memphis-grizzlies-2014-15-media-guide-10-28

BASKETBALL
OPERATIONS
CHRIS WALLACE
GENERAL MANAGER
Chris Wallace enters his eighth season with the Memphis Grizzlies after being named as general
manager on July 29, 2014. A familiar face in the Memphis community and a stable presence throughout
the team’s greatest successes, Wallace initially joined the organization as general manager and vice
president of basketball operations on June 18, 2007.
During his tenure, Wallace has assembled one of the NBA’s most tenacious units, including two-time NBA
All-Star Zach Randolph (2010, 2013), 2013 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marc Gasol, the Grizzlies’
career leader in assists, steals and games played Mike Conley and three-time NBA All-Defensive First
Team selection Tony Allen. With that core each choosing to sign long-term contracts with the Grizzlies,
Memphis experienced unprecedented regular season and postseason success. Wallace has been at the forefront for three 50-win
regular seasons, including a franchise-record 56-win campaign in 2012-13; the first 21 playoff victories in franchise history; a
2011 first-round series victory over the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs; and a trip to the 2013 Western Conference Finals.
This past offseason, Wallace maintained and continued building the team’s core by signing Zach Randolph to a multi-year contract
extension and bringing in eight-time NBA All-Star Vince Carter as a free agent. Wallace also extended the contract of head coach
Dave Joerger, who won 50 games in his first season at the helm, and was instrumental in drafting UCLA product Jordan Adams
and acquiring Memphis native Jarnell Stokes during the 2014 NBA Draft.
Well-traveled and well-connected, Wallace has served seven NBA franchises since 1986 and has worked with five former NBA
Executive of the Year winners, including Red Auerbach, Danny Ainge, Bucky Buckwalter, Geoff Petrie and Jerry West. In addition,
he has worked alongside Basketball Hall of Fame members Billy Cunningham and Pat Riley. Before coming to Memphis, he spent
the previous 10 seasons as the general manager of the Boston Celtics. In his role with the Celtics, Wallace had a hand in all
basketball-related decisions, including free agent signings, trades and draft preparations.
Prior to becoming the Celtics’ general manager, Wallace was director of player personnel for the Miami Heat. The Heat won a
franchise-record 61 games in 1996-97 and Wallace is credited with discovering many of the Heat’s players. Wallace was promoted
to that position after four years as a scout for the Heat.
Before joining the Heat, Wallace worked in various scouting capacities for the Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles
Clippers and New York Knicks. He also worked as a draft consultant for the United States Basketball League (USBL). Wallace has
also served on the selection committee for the prestigious Nike/ABCD and Converse ABCD national high school camps, evaluating
scores of future college and NBA stars.
Wallace, an avid basketball fan before breaking into the NBA, got his start in basketball in 1981 when he founded the
award-winning Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. Sports Illustrated named Wallace as one of the most influential members
of the college basketball media in 1991. He has also served as an expert witness in basketball-related litigation and is also a
member of the Board of Directors at the Touchdown Club of Memphis and Catholic Charities of West Tennessee.
A native of Buckhannon, W.Va., Wallace and his wife, Debby, have a son, Truman.
JOHN HOLLINGER
VICE PRESIDENT OF BASKETBALL OPERATIONS
John Hollinger enters his third season with the Memphis Grizzlies as vice president of basketball
operations. Best known for his work at the forefront of basketball’s analytics movement, Hollinger is the
inventor of advanced stats such as Player Efficiency Rating (PER), Offensive Efficiency, Defensive Efficiency
and Pace Factor, as well as several other tools that analyze and forecast team and player performance.
With the Grizzlies, Hollinger’s analytics background is vital in analyzing personnel decisions such as
trades, draft, free agency and salary cap management. He’s also spearheading the development of the
Grizzlies’ analytics infrastructure, while maintaining a hand in more traditional basketball functions such
as scouting and player development.
Before coming to the Grizzlies, Hollinger was an NBA columnist for ESPN.com for eight years. His daily “PER Diem” column was
a mainstay of their coverage, while analytic tools he developed such as Power Rankings, Playoff Odds and Draft Rater became
key elements of the site. Hollinger also covered major events such as the Finals, All-Star Game and playoffs, and created annual
scouting reports for every player and team in the league, developed a Twitter following of over 125,000 fans at @johnhollinger,
and contributed chats, video and radio while at ESPN. He also appeared periodically on TV programs such as “Numbers Never Lie.”
From 2002-05, Hollinger authored four annual editions of the Pro Basketball Forecast – first known as the Pro Basketball
Prospectus – a book with stats and reports on every player and team in the league. Those reports were later folded into his scouting
reports for ESPN.com.
Hollinger’s books were the first to introduce his PER formula to a national audience. PER is a rating of a player’s per-minute statistical
performance that Hollinger developed to make player comparisons easier, and has become a widely used standard over the past
decade. His also developed several other statistics that are now in wide use today, including Rebound Rate, Usage Rate, Pure Point
Rating, Game Score, and Estimated Wins, and used similarity scores and regression analysis to forecast player performance and
analyze draft prospects.
While writing his books, Hollinger covered the NBA as an editor and writer for SI.com from 2002-05. He also authored a column for
the New York Sun newspaper three days a week. Prior to joining SI.com, he was the sports editor for Oregonlive.com.
Hollinger first gained notoriety as the creator of Alleyoop.com, a Web site devoted to basketball analytics that he created in 1996.
At Alleyoop.com, Hollinger first developed several of his statistical formulas, as well as publishing articles on the league and his
advanced stats, and his work gained nationwide recognition.
Hollinger is a native of New Jersey, where he played on his high school basketball team. He graduated from the University of
Virginia with degrees in economics and environmental science. Hollinger lives in Memphis with his wife Judy.
INTRO PLAYERS EXECUTIVES
MEDIA COMMUNITY HISTORY PLAYOFFS REVIEW OPPONENTS NBA FEDEXFORUM AT A GLANCE
BASKETBALL
OPERATIONS
BUSINESS
OPERATIONS
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