Mitch Kupchak
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Mitch Kupchak
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| Power forward / Center | |||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | May 24, 1954 Hicksville, New York |
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| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||
| High school | Brentwood (New York) | ||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | ||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 230 lb (104 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| College | North Carolina (1972–1976) | ||||||||||||
| NBA Draft | 1976 / Round: 1 / Pick: 13th overall | ||||||||||||
| Selected by the Washington Bullets | |||||||||||||
| Pro career | 1976–1986 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| 1976–1981 | Washington Bullets | ||||||||||||
| 1981–1986 | Los Angeles Lakers | ||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career statistics | |||||||||||||
| Points | 5,202 (10.2 ppg) | ||||||||||||
| Rebounds | 1,767 (5.4 rpg) | ||||||||||||
| Assists | 2,730 (0.7 apg) | ||||||||||||
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||||||||||||
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Mitchell "Mitch" Kupchak (born May 24, 1954) is a retired American basketball player and current general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers since the 2000–01 NBA season after predecessor Jerry West moved to the Memphis Grizzlies organization.
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High school career
Kupchak played for Brentwood High School, Brentwood, Long Island, NY, and was instrumental in Brentwood's Division Titles from 1970-72.
College career
Kupchak was an All-American on the North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team. Kupchak played on the gold medal winning team at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
NBA career
Kupchak was drafted by the Washington Bullets in 1976 and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. He had four productive seasons with Washington and was part of the team that won the NBA Championship in 1978. He signed a long term contract with the Lakers in 1981 on the behest of Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who told owner Jerry Buss, "If we could get Mitch Kupchak, I know we could win," after the team's playoff upset.[1] Unfortunately, 26 games into the season, Kupchak injured his knee and did not play again until the 1983-84 season. However, Kupchak played a key role in the Lakers' 1985 championship team against the Boston Celtics, who had intimidated them in the prior year's Finals. Kupchak retired after the 1985-86 season, having played 510 regular season and 68 playoff games, with regular season averages of 10.2 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game (7.7 points per game and 4.7 rebounds per game in the playoffs).
Transition to NBA management
Kupchak showed remarkable forethought in planning for his "life after" being an NBA player—pursuing a focused program to learn the trade of running NBA team operations. While still under his initial player contract, he worked with the "front office", developing strong working relationships with Laker management, beginning to "apprentice" with Jerry West, and starting studies that led to his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management in 1987.
General manager
He retired in 1986 to become assistant general manager under Jerry West. Kupchak took over as general manager but was not considered to have the traditional power of a GM until 2000 when West left his post as vice president of basketball operations for the challenge of the Memphis Grizzlies. His first major transaction was the acquisition of former superstars Karl Malone and Gary Payton. After a number of controversial trade transactions over the years, including the trade of Shaquille O'Neal to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant, as well as the decision not to trade Andrew Bynum for Jason Kidd, Kupchak faced severe criticism from Lakers star Kobe Bryant, although he still had the support of Buss. However, after his February 2008 deal to obtain Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies for Kwame Brown, other players and draft picks, Bryant conceded, "He goes from an F to an A-plus."[1] In 2007, Kupchak traded Brian Cook and Maurice Evans for Trevor Ariza, and in 2009, he signed Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace) as a free agent. These decisions helped the Lakers win back to back NBA Championships in 2009 and 2010.
References
- ^ a b Springer, Steve (April 28, 2008). "Lakers' Kupchak can deal with it". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2008-05-01. http://web.archive.org/web/20080501141016/http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-kupchak28apr28,1,4644248,full.story. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
External links
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| Current heads of basketball operations in the National Basketball Association | ||
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| Eastern Conference | ||
| Atlantic
Danny Ainge (Boston Celtics) |
Central
Gar Forman (Chicago Bulls) |
Southeast
Rick Sund (Atlanta Hawks) |
| Western Conference | ||
| Southwest
Donnie Nelson (Dallas Mavericks) |
Northwest
Masai Ujiri (Denver Nuggets) |
Pacific
Bob Myers (Golden State Warriors) |
| Note: Those listed here either hold the title President of Basketball Operations, General Manager, or both. | ||
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