Harris Blitzer Sports activities & Leisure (HBSE), homeowners of the Philadelphia 76ers, employed former Golden State Warriors normal supervisor Bob Myers away from ESPN on Friday. The transfer ought to put Sixers crew 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 one of the crucial profitable and useful franchises in sports activities. After 11 years with the group, he left in 2023 to turn out to be an analyst for ESPN, however labored as an advisor for HBSE after they took over the Washington Commanders. Myers then helped engineer a turnaround that noticed a 4-13 crew in 2023 win two playoff video games and attain the NFC Championship Recreation in 2025.
HBSE could 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 crew in early 2024. That may possible proceed, however the 76ers are the crew within the HBSE portfolio that appears to be struggling probably the most. They have not superior previous the second spherical of the NBA playoffs since 2001, regardless of having an MVP heart 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 crew that is paying three gamers most salaries, one other failure to contend could possibly be an excessive amount of for possession — particularly after they simply employed probably the most profitable NBA govt of the final decade.
Daryl Morey and Nick Nurse is likely to 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 (shedding to Myers’ Warriors each occasions), and by no means had a shedding document. With the Sixers, issues have not gone practically as effectively, 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 profitable a title with the Toronto Raptors in 2019. He hasn’t had a wholesome Embiid for the reason that center of the 2023-24 season, but it surely’s arduous to think about he has a lot job safety after final 12 months’s catastrophe.
Given the success the Commanders had after they changed their earlier executives and coaches, it should be tempting for HBSE to do the identical with their struggling basketball crew — 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 pinnacle coach and crew president, whose futures might hinge on how issues unfold.
