Thursday, 21 November 2024

Jerry Colangelo

Contest: The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Contributors 2024
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Sport(s): Basketball Executive and Baseball Owner
Statistics: 4 The Sporting News Executive of the Year Awards (1976, 1981, 1989 & 1993)
1 World Series Championship (2001)
2 Arena Bowls (1994 & 1997)
2 FIBA World Championship Gold Medals (2010 & 2014)
1 FIBA World Championship Bronze Medal (2006)
1 FIBA Americas Championship Gold Medal (2007)
Member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
Member of the Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor

*59-60 as an NBA Coach
Jerry Colangelo was a guard at the University of Illinois, and he would later work for the Chicago Bulls, where he had multiple roles as a scout, marketing director, and assistant to the president. Colangelo was getting noticed, and when the Phoenix Suns became an expansion team, it was Colangelo who won the job as their inaugural general manager.

Colangelo quickly established himself as one of the top executives in the NBA, and in 1977, he was named the Executive of the Year on the strength of building a team that reached the NBA Finals. He consistently put together teams that could contend, and if trades were to be made, you best be careful when making them Colangelo. He would win three more executive of the year awards (1981, 1983 & 1989), and the Suns returned to the Finals (though lost) in 1993. It is also worth mentioning that when he felt needed, he would step in as head coach, which he did twice (1970 & 1972-1974).

In 1987, Colangelo, who was broke when he arrived in Phoenix nearly two decades before, put together a group to buy the Suns. He would later also own the WNBA Phoenix Mercury and was the leader of the group that brought Major League Baseball in the form of the Arizona Diamondbacks to the desert. The Diamondbacks won the World Series in 2001.

Colangelo also played a part in the Winnipeg Jets' relocation to Phoenix, and his Arena League team, the Arizona Rattlers, won two Arena Bowls. Colangelo was also the managing director for the United States men's team that won the 2010 and 2014 FIBA World Championship.

In 2004, Colangelo sold his interest in the Suns, Mercury, Rattlers to one group and the Diamondbacks to another. We can emphatically state that the story of professional sports in Arizona is not complete unless Colangelo is part of it.

We are proud to nominate Jerry Colangelo for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.

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