Former Warriors general manager Bob Myers is at peace with his decision to leave the organization for the less stressful world of TV analysis.
The emotional wear-and-tear of his 12-year tenure as the Warriors' main roster architect was a lot to handle. Just about every game mattered.
Myers addressed that during a conversation with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on "The Woj Pod" this week.
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"There's a helplessness to it, right?" Myers, now an ESPN NBA analyst, said to Wojnarowski. "I pride myself on never … I think one time in 12 years did I leave a game because it was too much emotionally. I think it was a Finals game in Oakland. I'm not proud of it, but I'm sure GMs or other people would understand. Some GMs do it all the time.
"I know Jerry West, that was his habitual method for dealing with it. I realized I'm in this job, I'm going to be in the building for whatever happens, good, bad. Because if something great were to happen, which I was lucky to see a lot of that, I want to see it. I don't want to be in the parking lot or away when something really good happens and feel like 'This is what we do it all for and I missed it.' So you have to risk dealing with the pain if you lose."
The Warriors experienced a lot of good in Myers' time as general manager, as they played in 34 total NBA Finals games during that span, including 18 home games (15 at Oracle Arena, three at Chase Center).
Myers didn't specify which Finals game he left, but there were plenty of anxiety-inducing games at Oracle Arena during the Warriors' battles with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors.
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For the fans who wonder how Myers possibly could leave an NBA Finals game before the conclusion, he referred to the 2011 "Moneyball" movie, which chronicled the rise of the Oakland Athletics in the early 2000s under then-general manager Billy Beane.
Beane, portrayed by actor Brad Pitt in the movie, was famous for not being able to watch A's games, and Myers can relate to that mindset.
"That movie is so good at characterizing the life of a general manager," Myers told Wojnarowski. "When he's in the car turning his radio on and off. And lot of people watching the movie are probably thinking 'That isn't real.' Ask any general manager in any sport, 'Is that real? Is that something that happens?' And it absolutely does.
"When he's in the weight room and like 'Text me if anything happens.' It's like the torturous way of living and going through it. But there's nothing like the adrenaline of the job. But certainly that movie was so good at showing an inside life of it."
Myers now can watch Warriors games as a fan, not as invested in the result of each game as much as he used to be.
For someone who lived and breathed with each outcome, that has to be a huge sense of relief.