Come to the NBA front office in 2022, and you won’t have to go far before you find a book on management theory lying on the bookshelf. Concepts such as institutional culture and asset management have gained momentum. League executives think a lot to build the identity of their basketball operations shops.
The NBA may still be an exceptional business in which winners and losers are judged on a literal playground, but it has never been like other multi-billion dollar industries. If you get rid of the thundersticks and bubbleheads sitting at the desk, squat enough and that NBA front office cubicle farm could easily be in Silicon Valley.
The NBA’s 30 front offices are as stylistically diverse as the teams on the court. Some leads prefer to play plays set in highly structured crime, while some prefer to read and react.
The front office of the Oklahoma City Thunder will pay attention to those little details that will never enter the consciousness of the Boston Celtics, who think in terms of decades. While the Los Angeles Lakers appreciate tradition, the Phoenix Sun speaks out in its disbelief. Big and small decisions are made at the top of the Miami Heat’s organizational hierarchy, but in the Golden State, consensus is formed in a more collaborative process (although owner Joe Lacob still owns it).
Most fans, at one time or another, have an idea of how he will behave as the general manager of his favorite team. The exercise usually starts and in the last week they may have drafted someone in the first round or they may have made a deal in ESPN’s trade machine.
But gossip-dominated high-profile transactions are a small part of the portfolio. Work is not a swashbuckler or a dealmaker – it’s a basketball CEO. Anyone interested in the job should be able to answer the following questions: What kind of people value you in an organization? In addition to the players’ salaries, where do you want to spend your limited budget? How many differences can you honestly tolerate? What is the best way to manage an unhappy superstar or boss of nature? How do you assess risk? When the right, do-or-break-the-franchise decisions are on the line, how do you gather information to make a call? Or when you rely on your instincts to over-process information?
That’s where you come from! While you’re waiting – or doomscrolling – to drop the next big sign or trade, take our quiz. We’ve worked with you to lead the league with six teams with specific managerial styles and principles: the Los Angeles Lakers, the Miami Heat, the Boston Celtics, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Phoenix Sun and the Golden State Warriors.
So which front office is needed? You Take our quiz to find the runners.