasty truly kicked off. This wasn’t just some casual chat; it was a pivot point that genuinely changed everything for a franchise on the cusp.
The Call That Could’ve Changed Everything
This whole saga went down right after the 2013-14 season wrapped up. The Warriors had put together an impressive 51 wins that year, but their playoff run ended in a brutal Game 7 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs. Myers had to be absolutely reeling, trying to figure out what the heck came next for the team. Then, just three days after that gut-wrenching loss, his phone rang. It was Jermaine O’Neal, one of the team’s most influential veterans. Myers actually admitted he fully expected O’Neal to be calling to announce his retirement after an 18-year career in the league. Can you even imagine the shock when O’Neal hit him with, “Hey man, listen to me; do not break this team up”? Myers himself was thinking, “What’s so great about this team? We just lost in the first round.” That’s how close they were to potentially blowing it all up.
The “Knows How to Lose” Factor
But O’Neal, a six-time All-Star in his own right, had seen something Myers hadn’t quite grasped yet. His reasoning was pure gold, the kind of locker room insight that only a true, grizzled veteran possesses. O’Neal told him directly, “I’ve been in a lot of locker rooms at the end of a season, and this team knows how to lose.” And then he followed that up by saying the painful first-round exit “bothered them the right amount.” Think about that for a second. It wasn’t that they were inherently losers; it was that they understood the crushing weight of losing, and that feeling, that specific kind of frustration, was actually going to be their fuel. It wasn’t about shaking things up and hitting the reset button; it was about harnessing that raw emotion. O’Neal would retire after that season, stepping away from the game he loved, but his words clearly stuck with Myers.
From Heartbreak to History Books
What happened next is, quite literally, history. The very next year, in the 2014-15 campaign, the Warriors launched into that historic dynasty that every NBA fan talks about. Myers even discussed other big moments on the podcast, like the factors that led to him leaving the team, what he misses most about the role, and the toughest decisions he had to make when he was in charge. But this story, this one phone call from a departing veteran, absolutely highlights how powerful true leadership and a deep, authentic understanding of team chemistry can be. It’s not always the obvious move that builds a winner; sometimes, it’s trusting the gut feeling and unique perspective of a player who truly gets what makes a locker room tick.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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