Harris Blitzer Sports activities & Leisure (HBSE), house owners of the Philadelphia 76ers, employed former Golden State Warriors common supervisor Bob Myers away from ESPN on Friday. The transfer ought to put Sixers staff president Daryl Morey and head coach Nick Nurse on discover.
Myers received 4 titles as GM of the Warriors, overseeing a redemption from a league-wide laughingstock to some of the profitable and beneficial franchises in sports activities. After 11 years with the group, he left in 2023 to turn into an analyst for ESPN, however labored as an advisor for HBSE once they took over the Washington Commanders. Myers then helped engineer a turnaround that noticed a 4-13 staff in 2023 win two playoff video games and attain the NFC Championship Recreation in 2025.
HBSE can have Bob Myers oversee a number of sports activities
Josh Harris and David Blitzer do not simply personal the Commanders. They purchased the 76ers in 2011 and added the NHL’s New Jersey Devils to their portfolio in 2013, and likewise personal shares in NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing and Premier League soccer membership Crystal Palace.
Myers labored with Harris intently because the Commanders assembled their new management staff in early 2024. That may seemingly proceed, however the 76ers are the staff within the HBSE portfolio that appears to be struggling essentially the most. They have not superior previous the second spherical of the NBA playoffs since 2001, regardless of having an MVP middle in Joel Embiid and a number of high-priced All-Stars like Paul George and Tyrese Maxey.
The 76ers entered final season with championship aspirations however completed 24-58 after an injury-plagued 12 months. This season, George and Embiid are nonetheless injured. For a staff that is paying three gamers most salaries, one other failure to contend may very well be an excessive amount of for possession — particularly once they simply employed essentially the most profitable NBA government of the final decade.
Daryl Morey and Nick Nurse may be out of excuses
After 13 very profitable years with the Houston Rockets, Morey joined the 76ers in 2020. Throughout his tenure in Houston, the Rockets made 9 playoff appearances, together with two journeys to the convention finals (dropping to Myers’ Warriors each instances), and by no means had a dropping file. With the Sixers, issues have not gone practically as properly, from hiring and firing Doc Rivers as head coach, to signing George, to giving the injured Embiid a three-year, $193M extension.
Former Sixers stars James Harden and Ben Simmons have overtly feuded with Morey, with Harden calling the team president a “liar” and Simmons refusing to play for Philadelphia within the 2021-22 season. The 76ers have had success within the common season, however are 3-4 within the playoffs in the course of the Morey period.
Nurse got here to the 76ers in 2023 after successful a title with the Toronto Raptors in 2019. He hasn’t had a wholesome Embiid because the center of the 2023-24 season, however it’s arduous to think about he has a lot job safety after final 12 months’s catastrophe.
Given the success the Commanders had once they changed their earlier executives and coaches, it have to be tempting for HBSE to do the identical with their struggling basketball staff — particularly with a well-connected basketball professional like Myers on board.
This 12 months is a pivotal one for a lot of throughout the Sixers group — particularly for the top coach and staff president, whose futures could hinge on how issues unfold.
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