Jerry Colangelo
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1970, 1972–1973 | Phoenix Suns | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As player:
As executive:
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Basketball Hall of Fame | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
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Jerry Colangelo (born November 20, 1939
He became the youngest general manager in professional sports in 1968 after being hired to that position by the Phoenix Suns. He holds the distinction of the second-longest tenure running an NBA franchise, exceeded only by that of Red Auerbach of the Boston Celtics.[3]
In the summer of 2005, Colangelo was named director of
Early life
Colangelo was born and raised in
In his autobiography, How You Play the Game, Colangelo tells of working at the House of Charles, a tuxedo rental shop in Chicago Heights, after graduating from college.[7]
Basketball
Colangelo began his sports career in 1966 in professional basketball with the Chicago Bulls. He worked as a marketing director, scout, and assistant to the president of the team.[8] In 1968, he left the Bulls and was hired as the first general manager of the expansion team, the Phoenix Suns. He was the youngest general manager in professional sports.[9] When he and his family left for Arizona, he had $200 in his wallet.[7]
Colangelo got off to an unlucky start, losing a 1969 coin flip to the
Throughout most of the 1980s, Colangelo's Suns faced difficulties. Some players, including 1976 NBA Finals player
The Suns made one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history in
Throughout his time with the Suns, Colangelo would win four different
On December 7, 2015, Colangelo decided to return to the NBA to become the new chairman of basketball operations for the
Additional sports activities
Colangelo has been involved in many professional sports teams in Arizona.
Baseball
While in Chicago for a Suns game, Colangelo attended a Chicago Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field. Soon thereafter he decided to inquire to Major League Baseball about bringing an expansion team to Arizona. He assembled a group of investors in 1994 to buy a franchise, a year ahead of MLB's proposed expansion selection meetings. In 1995, Colangelo's group was granted an expansion team, the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Diamondbacks began playing in 1998. For his new baseball club, Colangelo hired
The Diamondbacks had gone into significant debt to build the 2001 champions. For example, he asked 12 of the highest-paid players to defer their salaries for four years and repay them over eight years.[15] The ensuing debt came back to haunt the Diamondbacks in 2004. Only three years after winning the World Series and two years after winning a third division title in three years, the Diamondbacks never recovered from a slow start. They ultimately finished 51–111, the worst record in baseball and still the worst in franchise history.
By then, Colangelo was gone. He was forced to resign as Managing General Partner in the summer of 2004, and subsequently sold his interest. Ken Kendrick succeeded him as managing general partner, while Jeff Moorad became CEO and operating head of the franchise.
In an interview with USA Today, Colangelo defended his approach to building the Diamondbacks, saying that he was only trying to build a winning team. He contrasted his approach with that of the Diamondbacks' expansion brethren, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who at the time had finished in either last or next-to-last every season (and would not have a winning season until 2008). He claimed that the plan only backfired when the economy went sour and he didn't get as much from baseball's central fund as anticipated.[15]
Women's basketball
In 1997, Colangelo's team in the Women's National Basketball Association, the Phoenix Mercury, began playing. The following year, the Mercury reached the WNBA Finals but lost to the Houston Comets.
Arena football
In 1992, Colangelo founded the
Hockey
Following the demise of the proposed move of the
Exit from sports
In April 2004, Colangelo sold the Suns, Mercury and Rattlers to an investment group headed by
for $401 million.Late in the 2004 baseball season, Colangelo sold his controlling interest in the Arizona Diamondbacks to a group of investors led by Jeff Moorad.[17]
Other interests
As of 2003[update] Jerry Colangelo was part of an investment group planning development in
Colangelo purchased the bankrupt Wigwam Resort in Litchfield Park, Arizona.
In 2011, Jerry Colangelo assisted in creating Grand Canyon University's Colangelo School of Sports Business and served as an advisor. On September 25, 2014, Grand Canyon University announced their college of business would be renamed Colangelo College of Business.[19]
Awards
Colangelo has been named the NBA's Executive of the Year four times (1976, 1981, 1989, 1993). He is an honorary member of the Marchegiana Society of his hometown, Chicago Heights, Illinois. A street in that city bears his name.
In 1994, Colangelo received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.[20]
On May 9, 2002, Colangelo was awarded an honorary degree from Arizona State University.
On April 4, 2004, Colangelo was elected to the
On November 4, 2007, Colangelo was inducted into the Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor at the halftime of a Suns game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He is the National Leadership Director of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame and is also a Hall of Fame inductee.[3] It is located in the Colangelo Building on Taylor Street in Little Italy, Chicago.
On Friday, October 21, 2016, Colangelo was honored by
On Saturday, May 18, 2019, The Lincoln Academy of Illinois granted Colangelo the Order of Lincoln award, the highest honor bestowed by the State of Illinois.[23]
Personal life
Colangelo is a Christian and has spoken about his faith saying, "The first priority in life is to have that relationship with Jesus Christ. So your faith is number one. ... God [has] a plan for my life. You know, the way I've tried to live my life is I have this platform, it was given to me by the Lord. And He's blessed me with a lot of things. And someday I'm going to be held accountable with what I did with those things."[24]
Colangelo is married to Joan, whom he met on a blind date while at college.[6] They have four children: Kathy Holcombe, Kristen Young, Mandie Colangelo, and Bryan Colangelo.[5] Bryan had been president of the Phoenix Suns when his father was part of the ownership group, and rejoined his father with the Philadelphia 76ers from 2016 to 2018.
Works
- Colangelo, Jerry; Sherman, Len (1999). How You Play the Game: Lessons for Life from the Billion-Dollar Business of Sports. AMACOM. ISBN 978-0814404881.
References
- ISBN 9781461673705.
- ^ "Grand Canyon University names business school after Jerry Colangelo". Phoenix Business Journal. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
- ^ a b "Jerry Colangelo". National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
- ^ "Colangelo to chair Hall of Fame". ESPN. Associated Press. December 2, 2009.
- ^ a b c "Jerry Colangelo 1939 –". Historical League. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
- ^ a b "Jerry Colangelo Bio". Phoenix Suns. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
- ^ ISBN 0-8144-0488-X
- ^ Charles, Mike. "Jerry's story". Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
- ^ "Jerry Colangelo Bio". NBA. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
- ^ Zillgitt, Jeff. "Jerry Colangelo named 76ers chairman of basketball operations". USA Today. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
- ^ Cooney, Bob (December 7, 2015). "Adding Jerry Colangelo a slam dunk for Sixers". philly.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
- NBA.com. Archived from the originalon April 8, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
- ^ Harper, Zach (April 10, 2016). "Bryan Colangelo named Sixers' president, Jerry Colangelo steps down". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
- ^ “Sixers and GM Bryan Colangelo part ways in aftermath of burner account scandal”. "The Philly Voice". Retrieved June 7, 2018
- ^ a b "Colangelo, D'backs' architect, feels hurt being phased out". USA Today. August 9, 2004. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
- ^ "Arena Football League to Fold, R.I.P. Arizona Rattlers". Sports Arizona Online. August 3, 2009. Retrieved September 1, 2009. [dead link]
- ^ Colangelo sells controlling interest[permanent dead link], Diamondbacks website
- ^ Padgett, Mike (May 16, 2003). "Buckeye history favored as future projects unfold". Phoenix Business Journal. Retrieved May 16, 2003..
- ^ "Jerry Colangelo | Sports Management Degree | Grand Canyon University". Archived from the original on October 13, 2014. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
- American Academy of Achievement.
- ^ "Chicago Bulls: Sportsmen of Legends". Retrieved May 16, 2011.
- ^ "The Rotarizonian" (PDF). www.rotary100.org.
- ^ "2019 Laureates Announced by Gov. Rauner". The Lincoln Academy of Illinois.
- ^ "Jerry Colangelo: Redeeming the Dream Team".