RealGM

I was wondering if anyone could tell me some of the coaches and GMs over the last 20+ years who never played in the NBA. I was mostly curious how they did as a GM/Coach.

I have always been frustrated when a former NBA player gets a position as a GM or coach even though it is obvious that he is not qualified for the position. Being a great basketball player does not translate into a strong sense of business and managment skills.

Overall how have the GMs who never played in the NBA compared to the GMs who were star NBA players?

Popovich has done OK.

Both Van Gundy's, Lawrence Frank never even played high school ball..

Spoelstra

Mike brown

LJ4pointplay wrote:Both Van Gundy's, Lawrence Frank never even played high school ball..

Spoelstra

I never understood how you can coach a team if you never even played basketball. But now that you mentioned this, it answers a lot of my questions regarding Frank's coaching abilities ...

I don't think there is a direct correlation between NBA experience and coaching ability, other then the fact that NBA stars tend to not make it as coaches. Pat Riley and Phil Jackson were role players. Jerry Sloan and Lenny Wilkins were very good point guards. Pop and the Van Gundys never played.

Rasho Brezec wrote:

LJ4pointplay wrote:Both Van Gundy's, Lawrence Frank never even played high school ball..

Spoelstra

I never understood how you can coach a team if you never even played basketball. But now that you mentioned this, it answers a lot of my questions regarding Frank's coaching abilities ...

"My Dentist is great even though he never had a tooth ache."-Jose Mourinho

Daryl Morey.

GMs (off the top of my head)

RC Buford
Morey
Colangelo
Kevin O'Connor
Donnie Nelson

So there are quite a few people who do a great job as a GM or coach despite having never played in the NBA or having only been a roleplayer.

I think a lot of players could do a good job if they started out small, learned the system, and worked their way up. Start off as a scout or assistant coach.

I just dread when i see a former all star player geting a head coaching job or gm job based solely on the fact that he was an amazing player. I could name several current GMs who are incompent but get to keep their jobs because they are HOFers.

Cevap wrote:

Rasho Brezec wrote:

LJ4pointplay wrote:Both Van Gundy's, Lawrence Frank never even played high school ball..

Spoelstra

I never understood how you can coach a team if you never even played basketball. But now that you mentioned this, it answers a lot of my questions regarding Frank's coaching abilities ...

"My Dentist is great even though he never had a tooth ache."-Jose Mourinho

Showing me a quote of something Mourinho said only confuses me even more. Even Starbury makes more sense than this guy.

deleted....

Wigginstime wrote:I have always been frustrated when a former NBA player gets a position as a GM or coach even though it is obvious that he is not qualified for the position. Being a great basketball player does not translate into a strong sense of business and managment skills.

Overall how have the GMs who never played in the NBA compared to the GMs who were star NBA players?

A former player is better suited to be a GM before some guy who's never played. A big part of the job is being able to evaluate talent. Yeah there are some exceptions like Bryan Colangelo but then again he was brought up around basketball so his eye was keen to talent a little better.

You don't run an NBA team like you would IBM or Toyota, a former great player will be able to judge how much a guy can earn based on his talent. Some of the greatest GM's have been former great players, todays GM's are either guys who haven't even played high school,college or pro ball and that's why you see some of the teams floundering. These guys can't evaluate talent plain and simple.

DEEP3CL wrote:

Wigginstime wrote:I have always been frustrated when a former NBA player gets a position as a GM or coach even though it is obvious that he is not qualified for the position. Being a great basketball player does not translate into a strong sense of business and managment skills.

Overall how have the GMs who never played in the NBA compared to the GMs who were star NBA players?

A former player is better suited to be a GM before some guy who's never played. A big part of the job is being able to evaluate talent. Yeah there are some exceptions like Bryan Colangelo but then again he was brought up around basketball so his eye was keen to talent a little better.

You don't run an NBA team like you would IBM or Toyota, a former great player will be able to judge how much a guy can earn based on his talent. Some of the greatest GM's have been former great players, todays GM's are either guys who haven't even played high school,college or pro ball and that's why you see some of the teams floundering. These guys can't evaluate talent plain and simple.

Like Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan and Elgin Baylor and Kevin McHale and.......u get the point....