Bob Myers, the man at the helm of constructing the Warriors' dynasty over the last 12 years, officially stepped down as team president and general manager on Tuesday, but CEO Joe Lacob wasn't ready to announce a replacement.
Myers' Warriors contract expires on June 30 but the 2023 NBA Draft takes place on June 22 and the free agency negotiating window begins on June 30, so Lacob needs to have a new top executive in place by then.
But as he sat next to an emotional Myers, Lacob declined to name a successor to the two-time NBA Executive of the Year.
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"I'm not going to box myself in here, to be honest and open about this," Lacob told reporters at Chase Center. "We really just learned about this when you learned about it this morning. I was always hopeful that Bob would continue on and that he was joking. But he wasn't. Obviously thought about it. Got some ideas. We'll make a decision as soon as we can but I want to make sure we make the right decision. If it happens in a week, great. If it happens in a month, great. We'll make that decision through a natural course and have the right process. I think we're preparing for the draft, free agency, all those things, regardless and we're going to be ready."
The obvious speculation has led most people to believe the top two candidates are internal -- assistant general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. and vice president of basketball operations Kirk Lacob.
But the elder Lacob wouldn't hint one way or the other on whether the next Warriors' president would be an internal or external candidate.
Golden State Warriors
"I'm not going to comment on that at this time," Lacob said. I will say that we have a very strong organization and I think it's a good possibility that it could be an internal candidate but haven't made a decision so I can't really give you an answer. We're going to work on that."
When specifically asked about his son as a candidate for the job, Lacob again deflected.
"I'm not going to comment on who's a candidate, who's not a candidate at this point," Lacob said. "Going to keep you all guessing."
While Lacob didn't offer much insight into who is in the running for the job. Myers gave his endorsement for Dunleavy Jr., who has been with the organization for the last four seasons, serving as his top Lieutenant.
"Mike's great," Myers told reporters. "He'll be great if that's what he wants but that's his call, that's Joe's call, it's not my call. But if that's what he wants to do, he'll be great. He knows more about basketball than I do. He grew up, he was born into it with his dad. He played in it. If that's his calling ... that wasn't my thought at the time, honestly. I just thought, we're always looking for people that'll make us better. Joe's always about bringing in talent.
"I didn't have an idea at the time that I was grooming him. He's more my friend than co-worker. But he's really good. He would be fantastic if that's the choice. But I'd be lying if I thought four years ago 'Let's bring in Mike and he can assume this thing.' I told him, if that's what he wants, I'm supportive."
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If Dunleavy Jr. were to get the job, he'd assume control of the team that selected him with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft.
But on this day -- Myers' day to say goodbye to the organization he built into a perennial contender -- there was no decision on who will try to steer the franchise into the next phase.