Tag: Les Alexander

Former Rockets CEO Tad Brown joins Daryl Morey with 76ers

As a condition of former owner Les Alexander’s sale to Tilman Fertitta, Brown and Morey will reportedly still be paid by the Rockets.

Former Rockets CEO Tad Brown will take over as CEO of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, effective Aug. 3. Brown chose to leave Houston at the end of the 2020-21 season.

Brown spent nearly 20 years with the Rockets and was in the CEO role since October 2006, making him one of the franchise’s longest-tenured executives. With the 76ers, he will join an executive leadership team that also includes former Rockets general manager Daryl Morey — who is now the president of basketball operations in Philadelphia.

In 13 years together in Houston, Brown and Morey oversaw a 640-400 (.615) record, which was second-best in the NBA during that time.

Morey and Brown had each cited family reasons as among factors potentially pushing them towards an East Coast job. Per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, there was a bonus financial incentive, too:

The Rockets’ agreement with Morey, Brown and others that were part of sale when the team was sold to Tilman Fertitta in 2017 gave five-year guaranteed contract extensions in which they will get paid by the Rockets, even after taking positions with other organizations, a person with knowledge of the agreements said. That could have worked to provide incentives to leave the team during that five-year period.

Gretchen Sheirr is effectively replacing Brown in Houston, though her formal title is president of basketball operations, rather than CEO. Sheirr had most recently worked alongside Brown as chief operating officer.

Rafael Stone, who was Morey’s No. 2 executive in basketball operations during recent years, took over the general manager role last fall.

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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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