NBA teams don’t replace their top front office decision-makers as often as they swap out their head coaches, but it’s still an achievement to spend more than five seasons as a team’s head of basketball operations. Currently, only a third of the league’s top executives (10 of 30) can make that claim, with another four set to enter their sixth season in 2024/25.
Although only one person holds a team’s head coaching job, that same team might carry a variety of front office executives with titles like general manager, president of basketball operations, or executive VP of basketball operations. In some cases, it’s not always which clear which executive should be considered the club’s head of basketball operations, or which one has the ultimate final say on roster decisions. That distinction becomes even more nebulous when taking into account team ownership.
For our list of the longest-tenured GMs/presidents in the NBA, we’ve done our best to identify the top exec in each front office, but if a situation isn’t entirely clear-cut, we’ve made a note below.
One team whose exact hierarchy is unclear is the Spurs. Head coach Gregg Popovich has long held the title of president of basketball operations, though it’s a safe bet he isn’t overly involved in day-to-day front office operations. While general manager Brian Wright and CEO RC Buford are also believed to have significant voices in personnel decisions, we’re considering Popovich to be the head of basketball operations in San Antonio based on his title, meaning he tops the list, narrowly edging out Heat president Pat Riley.
Here’s the list of the NBA’s longest-tenured heads of basketball operations, along with their respective titles and the dates they were hired or promoted:
- Gregg Popovich, Spurs (president): May 31, 1994
- Brian Wright has been the Spurs’ general manager since July 2019 and is believed to lead most front office business, but Popovich’s title indicates he’s above Wright in the basketball operations hierarchy.
- Brian Wright has been the Spurs’ general manager since July 2019 and is believed to lead most front office business, but Popovich’s title indicates he’s above Wright in the basketball operations hierarchy.
- Pat Riley, Heat (president): September 2, 1995
- Sam Presti, Thunder (GM/executive VP): June 7, 2007
- Masai Ujiri, Raptors (president): May 31, 2013
- Sean Marks, Nets (GM): February 18, 2016
- Kevin Pritchard, Pacers (president): May 1, 2017
- Jeff Weltman, Magic (president): May 22, 2017
- Jon Horst, Bucks (GM): June 16, 2017
- Koby Altman, Cavaliers (president): June 19, 2017
- Lawrence Frank, Clippers (president): August 4, 2017
- Rob Pelinka, Lakers (GM/VP): April 9, 2019
- Pelinka has been the Lakers’ GM since February 2017, but was below Magic Johnson in the front office hierarchy until Johnson resigned on April 9, 2019.
- James Jones, Suns (president): April 11, 2019
- Jones began serving as the Suns’ co-interim GM alongside Trevor Bukstein in October 2018, but was named the lone, permanent head of basketball operations on April 11, 2019.
- Zach Kleiman, Grizzlies (executive VP): April 11, 2019
- David Griffin, Pelicans (executive VP): April 17, 2019
- Leon Rose, Knicks (president): March 2, 2020
- Arturas Karnisovas, Bulls (executive VP): April 13, 2020
- Monte McNair, Kings (GM): September 17, 2020
- Rafael Stone, Rockets (GM): October 15, 2020
- Daryl Morey, Sixers (president): November 2, 2020
- Brad Stevens, Celtics (president): June 2, 2021
- Nico Harrison, Mavericks (GM/president): June 28, 2021
- Joe Cronin, Trail Blazers (GM): December 3, 2021
- Cronin assumed the job on an interim basis on December 3, 2021. He was named the permanent GM on May 10, 2022.
- Danny Ainge, Jazz (CEO/alternate governor): December 15, 2021
- Tim Connelly, Timberwolves (president): May 23, 2022
- Calvin Booth, Nuggets (GM): May 23, 2022
- Landry Fields, Hawks (GM): December 21, 2022
- Michael Winger, Wizards (president): May 25, 2023
- Mike Dunleavy Jr., Warriors (GM): June 16, 2023
- Jeff Peterson, Hornets (executive VP): March 5, 2024
- Trajan Langdon, Pistons (president): May 31, 2024
Information from Basketball-Reference was used in the creation of this post.
Where does Pelinka fall under LeBron?
Wait so if this Brian Wright character is running things day to day but Pop ultimately has the final say on approving the moves, what does Buford do now?
Based on how the Spurs describe his position now, it sounds like he’s much more focused on business operations and less involved in basketball operations since his promotion to CEO.
The Spurs haven’t really talked publicly about how the front office decision-making process works, as far as I know, but my impression is that Buford would still have a voice in bigger basketball moves but probably wouldn’t be as involved in debates about who to sign to Exhibit 10 contracts and stuff like that.