|
The Sacramento Kings today announced Shareef Abdur-Rahim as General Manager of the Reno Bighorns, according to Kings General Manager Pete D’Alessandro. Abdur-Rahim, who also holds the role of Director of Player Personnel for the Kings, will oversee basketball operations for the team’s D-League affiliate.
Abdur-Rahim is entering his fourth season in the Kings front office, where he served the previous three as Assistant General Manager after spending the 2009-10 season on the Kings bench as an assistant coach specializing in player development.
Prior to retiring from professional basketball in 2008, the 12-year NBA veteran amassed career averages of 18.1 points (.472 FG%, .297 3FG%, .810 FT%), 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in 830 contests for four teams (Vancouver 1996-97 to 2000-01, Atlanta 2001-02 to 2003-04, Portland 2003-04 to 2004-05 and Sacramento 2005-06 to 2007-08). In a five-season stretch from 1997-98 through 2001-02, he posted better than 20 points and seven rebounds per contest, narrowly missing a sixth straight campaign registering such consistency when he recorded 19.9 points and 8.4 rebounds in 2002-03. He was named an NBA All-Star in 2002, finishing the campaign with averages of 21.2 points and 9.0 rebounds, ranking 15th and 13th in the league respectively.
In a related development, D’Alessandro also announced that Chris Gilbert will join Abdur-Rahim in Reno as the Bighorns Assistant General Manager. Gilbert is entering his first season as the Kings Basketball Operations Coordinator, assisting D’Alessandro, Assistant GM Mike Bratz and Abdur-Rahim with all facets of the team’s day-to-day operations.
Before joining the Kings, Gilbert spent eight seasons with the Golden State Warriors organization in a variety of capacities. In his new role with the Bighorns, he will support Abdur-Rahim in all aspects of basketball operations for the Kings D-League affiliate.
The Kings, Reno Bighorns and the NBA Development League announced in July a single-affiliation partnership beginning with the 2013-14 NBA D-League season, making Sacramento the 14th NBA franchise to establish a one-to-one affiliation with an NBA D-League team.
This partnership, also referred to as a “hybrid affiliation,” is the seventh of its kind in the NBA D-League and allows the Kings to pay for and control the Bighorns basketball operations, while existing local ownership in Reno maintains primary responsibility for the team’s off-the-court business operations and community initiatives.
