“We Were Buried”: Bob Myers Reveals Real Emotion Behind Stephen Curry’s Finals MVP Before Warriors Departure

“I wanna give you credit for jumping off the Titanic before it sunk.” It didn’t take long for Charles Barkley’s statement to go viral, given how it resonated with the viewpoint that so many NBA fans had formed back in 2023. In the 13 years that he served as the General Manager of the Golden State Warriors, Myers oversaw the franchise’s best era ever. Under the playing prowess of Stephen Curry and co., alongside the coaching skills of Steve Kerr, four Larry O’Brien trophies and numerous individual/group accolades came the squad’s way in the period. Unfortunately, the higher you climb, the harder you fall, and there were quite some major falls during the GM’s final years. Fortunately, Stephen Curry himself was able to provide one final memento in the midst of the chaos.

In an interview with CNBC host Scott Wapner, the 49-year-old revealed how, despite winning the 2018 championship against the Cleveland Cavaliers, had the “biggest migraine” in the aftermath of the game. Why? It is because of the pressure from the classic ‘Where do we go from here?’ Myers was right in feeling so, as he revealed that “2019, we lose. I can make excuses…. we probably could have won if we were healthy, but we lost. And then Kevin (Durant) goes.” From making it to the NBA Finals 5 years in a row (winning 3) to not even making it to the playoffs for 2 seasons, the transition would have been hard upon anyone. Fortunately, the Warriors were able to recover come 2022, and no one was more pleased than the General Manager himself.

“2022 was, for me, you got the Sundae, you got the whipped cream, that was like Cherry (on top), you know,” said Myers. “And I could tell you stories of all different ones of them, but 22 was almost like, it book-ended the first one for me. It was almost like…. we were buried, we had the worst record in the league, I think, in 2020 or 21. And to come back, and resurrect, and see Steph get MVP, for my, was just super validating.”

The Warriors were at the very bottom of the points table in 2020, having lost 50 of their 65 games. From the beginning of the season itself, things weren’t looking good. Kevin Durant had left the team, and Klay Thompson was out after getting knee surgery on his torn ACL. By Game 4 of the regular season, the situation went from bad to downright worse after Curry collided with then Suns player Aron Baynes and broke his hand. The aftermath of the surgery kept the player away from the court for 3 months. Things were better during the 2020-21 season, but still not good enough. The Golden Days of the Bay Area franchise seemed to be finally behind them. However, Stephen Curry was not one to lie down so quickly. He showed that he meant business right from the season opener of the 2021-22 season, scoring 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists to make theeightht triple-double of his career. Along with continuing to deliver exceptional performances, thesharpshooterr also made his first buzzer-beating game-winning shot ever against the Houston Rockets,maded 21 points simply in the fourth-quarter points in a separate game against the Rockets, and kept the momentum going in all matchups.

By the time the regular season concluded, the Warriors had a 53-29 record. On stood the Nuggets, the Grizzles, and the Mavericks as obstacles before the ultimate Finals series against the Boston Celtics. The 31.2 points he averaged to secure the championship title wasn’t the only highlight of the six-game series. Curry also became the first to make 5+ three-pointers in four consecutive Finals games, and the second-oldest to record a 40-point, 10-rebound game. If that wasn’t reason enough for him to walk away with the Finals MVP title, then nothing could be added!

Bob Myers himself may have felt that things would not get better from the 2022 championship onwards. Therefore, while he stayed on for another season, that was about it for him.

Seeing Stephen Curry win the Finals MVP for the first time ever certainly brought a ‘validation’ type feeling for the general manager. In case he was left guessing over the emotions of the player as well, Curry himself informed him of the same.

Stephen Curry admitted to Bob Myers that winning Finals MVP was a relief “Don’t Have to Hear About It Anymore”

In the initial 13 years of his NBA journey, Curry had earned lots of accolades. Three championship titles, two MVP honors, and eight All-Star team names stood as a prominent part of his resume. However, the one thing that the player never won was a Finals MVP. While Andre Iguodala took home one title, Kevin Durant walked away with the other two. Finally getting the accolade in 2022 signified that Curry played the major role in getting the Larry O’Brien trophy back. Nothing else could have been as effective to shut down the haters as this.

“It felt amazing only because I knew I didn’t have to hear about it” said Curry during an interview with Bob Myers. “It was amazing, it was about us winning again and that’s why I was crying on the court end. But then, getting that trophy, it was literally just so I didn’t have. I stood up andsaidy that I know for the rest of my life, I’ll never have to hear it.”

Being 36 years of age, Steph now has a limited time frame to pursue a fifth championship ring. As Jonathon Kuminga stated, “Hegetst another ring, he definitely up there with Kobe” and definitely a contender for the ‘Top 5 list.’ Therefore, there is no better time than the present to make Bob Myers once again feel ‘validated’ upon seeing his previous franchise succeed.

Before you go, remember to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.