Bob Myers’ replacement was found by the Golden State Warriors among one of their own.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the organization reportedly promoted team executive Mike Dunleavy Jr. to Myers’ previous position as general manager. After 15 seasons as an NBA player, Dunleavy initially joined the Warriors’ front office as a pro scout in 2018. In 2019, the Warriors elevated him to associate general manager, and in 2021, he was named vice president of basketball operations.
Who is Mike Dunleavy Jr.?
The now general manager of the National Basketball Association’s Golden State Warriors is American former professional basketball player Michael Joseph Dunleavy Jr. Prior to joining the Warriors, he had previously played for the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, and Atlanta Hawks.
Dunleavy, a Beaverton, Oregon native who graduated from Jesuit High School in 1999, guided his team to a 65-38 victory over North Salem High School in the 1999 4A State Boys Basketball Championship. Dunleavy spent his freshman year at the University School of Milwaukee and his sophomore year at Homestead High School in Mequon, Wisconsin.
In the third round of the 2002 NBA Draught, the Golden State Warriors picked Dunleavy.
Dunleavy and the Warriors agreed to a 5-year, $44 million contract extension in November 2005. According to Chris Mullin, general manager of the Warriors, “We both felt it was something that we wanted based on the way Mike performed, the way he conducted himself, and the way we run our organization.”
However, in light of the other huge contracts that the Warriors organization had inked, such as those of Adonal Foyle and Derek Fisher, the agreement prompted criticism from fans. Dunleavy lost his starting small forward position for a few games in the 2005–06 season, in part because of a shooting slump. Later in the season, he regained the starting spot, and for the 2006–07 campaign, he was anticipated to start at his new position of power forward. Some early setbacks forced Warriors head coach Don Nelson to switch up his starting lineup, sending Dunleavy back to the bench in an effort to improve team chemistry and produce winning outcomes.
The Golden State Warriors recruited Dunleavy as a pro scout on September 24, 2018. Dunleavy received a promotion to assistant general manager of the Warriors on August 29, 2019. Dunleavy received a promotion to vice president of basketball operations on September 30, 2021. After the Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals of 2022 in six games, he won his first championship.
Baker, a former Villanova player from 2002 to 2006 who is currently the head coach at Quinnipiac, and James, a walk-on for USC who is currently an NBA player agent, are Dunleavy’s two younger brothers. Mike Dunleavy Sr., a retired NBA player, former head coach at Tulane, and former coach of the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers, is his father. Dunleavy attended Camp Menominee, a residential sports camp, as a child in Eagle River, Wisconsin. The basketball courts at Camp Menominee were renamed “The Mike Dunleavy Jr. Courts” in 2008 to honour Dunleavy.
