Michael Finley never formally announced his retirement as an NBA player, and was still working out for teams as recently as earlier this year. However, it appears his playing days are over. The Mavericks announced today at Eduardo Najera's introductory press conference that Finley has also joined the team's front office (Twitter link via Marc Stein of ESPN.com).
Finley doesn't yet have an official title with the Mavs, but GM Donnie Nelson suggested at today's presser that owner Mark Cuban isn't "big on titles" (Twitter link via Stein). Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com tweets that Finley and Najera figure to have similar roles — while Finley obviously won't be coaching the D-League's Texas Legends like Najera is, it sounds as if both former Mavs will assist in making basketball decisions. Najera and Finley will be part of Dallas' draft-day decision-making as well, tweets Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
In Finley's 15-year playing career, he racked up over 17,300 career points for the Suns, Mavericks, Spurs, and Celtics. He played in 129 postseason games, winning a title with the Spurs in 2007, and earned over $138MM over the course of his career, according to Basketball-Reference.