A 33-year-old GM was hired by the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday after the team fell to the bottom of the NBA’s Western Conference in 2013. The Suns have hired Ryan McDonough to replace Lance Blanks as the teams new general manager in hopes of improving on a 25-57 record from this season.
Hiring McDonough instantly raised questions as it’s rare to find a team with executives in their 30’s. Dating back to the creation of the league, only a few men have been named the general manager of an NBA team at such a young age, including Rick Sund and Rob Hennigan.
Sund was named the Dallas Mavericks general manager in 1979 at the age of 28 to become the youngest ever to hold such a position. Hennigan is currently the youngest to oversee a team at 30-years-old. He we named the Orlando Magic’s general manager in 2012 and they have stuck with him ever since.
McDonough will join the Phoenix Suns after three years as assistant general manager for the Boston Celtics. The newly appointed executive worked his way up after joining the Celtics as a special assistant to basketball operations at 23-years-old. The Suns may have brought in a young guy, but this guy happens to have a lot of experience in an NBA front office.
The Phoenix Suns are coming off their second worst record in franchise history, so it can’t be all that bad when they have a 33-year-old GM hired and ready to add some life to the organization.
They fired Lance Blanks on April 22nd and have now found themselves a man who was involved in two NBA title runs with the Celtics, including a championship in 2008.
Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby released a statement about their newest employee and he looks to be very excited to have McDonough come aboard.
“Ryan distinguished himself among an impressive group of candidates for our GM position,” he said. “His natural leadership and communication skills will serve the Suns well.”
Now with a leader in the office they can focus on finding a leader for the court. Once the NBA playoffs are over, players will start varying their options and the Suns will do the same as they look to rebound after a terrible season in 2013 with their new 33-year-old GM hired and ready to go.