Phoenix Suns | |
---|---|
Position | CEO Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury, Valley Suns, and Footprint Center |
League | NBA/WNBA |
Personal information | |
Born | July 17, 1989 |
Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Phillips Exeter (Exeter, New Hampshire) Highland Park (Highland Park, Illinois) |
College | Michigan (2009–2013) |
Position | Guard |
Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
| |
Josh Bartelstein (born July 17, 1989 [1] ) is an American basketball executive and former college basketball player who is currently the CEO of the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the Footprint Center.
Prior to his ascension to his current position, he spent 7 and a half years in various roles for the Detroit Pistons of the NBA. He played college basketball for Michigan as a walk-on and was a 3x Academic All-Big Ten honoree. He served as captain of the national runner-up 2012–13 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team. He was a two-year starter at Highland Park High School before spending a post-graduate season playing for Phillips Exeter Academy where he set a couple of school records.
He is the son of NBA and National Football League (NFL) sports agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports and Entertainment.
Bartelstein is from Highland Park, Illinois in the North Shore of the Chicago metropolitan area. He is the son of Mark and Sheri Bartelstein and has three sisters. [2] He played basketball with a core group of friends from second grade through organized high school basketball. [3] As a 10-year-old in 2000, Bartelstein played for the Highland Park 11-year-old traveling baseball team as a pitcher and attended a skills academy run by former St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguer John Stutz and professional baseball player Pete Dallas. [4] He also played his first year of organized basketball in the Highwood Small Fry youth basketball 2000 spring season. [5]
Because his father, Mark, was an NBA and NFL sports agent, Bartelstein had the opportunity to fill his bedroom wall with pictures of himself alongside many famous athletes. [2] The first picture he put on his bedroom of a non-relative was one with Bobby Phills. The first basketball game that he ever missed was the night he learned of Phills' death in an automobile accident in 2000. As he grew, he had the opportunity to have workouts with athletes such as Mo Williams, Bobby Simmons and Kirk Hinrich. [2]
In 2002, Bartelstein was one of the leaders of The Highwood Heat of the Highwood Small Fry basketball league. The team went 7–1 to earn a trip to Orlando for the Small Fry International youth basketball tournament. [6]
A summer 2005 area recruiting guide listed Bartelstein as a player to watch. [7] As a 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) sophomore guard, Bartelstein was expected to start for Highland Park High School until he endured an ankle stress fracture that limited his season to 3 games. [3] He had to have screws put in his ankle. [2] He returned as a 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) junior reserve. He regularly reviewed game film of every high school game with his father, who helped him make acquaintance with several professional athletes, such as Brad Miller and Antoine Walker of the NBA and Kurt Warner of the NFL. [3]
At Highland Park, he was considered one of the leaders of the team (along with Chris Wroblewski). [8] [9] Bartelstein's steal started a 15–0 run as part of the comeback in the 2007 Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class AA regional championship for the four-seeded Highland Park Giants against fifth-seeded John Hersey High School. [10]
Bartelstein scored 19 points on 5–6 three point shooting the help Highland Park won its 11th consecutive game during his senior season. [11] [12] As of January of his 2008 senior season, he had NCAA Division III offers from New York University and Emory University as well as promising interest from some NCAA Division I programs such as University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Northwestern and Pepperdine. [3] As a senior he made two all-tournament teams (Moline and Elgin). In April 2008, he committed to play for Phillips Exeter Academy. [13] He finished his senior season with a total of 51 three point shots, a 9.8 scoring average and 3.9 rebounds for a Highland Park team that finished as the 2008 IHSA Class 4A regional champions. [14] [15] In the regional championship game for number 3 seeded Highland Park, Bartelstein posted 10 points in the 51–50 victory over number eleven seeded Waukegan High School. [16] The 2008 Highland Park senior class was the first in school history to have back-to-back 20-win seasons. [17] Because of his "bridge year" commitment, he was eligible to play an additional season of the AAU summer basketball circuit, where he posted multiple 30-point games. [18]
In the fall of 2008, Bartelstein nearly signed Division I scholarship offers with Elon University and then University of San Diego, but he was eventually attracted by the appeal of the Big Ten Conference and Michigan's Ross School of Business. [19] Michigan Head coach John Beilein had been a walk-on player himself and the 2008–09 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team was co-captained by former walk-ons David Merritt and C.J. Lee who played significant roles. [20] [21] [22] While averaging 15.5 points per game, Bartelstein set two school records at Phillips Exeter: single-half scoring (21 points vs. New Hampton) and single-season three-pointers (52). [2] Because he had grown 7 inches late in high school, the extra year gave him a chance to grow into his body and show his potential. [23] The year marked progress in his "long-range shooting and off-the-dribble game", according to Beilein. [20] He was recruited by Penn and had walk-on offers from Michigan and Northwestern and claimed 9 Division I scholarship offers. [23] Bartelstein's Exeter coach, Malcolm Wesselink, confirmed 3 of these D I offers (San Diego, Wagner and Elon). [24] Bartelstein was connected to Michigan by former Beilein assistant Mike Maker. [24] He was in communication with athletes that he had met as a youth such as Chris Quinn and Shannon Brown during his recruitment. [2] On May 22, 2009, Bartelstein was announced by Beilein as one of two (along with Eso Akunne) preferred walk-on (non-scholarship) players to join an incoming 2009–10 class of six new players (Blake McLimans, Jordan Morgan, Darius Morris, and North Shore native Matt Vogrich). [23] Bartelstein and Akunne brought the number of walk-ons on the roster to 4 (with Eric Puls and Corey Person). [24] Morris, Vogrich and Akunne were all guards. [25]
On November 14, 2009, in the 2009–10 Michigan Wolverines season opener and the first game of his college career against Northern Michigan Bartlestein played in what would be his career high 4 minutes. [26] He posted his first points on December 28, 2010, against (#11 ESPN/USA Today, #12 AP) [27] Purdue on a three point shot as a sophomore for the 2010–11 Wolverines. [26] He was one of 41 men's basketball 2010–11 Academic All-Big Ten selections. [28]
The March 4 victory over Penn State clinched a share of the 2011–12 Big Ten Conference season regular season championship for the 2011–12 team. [29] One of Bartelstein's 4 career assists came in an appearance in the February 5, 2012 rivalry game against (#10 ESPN/USA Today, #9 AP) [30] Michigan State in which he was credited with zero minutes played. [26] Bartelstein's' other points came on a three pointer against (#7-ranked) [31] Ohio State on March 10 in the 2012 Big Ten men's basketball tournament. [26] As a junior, Bartelstein was among 37 Academic All-Big Ten men's basketball players. [32]
Prior to the first exhibition game on November 1, 2012, Bartelstein was named team captain of the 2012–13 Michigan Wolverines. [33] Although Bartelstein was the official captain, he only played 10 minutes all season, [34] and the team was led on the court by Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. [35] Despite his modest role in the games, he is noted for his "leadership, motivational abilities and commitment to success" according to Bleacher Report author Lee Schechter (especially as evidenced by his output in "The Bartelstein Blog"). [36] On March 10, 2013, Michigan lost its regular season finale to Indiana (#2 AP/#2 Coaches), [37] failing to defend its conference co-championship. [38] Michigan celebrated senior day for five seniors: Akunne, Bartelstein, McLimans, Corey Person, and Vogrich. [39] The loss kept Michigan from its first undefeated home season since the 1976–77 team. [40] In the April 6 national semifinal against Syracuse, Michigan earned its thirty-first victory, the most since the 1992–93 team went 31–5. [41] [42] Michigan lost the April 8, national championship game against Midwest number one seed Louisville by an 82–76 score. [43] Louisville's championship has since been vacated by the NCAA. [44] [45] Bartelstein appeared in 2 tournament games (against VCU and Florida). [26] As a senior, Bartelstein was among the 38 Big Ten men's basketball players recognized as Winter Academic All-Big Ten for maintaining 3.0 averages. [46] [47]
Six players from the 2012–13 Wolverines team that Bartelstein captained were future NBA draftees: Trey Burke (2013, 9th), [48] [49] Tim Hardaway Jr. (2013, 24th), [50] Nik Stauskas (2014, 8th), [51] Mitch McGary (2014, 21st), [52] [53] Glenn Robinson III (2014, 40th), [54] [55] and Caris LeVert (2016, 20th). [56] [57] Bartelstein's father became the agent for three of those players: his former roommate, Hardaway, [58] [59] Stauskas, [60] [61] and McGary [62] as well as future Wolverine and NBA player Derrick Walton. [63]
In September 2013, Bartelstein released an ebook that chronicled Michigan's rise from a sub-.500 basketball team to the NCAA Championship game. It included elements from his blog, photos, videos and contributions by his past teammates. [64]
In August 2015, Bartelstein and Wroblewski hosted a two-day basketball skills development camp in the North Shore for youth between 3rd and 12th grade. At the time Bartelstein was a 7th and 8th grade basketball coach in Highland Park. [65] Bartelstein was hired by the Detroit Pistons in October 2015 "as an assistant to Palace Sports & Entertainment vice chair Arn Tellem". [66] In his 8 years with the Pistons, he went on to hold the titles of Chief of Staff and then Executive Vice President of Business and Basketball Operations before becoming Assistant General Manager in June 2022. Then he was hired as CEO of the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury and the operating entity for Footprint Center on April 10, 2023. Among his notable roles for the Pistons was his oversight of the design and construction of the Henry Ford-Detroit Pistons Performance Center. His role as CEO gives him authority over business operations while the team tasked its basketball operations to its President of Basketball Operations and General Manager. [67]
Mat Ishbia bought a majority share of the Suns from Robert Sarver in February 2023, [68] leading to the resignation of Phoenix Suns president and CEO Jason Rowley and clearing the way for an organizational cultural reset. [69] The story regarding Bartelstein's hiring as part of an overhaul by Ishbia, who like Bartelstein was a walk-on Big Ten basketball player (for Michigan State), broke on March 4, 2023. [70] Bartelstein was not officially named CEO until April 10, 2023. [67] During his first season as Suns CEO, Bartelstein played a pivotal role in orchestrating trades that saw the acquisition of Bradley Beal, Jusuf Nurkić, and Grayson Allen. [71]
...a well-coached Highland Park team led by Chris Wroblewski and Josh Bartelstein.
The Saxons, with Cully Payne, and the Giants, with Chris Wroblewski and Josh Bartlestein [sic], both have top-notch players...
...said Beilein, adding that senior walk-on Josh Bartlestein is the team's official captain. "But there's no question that the captains on the floor that are playing are Tim and Trey.
The 2009–10 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan during the 2009-10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by John Beilein and played its home games in Ann Arbor, Michigan at the Crisler Arena, which has a capacity of 13,751, for the forty-third consecutive year. This season marked the team's ninety-third consecutive year as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The team finished the season with a 15–17 overall record and a 7–11 conference record, which was tied for seventh in the conference standings. It was seeded eighth in the single-elimination 2010 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament where it advanced one round. On October 16, Michigan was one of five Big Ten schools to begin its season by celebrating Midnight Madness.
DeShawn Adrian Sims Jr. is an American basketball coach and former professional basketball player. He is the head coach at Pershing High School and last played for Pistoia of the Serie A2 Basket. He has previously played for Sagesse and Champville of the Lebanese Basketball League, as well as teams in Greece, Korea, Israel and Puerto Rico after a career with the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team. In high school, he became Associated Press Class A Player of the Year, a Jordan Brand All-American and a fourth team Parade All-American. At Michigan he became a second-team All-Big Ten Conference selection. He had signed a free-agent contract with the Boston Celtics for whom he played in the Orlando Summer League in addition to playing for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Summer League. He became a 2011 D-League All-Star and NBA Development League Rookie of the Year.
The 2010–11 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represents the University of Michigan during the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by John Beilein. The team played its home games in Ann Arbor, Michigan at the Crisler Arena, which has a capacity of 13,751, for the forty-fourth consecutive year. This season marked the team's ninety-fourth consecutive year as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The team witnessed the departure of its four tallest players and two leading scorers from the prior season. The incoming class featured the sons of two former National Basketball Association players and the younger brother of a current one. Additionally Joe Dumars' son Jordan transferred to the team and Glenn Robinson's son, Glenn Robinson III verbally committed to the class of 2012. The season was marked by close losses against numerous highly ranked teams.
Timothy Duane Hardaway Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines and declared for the NBA draft after his junior season for the national runner-up 2012–13 team. Hardaway was selected as the 24th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the New York Knicks. He has had two stints with the Knicks and has also played for the Atlanta Hawks. He is the son of Hall of Famer Tim Hardaway.
The 2011–12 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan during the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games in Ann Arbor, Michigan at Crisler Center for the 45th consecutive year. It had a seating capacity of 12,721. It was also the team's 95th straight season as a member of the Big Ten Conference. Fifth-year head coach John Beilein led the team, alongside All-Big Ten players Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Zack Novak. Burke was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was Michigan's first Associated Press All-American honoree since 1998.
The 2012–13 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan during the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at the Crisler Center. This season marked the team's 96th consecutive year as a member of the Big Ten Conference, and it is occasionally referred to as "Team 96". The team was led by sixth-year head coach John Beilein.
Mitchell Neil William McGary is an American former professional basketball player. A native of Chesterton, Indiana, McGary declared for the NBA draft after completing his sophomore season for the 2013–14 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team. He was drafted 21st overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2014 NBA draft.
Alfonso Clark "Trey" Burke III is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Capitanes de Ciudad de México of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines where in the 2012–13 season, he earned National Player of the Year and led the 2012–13 Wolverines to the championship game of the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Shortly after the tournament he declared his eligibility for the draft.
The 2012–13 Big Ten men's basketball season began with practices in October 2012, followed by the start of the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in early-January 2013, and concluded in March with the 2013 Big Ten men's basketball tournament at the United Center in Chicago. All conference regular season and tournament games were broadcast nationally. For the 37th consecutive season, the conference led the nation in attendance.
Glenn Alann ‘Tre’ Robinson III is an American professional basketball player for the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G League. He was drafted 40th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2014 NBA draft. He played nine seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings. Robinson won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 2017.
The 2013–14 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the 47th consecutive year at the Crisler Center, with a capacity of 12,707. It was nicknamed "Team 98" in reference to that it was the program's 98th season overall and its 97th consecutive year as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The team was led by seventh-year head coach John Beilein. The team won the 2013–14 Big Ten Conference regular-season championship, for the 14th time in program history and the eighth time outright. It was Beilein's fourth conference championship and his second at Michigan.
Nikolas Tomas Stauskas is a Canadian professional basketball player who last played for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A shooting guard, Stauskas played two seasons of college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines from 2012 to 2014. He was drafted eighth overall in the 2014 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings. Stauskas, whose family is of Lithuanian heritage, is a member of the Canadian national team.
Zakarie Tyler Irvin is an American professional basketball player for the Cañeros del Este of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto (LNB). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines. He earned the 2013 Indiana Mr. Basketball and Indiana Boys Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year while playing for Hamilton Southeastern High School. At Michigan, he was twice recognized as Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week for the 2013–14 team, which won the 2013–14 Big Ten Conference regular-season championship outright. He was a 2015–16 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season All-Big Ten honorable mention honoree by the coaches and the media as well as a 2016 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament All-Tournament Team selection as a junior. He was a 2016–17 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season All-Big Ten honorable mention honoree by the media as a senior as well as a 2017 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament All-Tournament Team selection for the champion 2016–17 Wolverines. He led the Big Ten in minutes played as a senior and tied the Michigan record for career games played (142).
Jonathon Kelly Horford is an American professional basketball player. He played four years with the Michigan Wolverines ending with the 2013–14 team and then transferring to the Florida Gators for the 2014–15 season. He was an All-State high school basketball player for Grand Ledge High School in Michigan. His father Tito Horford, and brother Al Horford, have both played in the National Basketball Association.
Derrick Walton Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the South East Melbourne Phoenix of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines and spent his first professional season as a two-way contract player with the Miami Heat and their G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
Caris Coleman LeVert is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines. As a freshman for the 2012–13 team, he nearly redshirted but earned a key role off the bench as the team went on to reach the championship game in the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. As a sophomore for the 2013–14 team, he became a regular starter and was selected as a second team 2013–14 All-Big Ten player for the outright Big Ten regular season champions. His junior and senior seasons were interrupted by injury. LeVert was originally drafted by the Indiana Pacers but was traded to the Brooklyn Nets on draft night. During his tenure with the Nets he struggled to stay healthy in his first 5 seasons. He was traded back to the Pacers in 2021 as part of the four-team blockbuster James Harden trade. He was traded to the Cavaliers in 2022 midseason.
Aubrey Lafell Dawkins is an American professional basketball player for SC Derby of the Prva A Liga and the Adriatic League. He played college basketball for the UCF Knights. He transferred to UCF after he completed his sophomore season for the 2015–16 Michigan Wolverines. He is the son of Johnny Dawkins who became the UCF coach following the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Dawkins was raised in North Carolina until spending his high school years in Northern California at St. Francis High School and Palo Alto High School and a postgraduate year in New England at New Hampton Prep. As a collegiate freshman for the 2014–15 Wolverines, he began the season on the bench, but became a starter when injuries plagued the team in January 2015. In his more prominent role later in the season, Dawkins led the 2014–15 Big Ten Conference in effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage during conference play.
Duncan McBryde Robinson is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the NCAA Division III Williams College Ephs and then the NCAA Division I Michigan Wolverines. He transferred to Michigan after leading Williams College to the 2014 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament championship game. At Michigan, he was part of the 2017–18 team that lost to Villanova in the championship game of the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
Victor Moritz "Mo" Wagner is a German professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for Alba Berlin before moving to the US to play college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines from 2015 through his junior season for the 2017–18 Wolverines team. Wagner entered his name for the 2017 NBA draft without hiring an agent, but withdrew and returned to Michigan. He was selected with the 25th overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.
Franz Jacob Wagner is a German professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines.