Rich Cho has joined the Memphis Grizzlies in an official capacity after consulting for them this season.
“I had done some part-time work for the Grizzlies during the season, just studying the league and best practices around different teams, starting last September, I started looking around the league, analyzing every team in a number of different categories,” said Cho.
Memphis executive vice president of basketball operations Zach Kleiman interned for Cho with the Charlotte Hornets just seven years ago.
“Yeah, he reached out to me pretty quickly,” Cho said. “Zach did a really good job for us in Charlotte as an intern, he’s a really bright guy and he’s passionate about the game. He’s an extremely hard worker. I’ve watched his career progress from afar and I’m really happy the way things have gone for him, especially that he’s getting this opportunity.”
Kleiman is only 30 years old.
“I don’t think you can necessarily look at a person’s age and say they can’t do the job, because it’s all about opportunity and Zach’s going to do a really good job here,” Cho said.
Cho gives the Grizzlies experience in the front office.
“I’ll be involved in a lot of different aspects of basketball operations,” Cho said. “I’ll be overseeing analytics, all the salary cap administration, and I’ll be advising on player personnel issues, any type of player acquisitions.”
