Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
BRYAN COLANGELO<br />
President and General Manager<br />
Alternate <strong>NBA</strong> Governor, Toronto Raptors<br />
On February 28, 2006, the Toronto Raptors named Bryan Colangelo president and general<br />
manager. He joined the franchise following 15 years in the Phoenix Suns organization,<br />
where he served 11 seasons as the club’s general manager including the last seven as<br />
team president.<br />
Colangelo’s arrival in Toronto was marked by a series of trades and free agent acquisitions that resulted in nine new<br />
players on the roster at the start of 2006-07 training camp. In his first full season at the helm of the Raptors, the team<br />
improved an <strong>NBA</strong>-best 20 wins over the 2005-06 season to tie a franchise high with 47 victories. Toronto went on to<br />
win the 2006-07 Atlantic Division championship, securing third seed and home court in its return to the playoffs after<br />
missing the postseason the previous five seasons. Most significantly, he re-signed forward Chris Bosh in July 2006<br />
to a long term deal securing him as the cornerstone of the franchise’s foreseeable future.<br />
For his efforts in leading the Raptors’ dramatic change of fortune, Colangelo was named 2006-07 Sporting News<br />
<strong>NBA</strong> Executive of the Year. It was his second such honour, having received the award in 2005 after guiding the Suns<br />
to the third-greatest turnaround in <strong>NBA</strong> history en route to winning the Pacific Division Championship. He is one of<br />
only three executives to win the award with two different franchises (Bob Bass, Jerry West).<br />
During Colangelo’s career as a general manager, his teams have appeared in the <strong>NBA</strong> Playoffs 11 of 14 seasons,<br />
captured four division championships and posted an overall record of 603-510 (.542).<br />
Prior to his move to Toronto, the former Suns executive was part of a new ownership group that purchased the<br />
franchise June 30, 2004. He also previously held the positions of scout, assistant director of player personnel, and<br />
vice president/assistant general manager with the Suns, where he was directly involved in all aspects of player<br />
personnel, including evaluation, draft selection and transactions. He also served as tournament director of the NIKE<br />
Desert Classic, an annual college All-Star basketball tournament held in Phoenix, from 1993 through 2001.<br />
In addition to his responsibilities with the Suns, Colangelo served as president of Phoenix Arena Sports (PAS), the<br />
owning entity of the Arizona Rattlers (Arena Football League) and the operating entity of the Phoenix Mercury<br />
(W<strong>NBA</strong>) from June 1991 through June 2002. Highlights of his involvement with PAS include the 1994 and 1997<br />
Rattler World Championships, setting the league attendance mark with the Phoenix Mercury in the W<strong>NBA</strong>’s inaugural<br />
season, and his selection as the AFL’s 1993 Executive of the Year. The Rattlers also won the AFL Commissioner’s<br />
Award as the top franchise on and off the field for an unprecedented five straight years from 1996 to 2000.<br />
Colangelo’s ac<strong>com</strong>plishments and influence in sports and business were recognized nationally when he was named<br />
to the “40 Under 40” most influential group by Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal in 2000.<br />
In May 2005, Colangelo was named to the USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Program Advisory Panel charged<br />
with selecting teams for the 2006 FIBA World Championship (Saitama, Japan), 2007 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying<br />
Tournament (Las Vegas, USA) and the 2008 Olympics (Beijing, China). Colangelo currently serves on the <strong>NBA</strong>’s<br />
Competition Steering Committee and he was also named to Canada Basketball’s Board of Directors in June of<br />
2008.<br />
Colangelo has been active with and supportive of many different charitable organizations and <strong>com</strong>munity partners<br />
including the Boy’s and Girl’s Club of Metropolitan Phoenix, the Phoenix Zoo, The Raptors Foundation for Kids, the<br />
Art Gallery of Ontario, Save a Child’s Heart Foundation, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the<br />
National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, among others.<br />
Colangelo was born June 1, 1965. He is a 1987 graduate of Cornell University with a bachelor of science degree in<br />
business management and applied economics.<br />
TORONTO RAPTORS 2009-10 PRESEASON
Change language