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In basketball leagues such as the NBA and WNBA, the general manager (GM) of a team typically handles player transactions, manages contract negotiations, and has the power to hire and dismiss a head coach.
The exact title and responsibilities held by a general manager can vary from team to team. Some teams choose to have both a general manager and a President of Basketball Operations. For example, when Red Auerbach was team president of the Boston Celtics in the 1980s, Jan Volk, the team's GM from 1984 to 1997, reported to Auerbach regarding basketball-related decisions. [1] Others, such as the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA, have a general manager who is also Chief Executive Officer of the organization, effectively reporting only to the owner. [2] Still others will place player personnel decisions in the hands of a head coach; for example, when Don Nelson became coach of the Milwaukee Bucks in 1976, he also became its general manager. In these cases, coaching staffs generally report to a different executive officer within the organization.
The Boston Celtics are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946 as one of the league's original eight teams, the Celtics play their home games at TD Garden, a shared arena with the NHL's Boston Bruins. The Celtics are commonly regarded as the most successful team in NBA history and hold the records for most NBA championships won, with 18, and most recorded wins of any NBA franchise.
Jerry Colangelo is an American businessman and sports executive. He formerly owned the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League, and the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. He was also instrumental in the relocation of the original Winnipeg Jets team in the NHL to Phoenix to become the Phoenix Coyotes. In 2014, Grand Canyon University renamed its Christian based school of business after Jerry Colangelo, replacing Ken Blanchard's namesake. From December 2015 to April 2016, Colangelo served as chairman of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers, before serving as a special advisor to the team until December 2018.
Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach was an American professional basketball coach and executive. He served as a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Boston Celtics. Auerbach was also the head coach of the Washington Capitols and Tri-Cities Blackhawks. As a coach, Auerbach set NBA records with 938 wins and nine championships. After his coaching retirement in 1966, he served as president and front office executive of the Celtics until his death. As general manager and team president of the Celtics, he won an additional seven NBA titles for a total of 16 in a span of 29 years, the most of any individual in NBA history, making him one of the most successful team officials in the history of North American professional sports.
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of the firm's marketing and sales functions as well as the day-to-day operations of the business. Frequently, the general manager is responsible for effective planning, delegating, coordinating, staffing, organizing, and decision making to attain desirable profit making results for an organization.
William Laimbeer Jr. is an American former professional basketball coach and player who spent the majority of his career with the Detroit Pistons. Known for his physical style of play, he played a big part in the Pistons earning the nickname the “Bad Boys" in the mid-1980s before helping them win back-to-back NBA championships.
The NBA Executive of the Year is an annual award in the National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1972–73 NBA season, to the league's best general manager, president of basketball/business operations, or another high-ranking executive. Before 2009, the Executive of the Year was presented annually by Sporting News, but was officially recognized by the NBA. Since 2009, the award has been awarded by the NBA. Voting is conducted by executives from the league's 30 teams. The person with the most votes wins the award.
Kevin Lee Pritchard is an American basketball executive, and a former player and coach, who is currently the president of basketball operations for the Indiana Pacers. Pritchard played 4 seasons in the NBA as a player, and was also the general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Indiana Pacers.
Mitchell Kupchak is an American professional basketball executive and retired player. He is the former president of basketball operations and general manager of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a college player, Kupchak was an All-American at the University of North Carolina and a member of the gold medal-winning 1976 United States Olympic team. As a professional player, he won three NBA titles – one as a member of the Washington Bullets and two with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Bryan Paul Colangelo is an American basketball executive who was the former general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also served as president of basketball operations for Philadelphia and Toronto. He is the son of Phoenix sports mogul Jerry Colangelo. He graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science degree in business management and applied economics. He was the 2005 and 2007 recipient of the NBA Executive of the Year Award.
Corey Yasuto Gaines is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He played five seasons in the NBA, and was a four-time Israeli Premier League Assists Leader, in 1999 and in 2001 to 2003. He was also a former head coach of the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
Michael Leon Carr is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA), and former head coach and General Manager of the Boston Celtics.
Chris Wallace is an American professional basketball executive and scout who is the director of scouting for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The 2009 WNBA Season was the 13th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. It is the first WNBA season without a Houston franchise, the Comets having folded in December 2008. The season ended with the Phoenix Mercury winning their second championship in three years.
Cheryl Reeve is an American basketball head coach and President of Basketball Operations for the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA. Reeve has coached the Lynx to four league championships. In WNBA history, she has the highest winning percentage, she has won the most games of any female coach, and she has won the most postseason games of any coach. Reeve was named the WNBA Coach of the Year in 2011, 2016, 2020, and 2024 and WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year in 2019 and 2024. She is the first coach in WNBA history to be named Coach of the Year four times.
Jan Volk is a former basketball executive who served as the general manager of the Boston Celtics from 1984 to 1997.
Joseph Steven Lacob is an American business executive who was a partner at Kleiner Perkins and is the majority owner of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Golden State Valkyries of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
The 2011 WNBA season was the 15th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season began on June 3 with the Los Angeles Sparks hosting the Minnesota Lynx, featuring 2011 WNBA draft top pick Maya Moore, in a game televised on NBA TV. Four games followed the next day, with the marquee matchup, televised on ABC, featuring the defending champion Seattle Storm and the Phoenix Mercury in Seattle.
Robert Michael Myers is an American former basketball executive who was the general manager for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2012 to 2023. During his tenure, he was twice named NBA Executive of the Year while leading the Warriors to four NBA championships. Myers is currently an NBA analyst for ESPN.
Kelly Krauskopf is an American basketball executive who currently serves as the President of basketball and business operations for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is the former director of operations of Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Krauskopf is the former president and general manager of the Indiana Fever. She helped build the Indiana Fever franchise and led the team to WNBA playoffs thirteen times; the Fever took three conference titles and won the WNBA championship in 2012.