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NBA Executive of the Year

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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.[1] Since 2009, the award has been awarded by the NBA.[2] Voting is conducted by executives from the league's 30 teams. The person with the most votes wins the award.[3]

Since its inception, the award has been given to 28 different general managers. Jerry Colangelo, the first general manager for the Phoenix Suns, is the only person to win the award four times. Bob Bass, R. C. Buford, Wayne Embry, Bob Ferry, Stan Kasten, Jerry Krause, Bob Myers, Geoff Petrie, Jerry West, as well as Jerry Colangelo's son Bryan Colangelo, have all won the award twice.[4] All of the award winners were born in the United States until then–Denver Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri, who was born in England, won the award in 2013. Larry Bird, Frank Layden and Pat Riley joined Red Auerbach as the only recipients to have also received NBA Coach of the Year. Bird is also the only winner to receive the NBA Most Valuable Player in addition to either of the Coach or Executive of the Year awards.[5]

Winners

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A man, wearing a black coat, white shirt and a tie, is posing for a photograph.
Jerry Colangelo won the award in 1976, 1981, 1989 and 1993, all with the Suns.
A man, wearing a brown coat, white shirt and black tie, standing in front of a collage.
Red Auerbach won the award in 1980.
head shot of Jerry West
Jerry West won the award in 1995 with the Lakers and 2004 with the Grizzlies.
head shot of Bryan Colangelo
Jerry Colangelo's son, Bryan Colangelo, won the award in 2005 with the Suns and 2007 with the Raptors.
^ Denotes executive who is still active in the NBA
* Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
*^ Active executive who has been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame
Bold Winning executive's team won the NBA Finals the same season
Person (#) Denotes the number of times the executive has won the award
Team (#) Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won
Season Executive Nationality Team
1972–73 Joe Axelson  United States Kansas City-Omaha Kings
1973–74 Eddie Donovan  United States Buffalo Braves
1974–75 Dick Vertlieb  United States Golden State Warriors
1975–76 Jerry Colangelo*[a]  United States Phoenix Suns
1976–77 Ray Patterson  United States Houston Rockets
1977–78 Angelo Drossos  United States San Antonio Spurs
1978–79 Bob Ferry  United States Washington Bullets
1979–80 Red Auerbach*[b]  United States Boston Celtics
1980–81 Jerry Colangelo*[a] (2)  United States Phoenix Suns (2)
1981–82 Bob Ferry (2)  United States Washington Bullets (2)
1982–83 Zollie Volchok  United States Seattle SuperSonics
1983–84 Frank Layden  United States Utah Jazz
1984–85 Vince Boryla  United States Denver Nuggets
1985–86 Stan Kasten  United States Atlanta Hawks
1986–87 Stan Kasten (2)  United States Atlanta Hawks (2)
1987–88 Jerry Krause*  United States Chicago Bulls
1988–89 Jerry Colangelo*[a] (3)  United States Phoenix Suns (3)
1989–90 Bob Bass  United States San Antonio Spurs (2)
1990–91 Bucky Buckwalter  United States Portland Trail Blazers
1991–92 Wayne Embry*[a]  United States Cleveland Cavaliers
1992–93 Jerry Colangelo*[a] (4)  United States Phoenix Suns (4)
1993–94 Bob Whitsitt  United States Seattle SuperSonics (2)
1994–95 Jerry West*[c]  United States Los Angeles Lakers
1995–96 Jerry Krause* (2)  United States Chicago Bulls (2)
1996–97 Bob Bass (2)  United States Charlotte Hornets
1997–98 Wayne Embry*[a] (2)  United States Cleveland Cavaliers (2)
1998–99 Geoff Petrie  United States Sacramento Kings (2)
1999–00 John Gabriel  United States Orlando Magic
2000–01 Geoff Petrie (2)  United States Sacramento Kings (3)
2001–02 Rod Thorn*  United States New Jersey Nets
2002–03 Joe Dumars*[c]  United States Detroit Pistons
2003–04 Jerry West*[c] (2)  United States Memphis Grizzlies
2004–05 Bryan Colangelo  United States Phoenix Suns (5)
2005–06 Elgin Baylor*[c]  United States Los Angeles Clippers (2)
2006–07 Bryan Colangelo (2)  United States Toronto Raptors
2007–08 Danny Ainge^  United States Boston Celtics (2)
2008–09 Mark Warkentien  United States Denver Nuggets (2)
2009–10 John Hammond^  United States Milwaukee Bucks
2010–11[d] Pat Riley*^[b]  United States Miami Heat
Gar Forman  United States Chicago Bulls (3)
2011–12 Larry Bird*[c]  United States Indiana Pacers
2012–13 Masai Ujiri^  Nigeria Denver Nuggets (3)
2013–14 R. C. Buford^  United States San Antonio Spurs (3)
2014–15 Bob Myers  United States Golden State Warriors (2)
2015–16 R. C. Buford^ (2)  United States San Antonio Spurs (4)
2016–17 Bob Myers (2)  United States Golden State Warriors (3)
2017–18 Daryl Morey^  United States Houston Rockets (2)
2018–19 Jon Horst^  United States Milwaukee Bucks (2)
2019–20 Lawrence Frank^  United States Los Angeles Clippers (3)
2020–21 James Jones^  United States Phoenix Suns (6)
2021–22 Zach Kleiman^  United States Memphis Grizzlies (2)
2022–23 Monte McNair^  United States Sacramento Kings (4)
2023–24 Brad Stevens^  United States Boston Celtics (3)

Multi-time winners

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Awards Executive Team(s) Years
4 United States Jerry Colangelo Phoenix Suns 1976, 1981, 1989, 1993
2 United States Bob Bass San Antonio Spurs (1) / Charlotte Hornets (1) 1990, 1997
United States R.C. Buford San Antonio Spurs 2014, 2016
United States Bryan Colangelo Phoenix Suns (1) / Toronto Raptors (1) 2005, 2007
United States Wayne Embry Cleveland Cavaliers 1992, 1998
United States Bob Ferry Washington Bullets 1979, 1982
United States Stan Kasten Atlanta Hawks 1986, 1987
United States Jerry Krause Chicago Bulls 1988, 1996
United States Bob Myers Golden State Warriors 2015, 2017
United States Geoff Petrie Sacramento Kings 1999, 2001
United States Jerry West Los Angeles Lakers (1) / Memphis Grizzlies (1) 1995, 2004

Teams

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Awards Teams Years
6 Phoenix Suns 1976, 1981, 1989, 1993, 2005, 2021
4 San Antonio Spurs 1978, 1990, 2014, 2016
Sacramento Kings / Kansas City-Omaha Kings 1973, 1999, 2001, 2023
3 Boston Celtics 1980, 2008, 2024
Chicago Bulls 1988, 1996, 2011
Denver Nuggets 1985, 2009, 2013
Golden State Warriors 1975, 2015, 2017
Los Angeles Clippers / Buffalo Braves 1974, 2006, 2020
2 Atlanta Hawks 1986, 1987
Cleveland Cavaliers 1992, 1998
Houston Rockets 1977, 2018
Memphis Grizzlies 2004, 2022
Milwaukee Bucks 2010, 2019
Oklahoma City Thunder / Seattle SuperSonics 1983, 1994
Washington Wizards / Washington Bullets 1979, 1982
1 Brooklyn Nets / New Jersey Nets 2002
Charlotte Hornets 1997
Detroit Pistons 2003
Indiana Pacers 2012
Los Angeles Lakers 1995
Miami Heat 2011
Orlando Magic 2000
Portland Trail Blazers 1991
Toronto Raptors 2007
Utah Jazz 1984
0 Dallas Mavericks None
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans
New York Knicks
Philadelphia 76ers

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Wayne Embry and Jerry Colangelo were enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as contributors in 1999[6] and 2004.[7]
  2. ^ a b Red Auerbach and Pat Riley were enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as coaches in 1969[8] and 2008.[9]
  3. ^ a b c d e Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Larry Bird and Joe Dumars were enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as players in 1977,[10] 1980,[11] 1998[12] and 2006.[13]
  4. ^ Denotes seasons in which joint winners were named

References

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General
  • "NBA Awards — Executive of the Year". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2008.
Specific
  1. ^ "Reports: Baylor wins NBA executive of the year". ESPN.com. May 14, 2006. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  2. ^ Windhorst, Brian (May 21, 2009). "Cleveland Cavaliers' GM Danny Ferry picked by The Sporting News as its NBA Executive of the Year". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on May 26, 2009. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
  3. ^ "Celtics GM Ainge named NBA's executive of year". CBC Sports. May 14, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  4. ^ "Colangelo voted NBA's top exec for second time". ESPN.com. May 14, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  5. ^ "Indiana's Larry Bird named 2011-12 Executive of the Year". NBA.com. May 16, 2012. Archived from the original on May 19, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  6. ^ "Wayne R. Embry". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
  7. ^ "Jerry Colangelo". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
  8. ^ "Arnold J. "Red" Auerbach". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 7, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
  9. ^ "Pat Riley". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
  10. ^ "Elgin Baylor". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on February 15, 2011. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
  11. ^ "Jerry A. West". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
  12. ^ "Larry J. Bird". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 29, 2009. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  13. ^ "Joe Dumars". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 7, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2008.