Jay Bilas shares the story of when he was offered job as Rockets GM

Bilas flew to coastal California to Leslie Alexander’s home for a second interview, which is when he was effectively offered the job.

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Before the Houston Rockets hired Daryl Morey as general manager in 2007, it seems the initial preference of then-owner Leslie Alexander was for Jay Bilas. But the sides were unable to come to terms.

Bilas shared the story in a recent appearance on The Woj Pod with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Bilas said he flew to coastal California to Alexander’s home for a second interview, which is when he was told that Alexander wanted him to take the job as GM of the Rockets.

Regarding Alexander, here’s what Bilas recalled:

He looked at me and said, I’d like you to take the job. Do you want it?

I said, ‘Well, in the abstract, I do. But we haven’t talked terms yet.’ We had to talk terms before I could accept the job. He got a little quiet, and he said, ‘I’ll have my people do the negotiations with you.’ I wound up negotiating the rest of the way with his lawyers.

The Rockets ended up hiring the analytics-driven Morey, who had an extremely successful run over the next 13 years. So while there are certainly no regrets, the flirtation with Bilas is fascinating, in hindsight.

Bilas played college basketball at Duke (1982-1986) and professionally overseas (1986-1989). He then returned to Duke as an assistant coach in 1989 and began a broadcasting career with ESPN in 1995. In addition to covering college basketball as an analyst, he’s a key part of the network’s annual NBA draft coverage. Bilas is also a practicing lawyer.

Alexander ultimately sold the Rockets to current owner Tilman Fertitta during the NBA’s 2017 offseason.

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