NBA Executive of the Year

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]

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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.

^	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

More information Season, Executive ...

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
2010–11^[d]	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)

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More information Awards, Executive ...

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

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More information Awards, Teams ...

Awards	Teams	Years
6	Phoenix Suns	1976, 1981, 1989, 1993, 2005, 2021
4	San Antonio Spurs	1978, 1990, 2014, 2016
4	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

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NBA records

Wayne Embry and Jerry Colangelo were enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as contributors in 1999^[6] and 2004.^[7]
Red Auerbach and Pat Riley were enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as coaches in 1969^[8] and 2008.^[9]
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]
Denotes seasons in which joint winners were named

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.

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[note_a-8] Wayne Embry and Jerry Colangelo were enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as contributors in 1999^[6] and 2004.^[7]

[note_b-11] Red Auerbach and Pat Riley were enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as coaches in 1969^[8] and 2008.^[9]

[note_c-16] 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]

[note_d-17] Denotes seasons in which joint winners were named

[baylor-1] [1]
"Reports: Baylor wins NBA executive of the year". ESPN.com. May 14, 2006. Retrieved July 24, 2008.

[2] [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.

[ainge-3] [3]
"Celtics GM Ainge named NBA's executive of year". CBC Sports. May 14, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2008.

[b_colangelo-4] [4]
"Colangelo voted NBA's top exec for second time". ESPN.com. May 14, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2008.

[5] [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] [6]
"Wayne R. Embry". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2008.

[7] [7]
"Jerry Colangelo". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2008.

[9] [8]
"Arnold J. "Red" Auerbach". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 7, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2008.

[10] [9]
"Pat Riley". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2008.

[12] [10]
"Elgin Baylor". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on February 15, 2011. Retrieved July 26, 2008.

[13] [11]
"Jerry A. West". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2008.

[14] [12]
"Larry J. Bird". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 29, 2009. Retrieved May 16, 2012.

[15] [13]
"Joe Dumars". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 7, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2008.

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NBA Executive of the Year

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Winners

Multi-time winners

Teams

See also

Notes

References