The Golden State Warriors workout

(CHINADAILY) Bob Myers, the general manager of the Golden State Warriors, likes when his staff makes him sweat.

This year, he has no reason to be anything but cool and calm on the sidelines. The Warriors, the National Basketball Association defending champions, are on pace to break the NBA record for most wins in a season set by the Chicago Bulls in 1996. Last year, Mr. Myers was named the NBA’s Executive of the Year.

When he takes the court for a game of one-on-one, Mr. Myers is primed for a fast-paced, play-to-exhaustion effort that leaves him drenched in sweat. He plays at the Golden State training facilities in Oakland, Calif., against staff including assistant coach Luke Walton, who played with the Los Angeles Lakers, and player development coach Chris DeMarco.

“Bob has a slightly better winning percentage than me,” says 30-year-old Mr. DeMarco. “He’s got a jump shot that is hard to defend. He’s also well-conditioned. After five games, he’s still going hard.”

Mr. Myers, 40, was a national basketball champion at University of California, Los Angeles, and never lost his love of the game. “After college, pickup basketball became my competitive outlet,” Mr. Myers says. “It’s one of the very few things in my life I can do that allows me focus, release and escape.”

Sometimes Mr. Myers plays four-on-four or five-on-five, but he says it’s easier to grab one person. Plus, one-on-one guarantees a killer workout: Each player is constantly on offense and defense. “Luke is my toughest challenge,” Mr. Myers confides. “He knows how to play, and he’s taller than me.” Mr. Myers stands 6 feet, 7 inches; Mr. Walton, who was the Warriors’ interim head coach earlier this season, is 6-foot-9.

The Warriors will fly more than 50,000 miles this season, the most of any NBA team. “I’m sure there are underground pickup scenes in cities, but I just don’t know where to find them,” Mr. Myers says. “It’s not like cycling or running where there’s an app to find a workout group.”

Kirk Lacob, assistant general manager, has coordinated pickup games during the NBA Summer League as well as during the NBA playoffs. “Last year myself and other staff members played the GM from New Orleans and his staff in the first round, Memphis in the second round and then Houston,” Mr. Myers says. “Houston was our biggest challenge, but we still won.”

Along with Mr. Walton and other staff members, Mr. Myers also makes an annual trip to San Quentin Prison to play against theSan Quentin Warriors, the California prison’s top basketball team.

While he can hold his own against prisoners and other league staffers, Mr. Myers says he is humbled when he occasionally goes head-to-head against one of his own team’s players. “It reminds you that you aren’t an NBA player,” he says.

Mr. Myers believes his on-court workouts translate to better off-court decisions. “By playing, you realize mistakes are part of it, being tired is part of it, being injured is part of it,” he says. “It helps you accept the ebb and flow of a season.”

The Workout

There are no hard and fast rules for one-on-one basketball. Mr. Myers and his colleagues created rules that make for a high-intensity game. They play best of seven—whoever wins four games first is the victor.

Games alternate between half court and full court; they play to 11 points. “That incentivizes you to shoot 3-pointers,” Mr. Myers says. “I never shot from the outside when I was at UCLA. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become a much better shooter.”

Players are allowed three dribbles during half-court games; if they get an offensive rebound, they get unlimited dribbles. During full-court games, players are allowed five dribbles once they get past half court. For an extra cardio blast in the final game, Mr. Myers likes to play to 15 or 25 points.

Games are competitive, with lots of friendly trash talking. “Chris fouls me,” says Mr. Myers. “Bob travels,” says Mr. DeMarco. “He has a move that is definitely illegal where he drives and spins back and forth, and sometimes the ball isn’t being dribbled.”

Mr. Myers says Mr. DeMarco has become a workout buddy he can rely on to push his limits. “A pickup game with Bob is grueling, but it’s a lot better than the treadmill,” Mr. DeMarco says.

To condition, Mr. Myers also mixes in yoga. A UCLA teammate introduced him to Bikram, a hot yoga style, after he complained of a sore back. “Holding the poses requires a whole different strength than basketball,” he says. “And yoga exposes your imbalances. As I get older, I am starting to lose strength and flexibility. I don’t know if I could play ball without taking care of my body through yoga.”

Mr. Myers says it has been a dream to work in an environment that he calls a “workout mecca.” “I’m surrounded by basketball courts, a cutting-edge facility of equipment and smart trainers,” he says. Occasionally he’ll lift weights in the team gym, and he often soaks in the cold and hot tubs.

On weekends, Mr. Myers and his wife take their 5- and 3-year-old daughters for hikes in the Presidio, a park near their home in San Francisco. He is the assistant coach of his older daughter’s basketball team.

The Diet

For breakfast, Mr. Myers mixes cereals such as Grape-Nuts and whole wheat flakes and adds almond milk; some mornings, his wife makes him green juice and she cooks healthy dinners such as turkey tacos. Occasionally the family will dine out at The Plant, an organic, locavore restaurant in San Francisco, or order from Sprig, a healthy meal-delivery service. Mr. Myers brown-bags one or twopeanut butter and jelly sandwiches forlunch.

“It doesn’t have to be an unhealthy food,” says Mr. Myers, who prefers his PB&J with almond butter, artisanal jam and dark wheat bread. His one vice is chocolate-chip cookies. “There are always two in my backpack,” he says. “I love them like a drug.”

The Gear

“I love the simplicity of basketball. All you need is shorts, sneakers and a ball.” Mr. Myers wears ripped sweat shorts with Spandex underneath, a Warriors T-shirt andNikebasketball sneakers. Pre- and post-games, he’ll use a vibrating foam roller to stretch out his legs. “If I had to choose one piece of equipment this would be it,” he says. “The roller is tremendous.”

The Playlist

“When Steve Kerr became head coach he put speakers in the gym,” Mr. Myers says. “He got the idea from Pete Carroll [coach of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks], who brings a DJ to team practices. Nick U’Ren [special assistant to the head coach of the Warriors] is usually in charge of the eclectic workout playlist.”