Jerry Colangelo Jerry Colangelo ( born November 20 , 1939 ) , is an American businessman and sports executive . He formerly owned the Phoenix Suns of the NBA , the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA , the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League , the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League and the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball . He was also instrumental in the relocation of the Winnipeg Jets of the NHL to Phoenix to become the Phoenix Coyotes . In the summer of 2005 , Colangelo was named director of USA Basketball whose team represented the United States in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 FIBA World Championship . Colangelo also serves as Chairman of the National Italian American Foundation ( NIAF ) , a nonprofit nonpartisan educational foundation that promotes Italian American culture and heritage . Colangelo has been known for a no - nonsense ownership style . Players like the Suns ' Dennis Johnson and Jason Kidd and the Diamondbacks ' Bobby Chouinard have been traded or released after their personal problems became public . Early life . Colangelo was born and raised in Chicago Heights , Illinois where he played basketball and baseball for Bloom Township High School . He graduated from the University of Illinois , where he captained the basketball team and was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity . In his autobiography , " How You Play the Game " , Colangelo tells of working after graduating college at the House of Charles , a tuxedo rental shop in Chicago Heights . Basketball . Colangelo began his career in professional basketball with the Chicago Bulls . He worked as a marketing director , scout , and assistant to the president of the team . In 1968 , he left the Bulls and was hired as the first general manager of the expansion team , the Phoenix Suns . When he and his family left for Arizona , he had $ 200 in his wallet . Colangelo got off to an unlucky start , losing a 1969 coin flip to the Milwaukee Bucks for the rights to UCLA phenom Lew Alcindor ( now known as Kareem Abdul - Jabbar ) . The Suns remained competitive most of the 1970s , making it to the NBA Finals in 1976 , but losing to the Boston Celtics in six games . Colangelo had two stints as head coach during that decade , compiling a record of 59 wins and 60 losses . During much of the 1980s , Colangelo ' s Suns faced trouble . Some players , including 1976 NBA Finals player Garfield Heard , were involved in an infamous drug scandal , young center Nick Vanos perished in a 1987 plane crash and , from 1985 through 1988 , the Suns failed to qualify for the playoffs . Colangelo put together a group that bought the Suns in late 1987 , in the wake of the drug scandal . He subsequently made a trade for Kevin Johnson in 1987 . The Suns made one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history in 1988 – 89 , nearly doubling their win total ( from 28 wins to 55 ) and making the first of 13 straight playoff appearances . In 1989 , Colangelo was an essential part of the group that planned to build America West Arena ( now US Airways Center ) , providing financial backing . In 1992 , Colangelo traded Jeff Hornacek , Tim Perry , and Andrew Lang to the Philadelphia 76ers for Charles Barkley . The trade proved to be productive for the Suns , and they reached the NBA Finals for the second time in 1993 , this time losing to the Bulls in six games . Barkley ' s relationship with Colangelo , however , grew sour over the years , and in 1996 , he was traded to the Houston Rockets . He eventually turned over the Suns ' presidency to his son Bryan ( who eventually left the organization to become general manager of the Toronto Raptors ) . A strained relationship with Charles Barkley has improved with years . Colangelo declared himself a born - again Christian , a reason that he credits for his change of heart about Barkley . Colangelo ' s additional sports activities . Colangelo has been involved in many professional sports teams in Arizona . Baseball . While in Chicago for a Suns game , Colangelo attended a Chicago Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field . Soon thereafter he decided to inquire to Major League Baseball about bringing an expansion team to Arizona . He assembled a group of investors in 1994 to buy a franchise , the year prior to MLB ' s proposed expansion selection meetings . In 1995 , Colangelo ' s group was granted an expansion team , the Arizona Diamondbacks . The Diamondbacks began playing in 1998 . For his new baseball club , Colangelo hired Joe Garagiola , Jr . as General Manager . He also brought in Buck Showalter coming off a successful stint as manager of the New York Yankees . Showalter and Yankees owner George Steinbrenner did not agree to a contract extension , so Colangelo quickly hired Showalter as future manager of the Diamondbacks . These hirings proved to be instrumental to the expansion franchise ' s quick success . Notable moves made by Garagiola included the signing of Randy Johnson in 1999 and a trade for Curt Schilling in 2000 from the Philadelphia Phillies . They were co - MVPs of the 2001 World Series when the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees in seven games . This was the first major professional sports championship for the Phoenix area . However , his ways of spending caused the Diamondbacks to fall to near bankruptcy starting in 2003 . The team was losing money at an alarming pace . He was forced to resign as managing general partner in the late summer of 2004 . Ken Kendrick took responsibility as the lead among the team ' s investors . Women ' s basketball . In 1997 , Colangelo ' s team in the Women ' s National Basketball Association , the Phoenix Mercury , began playing . The following year , the Mercury reached the WNBA Finals but lost to the Houston Comets . Arena football . In 1992 , Colangelo founded the Arena Football League ' s Arizona Rattlers and owned them until 2005 . Under Colangelo ' s guidance , the Rattlers won Arena Bowl championships in 1994 and 1997 . They were also one of the AFL ' s model franchises and were a perennial playoff team . According to published reports , the Rattlers struggled to stay afloat as a franchise after Colangelo sold the team . Hockey . Colangelo was also involved in bringing the National Hockey League ( NHL ) to Arizona , transferring the Winnipeg Jets to the area as the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996 . The move made Phoenix one of only a few metropolitan areas with franchises in all four major North American professional sports leagues ) . The team plays in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale . Boxing . Colangelo , as a friend of promoter Bob Arum , also helped to bring professional boxing to Arizona . He was one of the individuals behind the construction of the Dodge Theater in downtown Phoenix . The Dodge is currently a top boxing and performing arts venue in the American Southwest . Exit from sports . In April 2004 , Colangelo sold the Suns , Mercury and Rattlers to an investment group headed by San Diego , California businessman , Tucson , Arizona native Robert Sarver for $ 401 million . The sale allegedly came in part to keep his family from having to pay high estate taxes upon Colangelo ' s death . Late in the 2004 baseball season , Colangelo sold his controlling interest in the Arizona Diamondbacks to a group of investors led by Jeff Moorad . The estate tax issue played a role , though another factor was that Colangelo ' s partners were upset at the team ' s large debt . The D - Backs were almost $ 150 million in the red at the time , largely because of Colangelo ' s " win now " strategy . Other interests . Jerry Colangelo is part of an investment group planning development in Buckeye , Arizona . They have planned a 300 , 000 + residence development called Douglas Ranch and a smaller development called Trillium . Colangelo purchased the bankrupt Wigwam Resort in Litchfield Park , Arizona . Awards . Colangelo has been named the NBA ' s Executive of the Year four times ( 1976 , 1981 , 1989 , 1993 ) . He is an honorary member of the Marchegiana Society of his hometown , Chicago Heights , Illinois . A street in that city bears his name . On May 9 , 2002 , Colangelo was awarded an honorary degree from Arizona State University . On April 4 , 2004 , Colangelo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame . On November 4 , 2007 , Colangelo was inducted into the Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor at the halftime of a Suns game against the Cleveland Cavaliers . He is the National Leadership Director of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame and is also a Hall of Fame inductee . It is located in the Colangelo Building on Taylor Street in Little Italy , Chicago . Personal life . Colangelo ' s son Bryan Colangelo is President of the NBA Toronto Raptors .