# NBA Executive of the Year

National Basketball Association awards and honors :
Team awards :
Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy
Bob Cousy Trophy
Maurice Podoloff Trophy
Wayne Embry Trophy
Willis Reed Trophy
Chuck Cooper Trophy
Walter A. Brown Trophy (defunct)
Oscar Robertson Trophy
Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton Trophy
Earl Lloyd Trophy
Sam Jones Trophy
NBA Cup :
Individual awards :
All-Star Game MVP
Clutch Player of the Year
Coach of the Year
Comeback Player of the Year (defunct)
Community Assist Award
Defensive Player of the Year
Sixth Man of the Year
Finals MVP
Hustle Award
J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award
IBM Award (defunct)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion
Most Improved Player
Most Valuable Player
Rookie of the Year
Executive of the Year
Conference finals MVP
Sportsmanship Award
Twyman–Stokes Teammate of the Year
Lifetime Achievement Award :
Honors :
All-NBA Team
All-Rookie Team
All-Defensive Team :
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The NBA Executive of the Year is an annual award in the National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1972–73 NBA season, to the league's best general manager, president of basketball/business operations, or another high-ranking executive. Before 2009, the Executive of the Year was presented annually by Sporting News, but was officially recognized by the NBA. Since 2009, the award has been awarded by the NBA. Voting is conducted by executives from the league's 30 teams. The person with the most votes wins the award.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 28 different general managers. Jerry Colangelo, the first general manager for the Phoenix Suns, is the only person to win the award four times. Bob Bass, R. C. Buford, Wayne Embry, Bob Ferry, Stan Kasten, Jerry Krause, Bob Myers, Geoff Petrie, Jerry West, as well as Jerry Colangelo's son Bryan Colangelo, have all won the award twice. All of the award winners were born in the United States until then–Denver Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri, who was born in England, won the award in 2013. Larry Bird, Frank Layden and Pat Riley joined Red Auerbach as the only recipients to have also received NBA Coach of the Year. Bird is also the only winner to receive the NBA Most Valuable Player in addition to either of the Coach or Executive of the Year awards.

## Winners

| ^ | Denotes executive who is still active in the NBA |
| * | Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| *^ | Active executive who has been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame |
| Bold | Winning executive's team won the NBA Finals the same season |
| Person (#) | Denotes the number of times the executive has won the award |
| Team (#) | Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won |
| Season | Executive | Nationality | Team |
| 1972–73 | Joe Axelson | United States | Kansas City-Omaha Kings |
| 1973–74 | Eddie Donovan | United States | Buffalo Braves |
| 1974–75 | Dick Vertlieb | United States | Golden State Warriors |
| 1975–76 | Jerry Colangelo* | United States | Phoenix Suns |
| 1976–77 | Ray Patterson | United States | Houston Rockets |
| 1977–78 | Angelo Drossos | United States | San Antonio Spurs |
| 1978–79 | Bob Ferry | United States | Washington Bullets |
| 1979–80 | Red Auerbach* | United States | Boston Celtics |
| 1980–81 | Jerry Colangelo* (2) | United States | Phoenix Suns (2) |
| 1981–82 | Bob Ferry (2) | United States | Washington Bullets (2) |
| 1982–83 | Zollie Volchok | United States | Seattle SuperSonics |
| 1983–84 | Frank Layden | United States | Utah Jazz |
| 1984–85 | Vince Boryla | United States | Denver Nuggets |
| 1985–86 | Stan Kasten | United States | Atlanta Hawks |
| 1986–87 | Stan Kasten (2) | United States | Atlanta Hawks (2) |
| 1987–88 | Jerry Krause* | United States | Chicago Bulls |
| 1988–89 | Jerry Colangelo* (3) | United States | Phoenix Suns (3) |
| 1989–90 | Bob Bass | United States | San Antonio Spurs (2) |
| 1990–91 | Bucky Buckwalter | United States | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 1991–92 | Wayne Embry* | United States | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 1992–93 | Jerry Colangelo* (4) | United States | Phoenix Suns (4) |
| 1993–94 | Bob Whitsitt | United States | Seattle SuperSonics (2) |
| 1994–95 | Jerry West* | United States | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1995–96 | Jerry Krause* (2) | United States | Chicago Bulls (2) |
| 1996–97 | Bob Bass (2) | United States | Charlotte Hornets |
| 1997–98 | Wayne Embry* (2) | United States | Cleveland Cavaliers (2) |
| 1998–99 | Geoff Petrie | United States | Sacramento Kings (2) |
| 1999–00 | John Gabriel | United States | Orlando Magic |
| 2000–01 | Geoff Petrie (2) | United States | Sacramento Kings (3) |
| 2001–02 | Rod Thorn* | United States | New Jersey Nets |
| 2002–03 | Joe Dumars* | United States | Detroit Pistons |
| 2003–04 | Jerry West* (2) | United States | Memphis Grizzlies |
| 2004–05 | Bryan Colangelo | United States | Phoenix Suns (5) |
| 2005–06 | Elgin Baylor* | United States | Los Angeles Clippers (2) |
| 2006–07 | Bryan Colangelo (2) | United States | Toronto Raptors |
| 2007–08 | Danny Ainge^ | United States | Boston Celtics (2) |
| 2008–09 | Mark Warkentien | United States | Denver Nuggets (2) |
| 2009–10 | John Hammond^ | United States | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 2010–11 | Pat Riley*^ | United States | Miami Heat |
| 2010–11 | Gar Forman | United States | Chicago Bulls (3) |
| 2011–12 | Larry Bird* | United States | Indiana Pacers |
| 2012–13 | Masai Ujiri^ | Nigeria | Denver Nuggets (3) |
| 2013–14 | R. C. Buford^ | United States | San Antonio Spurs (3) |
| 2014–15 | Bob Myers | United States | Golden State Warriors (2) |
| 2015–16 | R. C. Buford^ (2) | United States | San Antonio Spurs (4) |
| 2016–17 | Bob Myers (2) | United States | Golden State Warriors (3) |
| 2017–18 | Daryl Morey^ | United States | Houston Rockets (2) |
| 2018–19 | Jon Horst^ | United States | Milwaukee Bucks (2) |
| 2019–20 | Lawrence Frank^ | United States | Los Angeles Clippers (3) |
| 2020–21 | James Jones^ | United States | Phoenix Suns (6) |
| 2021–22 | Zach Kleiman^ | United States | Memphis Grizzlies (2) |
| 2022–23 | Monte McNair^ | United States | Sacramento Kings (4) |
| 2023–24 | Brad Stevens^ | United States | Boston Celtics (3) |

## Multi-time winners

| Awards | Executive | Team(s) | Years |
| 4 | Jerry Colangelo | Phoenix Suns | 1976, 1981, 1989, 1993 |
| 2 | Bob Bass | San Antonio Spurs (1) / Charlotte Hornets (1) | 1990, 1997 |
| 2 | R.C. Buford | San Antonio Spurs | 2014, 2016 |
| 2 | Bryan Colangelo | Phoenix Suns (1) / Toronto Raptors (1) | 2005, 2007 |
| 2 | Wayne Embry | Cleveland Cavaliers | 1992, 1998 |
| 2 | Bob Ferry | Washington Bullets | 1979, 1982 |
| 2 | Stan Kasten | Atlanta Hawks | 1986, 1987 |
| 2 | Jerry Krause | Chicago Bulls | 1988, 1996 |
| 2 | Bob Myers | Golden State Warriors | 2015, 2017 |
| 2 | Geoff Petrie | Sacramento Kings | 1999, 2001 |
| 2 | Jerry West | Los Angeles Lakers (1) / Memphis Grizzlies (1) | 1995, 2004 |

## Teams

| Awards | Teams | Years |
| 6 | Phoenix Suns | 1976, 1981, 1989, 1993, 2005, 2021 |
| 4 | San Antonio Spurs | 1978, 1990, 2014, 2016 |
| 4 | Sacramento Kings / Kansas City-Omaha Kings | 1973, 1999, 2001, 2023 |
| 3 | Boston Celtics | 1980, 2008, 2024 |
| 3 | Chicago Bulls | 1988, 1996, 2011 |
| 3 | Denver Nuggets | 1985, 2009, 2013 |
| 3 | Golden State Warriors | 1975, 2015, 2017 |
| 3 | Los Angeles Clippers / Buffalo Braves | 1974, 2006, 2020 |
| 2 | Atlanta Hawks | 1986, 1987 |
| 2 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 1992, 1998 |
| 2 | Houston Rockets | 1977, 2018 |
| 2 | Memphis Grizzlies | 2004, 2022 |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | 2010, 2019 |
| 2 | Oklahoma City Thunder / Seattle SuperSonics | 1983, 1994 |
| 2 | Washington Wizards / Washington Bullets | 1979, 1982 |
| 1 | Brooklyn Nets / New Jersey Nets | 2002 |
| 1 | Charlotte Hornets | 1997 |
| 1 | Detroit Pistons | 2003 |
| 1 | Indiana Pacers | 2012 |
| 1 | Los Angeles Lakers | 1995 |
| 1 | Miami Heat | 2011 |
| 1 | Orlando Magic | 2000 |
| 1 | Portland Trail Blazers | 1991 |
| 1 | Toronto Raptors | 2007 |
| 1 | Utah Jazz | 1984 |
| 0 | Dallas Mavericks | None |
| 0 | Minnesota Timberwolves | None |
| 0 | New Orleans Pelicans | None |
| 0 | New York Knicks | None |
| 0 | Philadelphia 76ers | None |