Bob Myers helped steer the Warriors through one of the most successful runs in NBA history, but when he looks back, one move still stands out above the rest. On The Cousins Podcast, the former Golden State general manager said the toughest call he ever made was trading Andre Iguodala in 2019.
Myers said the challenge went beyond roster construction and straight into the personal side of the job. When he talked about decisions that hit him hardest, Iguodala was the first name that came up.
“Trading Iguodala. We had to trade Iguodala, who had won three championships with the team, in 2019 to sign D’Angelo Russell. And the way he took it, the professionalism, made it-I can’t, as far as a player handling a tough thing, I’ve never seen one do it as well as he did in that moment.”
He explained how difficult it was to deliver that kind of message to a player who had given so much to the franchise.
“To call a guy that’s-when you talk about personal, making it personal-and to say, ‘We are trading you.’ We traded him to Memphis, and he knew it was, like, not a team that was trying to win. It wasn’t like we were taking you, putting him in a situation.”
Myers also noted that Iguodala’s path after leaving Golden State only underscored how much the veteran had meant to winning teams. The Grizzlies later moved him to Miami, and the Heat went to the Finals that season, giving Iguodala six straight Finals trips from 2015 through 2020.
“By the way, he ended up going to the Heat and going to the Finals again after that. Going five years in a row with the Warriors, he went six with Miami.
But Andre looked at me and he said, ‘I understand. Like, you gotta do.’
And it wasn’t bitter. I mean, of course, I’m sure he felt a certain way, but it wasn’t like-it wasn’t fair.
It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right.
Like, when you do things where a player does so much for you and your organization, and you make a decision where he deserved better. He deserved better.”
That move came in the sign-and-trade that brought D’Angelo Russell over from the Brooklyn Nets after Kevin Durant’s departure. To make the deal happen, Golden State sent Iguodala and a future first-round pick to Memphis.
For Myers, the pain was tied to everything Iguodala had already done in a Warriors uniform. He arrived in 2013 and became a key part of the core alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. He helped Golden State win three championships in five years and won Finals MVP in 2015.
The trade never really became the end of the story, though. Iguodala never played a game for the Grizzlies, was dealt to the Miami Heat in February 2020, and then returned to the Warriors in 2021 after another season in Miami. He later helped Golden State win the 2022 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, giving him a fourth championship.
Myers, meanwhile, added another title to a front-office run that included four championships, six Finals appearances, and the 73-9 regular-season record in 2015-16. He joined the Warriors’ front office in 2011, became general manager in 2012, won Executive of the Year in 2015 and 2017, and stepped down in 2023.
Even with all of that success, Myers said the relationships mattered more than the hardware. That’s why the Iguodala trade still sticks with him.
He said, “I don’t talk to these rings I have at my house. I don’t, like, watch old highlights and stuff.
I call Draymond Green. I call Steph Curry.
I’ll call Iguodala. That’s what I miss.”
It was a reminder that even in the middle of a dynasty, the hardest part of the job can be telling a player who helped build it that his time is up.
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