This book was provided to me from Netgalley, so I can read and review it before it’s published.
I had no clue about this book, until I saw this book on a list provided by @SprtBookReviews. I, immediately, put this book in my Amazon Wishlist, only to know that I would have to wait till October to read it. Well, thanks to Netgalley, I found this book on their website and requested to read it. A few days later, my request was accepted.
As a fan of the NBA, I knew the name of Bob Whitsett, and after reading the book, I was amazed at everything he did with the Kansas City Kings, Seattle Supersonics, Portland Trail Blazers, and the Seattle Seahawks. I also enjoyed reading about how he got started in sports administration immediately after finishing graduate school. It started with an internship with the Indiana Pacers in 1978. Just two years prior, is when the ABA merged with the NBA and the Pacers were one of the four teams to merge with the NBA. How cool is that? He started low on the totem pole but did anything and everything asked of him and that he eventually became a GM and President for other teams.
Kings, he helped as the team moved from Kansas City to Sacramento and also helped with the naming rights to ARCO Arena (one of the first companies to put their names on a sporting facility).
Supersonics, he drafted Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Nate McMillian, Dana Barros, and traded for key players like Dale Ellis, Ricky Pierce, and Sam Perkins. He hired George Karl as the head coach. He walked away from a deal for Dennis Rodman in 1993.
Trail Blazers, he helped bring Arvydas Sabonis to the team after several years of playing almost nine years of international basketball and he traded for Rasheed Wallace in 1996. In the 1996 NBA draft, he really wanted to select Kobe Bryant, but he was chosen number 13 by Charlotte – the Trail Blazers had the number 17 pick, and they chose Jermaine O’Neal.
Seahawks, he helped keep the team in Seattle, and assisted with the building of the football stadium.
Those are just a few things he did. When you read the book, you will find a lot more things he did.
For those that want to follow in his footsteps, he provides a brief overview of a GM and negotiating.
Lastly, the Seattle Supersonic team moved to become the Oklahoma City Thunder, and when Seattle gets a new NBA team, you will very likely see Bob’s name and several other former Sonic players involved.
