For the second time, The Athletic is rolling out its NBA 40 under 40 list. Look around the league and you’ll see how many of its leading faces are successful at such a young age.
The Boston Celtics won the NBA title this season with 36-year-old Joe Mazzulla behind the bench. The NBA’s Coach of the Year was 39-year-old Mark Daigneault from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Four of the last six winners of the Executive of the Year award had been 40 or younger when they won the honors. Front offices seem to be getting younger, and there are a few head coaches in their mid-30s.
This list was compiled after much deliberation and many discussions with sources around the league. It is made up of front-office executives, coaches, league office officials, agents and staffers from the players’ union, as well as others in the NBA orbit. Media (to avoid navel-gazing), public relations officials and active players were excluded. To be eligible, any person considered had to be under 40 as of June. 1, 2024, when this list began to be compiled.
While the inaugural list had several bold-faced names around the league, this one has tried to highlight those who are up-and-coming. They might not be in a position of power yet, or have the final say in their organizations, but they might get to soon. Some you might know; others you should get to know. Some members of the 2022 list — who did not age out — did not make it again. They are no less deserving than the last time but made way for new names and new faces. Others made it back again as their careers continue to flourish.
Cutting the list to 40 was no small feat. The men and women who are on here are there for their intelligence, acumen, success, influence, promise and talent. And there is a lot of competition. While the age has an arbitrary cut-off, so does the number of people mentioned. It could have been much longer.
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(The list is presented in alphabetical order.)
Dotun Akinwale, 34, Charlotte Hornets assistant general manager
Akinwale came to the Hornets midway through the season as Jeff Peterson, the franchise’s new head of basketball ops, filled out his staff. Akinwale spent nine seasons in Atlanta, and left there as its vice president of player personnel. He’s now a part of the new braintrust in Charlotte, along with VPs Ryan Gisriel and Patrick Harrell, as the Hornets try to build out of an eight-year playoff drought. “He’s really, really good,” one opposing team’s top decision-maker said.
Brock Aller, 39, New York Knicks VP of basketball and strategic planning
Aller has been a key figure in the Knicks front office as it resurrected a long-stumbling franchise. New York has become one of the smarter organizations in the league since Leon Rose took over as president and Aller has been seen as a key reason behind some shrewd moves. Aller was with the Cleveland Cavaliers before his stint in New York. In Cleveland, he earned the admiration of then-GM David Griffin, who called Aller “a diabolical genius from a cap standpoint.”
Ariana Andonian, 29, Memphis Grizzlies director of player personnel
Andonian has made a steady ascent through the Grizzlies organization after taking a short sabbatical to get her MBA from Duke (she had started her career with the Houston Rockets). Those who worked with her rave about her attention to detail and scouting acumen.
Josh Bartelstein, 35, Phoenix Suns chief executive officer
Bartelstein is the highest-ranking hire made by Mat Ishbia since he took over the franchise last February. The son of high-powered agent Mark Bartelstein, Josh has made a name for himself around the league. He has already made an impact in Phoenix on the business side, helping the Suns become the first NBA team to move their local broadcast from a regional sports network to an over-the-air broadcast channel. He has taken to the job quickly after coming over from the Detroit Pistons last spring, where he served in a role that straddled the business and basketball sides of the franchise.
Kirk Berger, 34, National Basketball Players Association counsel
Berger is part of the NBPA’s small, but strong legal team. He operates as a jack-of-all-trades, including collective bargaining agreement negotiations and, perhaps most prominently, as a consigliere to the league’s player agents, who call him seeking advice in contract negotiations where Berger acts as a resource with his encyclopedic knowledge of the CBA and contracts leaguewide. Other agents still remember the help Berger offered in navigating the jock tax for their players. He has reportedly turned down offers in the past to join a team’s front office. He’s “really, really bright,” one front-office executive said.
Dave Bliss, 38, Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach
Bliss broke into the NBA when Thunder GM Sam Presti spotted him as a VCU grad assistant, but now he is the lead assistant in Oklahoma City after working his way to front of bench during his second stint with the franchise. He helped the Thunder put together a top-five defense last season, and nearly a top-10 one the year prior despite any rim protectors. With the Thunder set to be one of the best teams in the NBA for years to come, it wouldn’t be surprising if Bliss, deservedly, started getting attention as a potential head coach in the league.
Sam Burum, 35, NBPA deputy general counsel
Burum joined the union in 2022 and has amassed responsibility ever since he was hired from Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. Burum, a 6-foot-8 former Division III basketball player, was a part of the union’s CBA negotiations last year and has his hands in a little bit of everything the union’s legal team does. He was promoted this summer, under new executive director Andre Iguodala, and is now also involved with the NBPA’s dealings with the NBA and league operations.
Mark Daigneault, 39, Thunder head coach
Daigneault has established himself as one of the league’s best head coaches, even as he holds a sub.500 record over his four seasons on the sideline in Oklahoma City. He won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award this past season after finishing second the year before. He has implemented a unique style of play with the Thunder, and those who know speak well of his ability to connect with others and his EQ. LeBron James and JJ Redick are among his fans.
“He’s ridiculous,” Redick said. “He’s so good.”
“He’s on s—,” James responded. “He’s young, too.”
Mark Daigneault (Alonzo Adams / USA TODAY Sports)
Will Dawkins, 38, Washington Wizards general manager
Dawkins is a leading part of the braintrust trying to revitalize the Wizards organization. He took over as GM in 2023 after 15 seasons in Oklahoma City, taking a massive role under Monumental president Michael Winger. The Wizards have taken a long-term approach and Dawkins will try to get to the other side of it and obtain a long-term success the franchise has lacked, after having helped the Thunder in several ways, from talent evaluation to everything else. He and Winger were together in Oklahoma City and Dawkins stood out enough that Winger hired him when he landed in Washington last offseason.
“Will sort of stood out to me as a combination of extraordinary talent, passion for the game, an intellectual curiosity, a work ethic, and I just thought if there was ever a time in my future where I was lucky enough to be in a position to hire folks, Will would be one of the guys that I just want to work with him,” Winger said. Adding, “He’s a pusher. He’s a star.”
Ricki Dean, 34, NBPA senior director of player engagement
Dean is in her second stint with the players union. She spent six years at the NBPA before she left to go work for the Spurs in 2021. She returned to the NBPA the next year under former executive director Tamika Tremaglio. Dean works directly with players in a role that helps them achieve their ambitions off the court and, generally, as an arm of the NBPA accessible to players.
Mujtaba Elgoodah, 30, NBPA special adviser to the executive director
Elgoodah was one of Iguodala’s first hires when he came over to the NBPA last fall. They had gotten to know one another when Elgoodah worked for the Golden State Warriors while Iguodala played there. At the NBPA, Elgoodah works closely with Iguodala on operational decisions regarding the union as the former All-Star has restructured and changed the NBPA in that time. He also works with the NBPA’s engagement team to reach players on the union’s behalf.
Samantha Engelhardt, 35, NBA senior VP of global strategy & business operations
Engelhardt has been at the NBA’s league office for more than eight years and her climb through the organization has taken her to this new role. She was among the high-ranking executives who received a promotion this past winter as the NBA reorients itself in a new media and technology ecosystem. Engelhardt is now leading some of the innovation across the league’s business.
“Throughout her nearly 10 years at the NBA, Samantha has been at the forefront of countless priority projects and initiatives to support the league’s growth and innovation on a global scale,” NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said. “Samantha, who embodies all the qualities of a great colleague, has distinguished herself as a leader within the organization and couldn’t be more deserving of this recognition.”
Patrick Fertitta, 29, Fertitta Entertainment director
Fertitta’s official title hardly explains everything he does for the Rockets. He is involved in the franchise’s day-to-day operations, including on the basketball side working with general manager Rafael Stone as they continue to put the team on the ascent after several years in the lottery. Or as one league insider said of Fertitta, the son of owner Tilman Fertitta, “He’s got all the juice.”
David Fogel, 34, National Basketball Coaches Association executive director
Fogel oversees the NBA Coaches Association, which represents more than 200 active head and assistant coaches across the league, as well as alums. Fogel started there as a law clerk 11 years ago and does some of everything at the association, which advocates on behalf of the coaches to help with their work conditions, their salaries and some of their charitable endeavors.
Makar Gevorkian, 30, Brooklyn Nets VP of Basketball Operations Alignment & Strategic Planning
Gevorkian only joined the Nets organization in 2020; he began his professional career with a law degree from the University of Chicago and was an associate at two white-shoe law firms, only to join the Nets as a basketball operations assistant. He has since climbed the ranks in Brooklyn and was promoted this summer by general manager Sean Marks to a higher-ranking position in the front office running the Nets’ cap strategy planning, as the franchise navigates a new forward-looking path.
Jason Glushon, 39, president and founder Glushon Sports Management
Glushon has had a strong run in recent years, despite being one of the more prominent player agents in the league not attached to a large agency. Glushon worked for seven years at Wasserman before he left that agency to start one of his own in 2016. He represents Jaylen Brown, who signed what was then the largest deal in NBA history last summer, and Jrue Holiday, who signed a $135 million extension with the Celtics in April — along with two other members of the rotation on the Celtics’ title-winning team. Orlando Magic’s Franz Wagner, another client, signed a rookie max extension this offseason. Not bad for a former minor league baseball player who made it to Triple-A with the Oakland A’s organization before pivoting his career ambitions.
Jesse Gould, 37, Thunder VP of strategy and analysis
Gould is part of a large and talented Thunder front office but has earned a strong reputation around the league. The Stanford grad has spent 15 seasons in Oklahoma City, including four seasons overseeing its G League team, the Blue, and pro scouting. He’s now on the strategy team for a general manager, Sam Presti, who is always thinking ahead. “He’s a stud,” said an agent who does not represent Gould.
Bryson Graham, 37, New Orleans Pelicans general manager
Graham started as an intern with the Pelicans and has climbed nearly to the top of the basketball operations department. He was promoted to Pelicans GM this summer when Trajan Langdon took over in Detroit, working under EVP of basketball operations David Griffin. The Pelicans have drafted well over the years, an area where Graham has had a good deal of influence.
“Bryson has built a stellar reputation throughout the NBA,” Griffin said when he announced Graham’s promotion. “First and foremost, he is recognized for the strength of his character. His work ethic, basketball acumen, leadership ability and eye for talent have contributed immeasurably to our growth as a franchise.”
Drew Hanlen, 34, Puresweat CEO and basketball skills coach
Hanlen has emerged as one of the more connected people in the NBA thanks to the relationships he has developed and the impressive client list he has built. The former Belmont marksman — he shot 48.2 percent on 3s his senior year — works with Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Maxey and Tyrese Haliburton, among others, as a basketball trainer and sounding board. Hanlen has acquired a buy-in from them, honing their games and has found a way to be heard by some of the league’s biggest stars as he travels the country and drops in to help as needed.
Drew Hanlen (Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
Will Hardy, 36, Utah Jazz head coach
While placed into a long-term rebuild in his first time as a head coach, Hardy has shown he is more than able to handle the job. The Jazz have surprisingly put themselves into playoff contention during both of Hardy’s seasons in Utah, before the organization turned off the thrusters midseason. Hardy put together a top-10 offense in 2022-23, and Lauri Markkanen has flourished during his time playing for him. Hardy should continue to grow in the job as a young Jazz roster does alongside him. He has earned the respect of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, his former boss in San Antonio.
“He’s ridiculously intelligent and he’s a hard worker,” Popovich said of Hardy last year. “He started out at the bottom in the film room and it was pretty apparent very quickly that he understood everything that we coaches wanted.” He added, “He was a pretty impressive individual from the get-go. So I put him out on the court quickly with the guys and found that he commanded respect very quickly just by being himself and teaching.”
Lindsey Harding, 40, Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach
It’s been a busy spring and summer for Harding. She won the NBA G League Coach of the Year Award in April after leading the Stockton Kings to a league-best 24-10 record; she is the first woman to win that award. Harding interviewed for the Hornets head coaching job this spring. In July, left the Kings to take a job on the Lakers staff. It is just the latest sign of success for Harding after a sterling playing career, where she was the Naismith National Player of the Year at Duke, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft and a solid player during her professional career.
Mitch Johnson, 37, San Antonio Spurs assistant coach
Johnson has become one of the NBA’s more intriguing up-and-coming coaches. He reportedly interviewed for the Toronto Raptors head coaching job last offseason, and has been linked to others. A former point guard at Stanford, Johnson has spent eight seasons with the Spurs, with four of them on Gregg Popovich’s staff. The Spurs have been an incubator for NBA head coaches, but Johnson could also make sense as Popovich’s eventual successor when (if?) the legendary coach leaves the bench in San Antonio.
Charles Lee, 39, Charlotte Hornets head coach
Lee got a team of his own to run this spring after coming close several times in the past. The Hornets were not only willing to hire him, but waited more than a month for him as he finished off a title run on Joe Mazzulla’s staff in Boston. Lee has been an assistant on two championship teams, Milwaukee in 2021 and last season with the Celtics. He has a compelling story as a former college player at Bucknell who left a job on Wall Street to become a coach and work his way up.
“His tactical skills are great,” Jeff Peterson said. “He’s a champion. He’s won two championships. Which, obviously you can never, you know, there’s a premium on just being a winner, and he has that. And he’s just an amazing teacher and communicator. He’s going to do his best just to get everything he can out of each player.”
Dave Lewin, 37, Celtics assistant general manager
The Massachusetts native has grown up with the Celtics; this is going to be his 13th season with the organization. Lewin, having worked his way up from scouting coordinator, was part of the front office that helped build the new champions. Lewin has been a key part of the Celtics’ scouting apparatus — for instance, he helped point Brad Stevens to Sam Hauser ahead of the 2021 draft — and earned a promotion to his current job title when Stevens took over for Danny Ainge.
Joe Mazzulla, 36, Celtics head coach
Mazzulla was an unexpected pick to be the Celtics head coach when he took over in Sept. 2022 after the team suspended Ime Udoka, but Mazzulla has flourished. The Celtics have won 73.8 percent of their games with him in control and their run to a title this past season was one of the more statistically dominant in recent memory. He inherited a Celtics roster with talent, but Mazzulla has maximized the offense — Boston has finished second and first in offensive rating during his two seasons — and managed to assimilate two new core players this past season without an issue. He’s done it with personality and, occasionally, some out-of-the-box thinking.
“His brain is wired and it’s always on,” Celtics president Brad Stevens said last month. “He isn’t afraid to try things. He isn’t afraid to take a day and not do only basketball related things to make sure that maybe hits a chord with people… I think we all love that about him.”
Kyle McAlarney, 37, and Kieran Piller, 39, Priority Sports agents
McAlarney joined Priority in 2020, and was NBPA certified three years ago, but already works with two of the agency’s recent lottery picks, Zach Edey and Keegan Murray. He’s also hands-on with clients, and gets on the court with them while overseeing Priority’s player development program, a role befitting a former All-Big East guard at Notre Dame. Piller has been with Priority for a decade, with clients that include Herb Jones and Bobby Portis, and also holds considerable responsibilities internally at the company founded by super-agent Mark Bartelstein. The two have a long history together — they were college teammates with the Fighting Irish.
Stephen Mervis, 36, Orlando Magic VP of basketball strategy and evaluation
Mervis joined the Magic a decade ago as an assistant to then-general manager Rob Hennigan; today, he is a vital part of the team’s front office. During his time in Orlando, Mervis has climbed through the organization and now has roles in the scouting process and salary cap strategy. In 2020, he was part of the small team of employees that helped the Magic prepare and get through the bubble. Mervis has also helped grow the Tulane Professional Basketball Negotiation Competition as a mid-season retreat for NBA personnel, and an incubator for front office talent.
“He’s an unbelievable person to have on my team,” Pete D’Alessandro, the Magic’s executive VP of basketball operations, said at the time. “I just can’t say enough about the work he does and the care he takes in doing that work.”
Tori Miller, 33, Hawks VP of player personnel and basketball intelligence
Miller was the first woman to be a G League general manager and has kept climbing in the four years since then. She now holds an elevated role in the Hawks front office after it was reshuffled under GM Landry Fields. Miller started as an intern with the Suns and landed in Atlanta after she spent a season sending scouting reports to NBA teams hoping to land a job, before former Hawks executive Malik Rose brought her to the Hawks’ G League team, which marked the start of a seven-year run with the franchise.
Amber Nichols, 32, Wizards director of amateur evaluation
Nichols has gained a strong reputation in the league during her time with the Wizards. In 2021, she became just the second woman to run a G League team. Nichols has taken that job and run with it; the Go-Go have had a top-four record in the Eastern Conference in each of the last three seasons. She earned a promotion last month to a bigger role in the front office, a sign of how much she is respected by the new Wizards brass after the team let go of several others in the organization.
Amber Nichols (Stephen Gosling / NBAE via Getty Images)
Jeff Peterson, 35, Hornets executive VP of basketball operations
After four-plus seasons as a well-respected executive in Brooklyn, Peterson was hired to run his own team this winter. It was a job he had been building to. Peterson became an assistant general manager in Atlanta at 27, and was a sounding board for Nets GM Sean Marks in Brooklyn, and he kept notes on how he’d run his own team when he got the chance. Peterson has already put together a smart front office in Charlotte and his relationship with Hornets co-owner Rick Schnall goes back a decade when Peterson was in the Hawks front office and Schnall was a minority owner of the franchise.
“Finding Jeff and putting Jeff in this position is just a home run for this franchise,” Schnall said this spring after the Hornets hired him. He added, “Quite frankly it didn’t very long to figure out that Jeff was going to have a great career and be incredibly successful in this line of work or whatever he chose to do. He’s a special, special person.”
JJ Redick, 40, Los Angeles Lakers head coach
Redick was a well-known entity in the NBA before he landed on the sidelines in L.A. but he’ll be in the spotlight next season as he takes control of one of the league’s premier franchises. Redick got the Lakers job without any experience as a coach, which speaks to his basketball IQ and the respect he has earned across the sport, not only after 15 years in the NBA but with his smart media appearances and basketball podcast. He interviewed for the Raptors opening last offseason as well.
“It was just really important to us as we made this hire to find a head coach that could sit across the table from some of the smartest and best players in the world,” Lakers team president Rob Pelinka said in June. “This is the stage for those players to be able to relate to, coach, hold them accountable, lead them, inspire them. And we felt like JJ was very unique in holding all those qualities to do that.”
Matt Riccardi, 38, Dallas Mavericks assistant general manager
It took a while for Riccardi to get into the NBA — he told the Dallas Morning News he was rejected 89 times by NBA teams as he sought a job — but he has become a critical part of the Mavericks front office as they went to the NBA Finals this spring. Riccardi spent 13 seasons with the Brooklyn Nets, including three as their G League GM, before he jumped to Dallas, his hometown, in 2022. Riccardi has earned a reputation as a smart talent evaluator, dating back to his time in Brooklyn, and he’s now worked his way up the organizational chart under GM Nico Harrison.
“I had the opportunity to work with him in Brooklyn, and nothing’s changed,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s about getting better. He’s about helping the team. We’re lucky to have him.”
Onsi Saleh, 38, Hawks assistant general manager
Saleh came over to Atlanta this spring after starting his career with the Spurs and spending three years with the Warriors, where he was heavily involved with the team’s cap management. One Warriors executive said Saleh was their main strategy guy. He also served as a team counsel. Saleh worked as a judicial clerk and at the Louisiana Civil Justice Center before he entered the NBA.
“Onsi has played significant roles with two of the most well-respected organizations in the NBA,” Hawks GM Landry Fields said when Saleh was hired. “In addition to his experience and expertise, we are thrilled to add someone with our shared values to our leadership team.”
Mike Schmitz, 34, Portland Trail Blazers assistant general manager
Schmitz might be the only NBA front office member who took a smaller public profile by joining a team. He spent nearly a decade as one part of the duo that helped build DraftExpress from an independent site to one that took him to Yahoo! and then ESPN. He jumped straight from TV to the Blazers, where he is a vital part of their scouting operation.
“(I) always liked his eye for talent,” Blazers GM Joe Cronin said in 2022. “His motor was always super impressive. Just at every game all across the world, just constantly in the gym. And that’s so important to have that love and passion for the game. Scouting can be really difficult sometimes. It’s a ton of travel, it’s long days, and he just had this energy that I thought was really intriguing.”
Sean Sweeney, 40, Dallas Mavericks assistant coach
Sweeney has seen his public profile lifted up this spring after he was involved in several coaching searches — and a finalist in Detroit— but he had already been seen as one of the league’s best assistants before then. Sweeney is the coordinator behind Dallas’ stout defense and he has earned the trust of its star, Luka Dončić (he’s an assistant on the Slovenian national team). That’s after he worked closely with Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee.
“He’ll be a head coach soon,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd told the New York Post in June.
Jonathan Wallace, 38, Minnesota Timberwolves director of player personnel and Iowa Wolves GM
Wallace didn’t join an NBA front office until 2019, after he had completed a pro career in Europe and then a stint on staff at Georgetown, his alma mater. He spent three years with the Denver Nuggets and then followed Tim Connelly to Minnesota in 2022, where he has been at the helm of the Wolves’ G League team.
“Jon Wallace is a rising star in our industry,” Connelly said when he brought Wallace to Minnesota. “And he’s got a unique understanding of that league as an ex-player.”
Bobby Webster, 39, Toronto Raptors general manager
Webster has been the Raptors GM for seven years now, despite his youth, and has helped navigate the organization to an NBA title in that time. He is seen as one of the league’s brightest executives, even as he sits as the No. 2 in the Raptors organization behind vice chairman and team president Masai Ujiri. Webster worked at the league office as a collective bargaining agreement wonk before he came to Toronto. He is respected enough, and has been successful enough in Toronto, that he should get a chance to run his own team at some point. Ujiri said as much in 2019, after the Raptors’ first NBA title.
“He’s going to head a team, at some point,” Ujiri said years ago. “Hopefully he doesn’t overthrow me.”
Brandon Weems, 38, Cleveland Cavaliers assistant general manager
Weems joined the Cavaliers in 2015 as an amateur scout, after several years as a college assistant, and the hire made headlines because he was a friend and high school teammate of then-Cavs star LeBron James. But James left Cleveland in 2018 and Weems’ profile has kept growing. He was promoted to his current title in 2022 and he oversees the team’s scouting process.
Katelyn Cannella West, 38, NBA VP & assistant general counsel, player matters
West was a critical figure as the NBA negotiated its current collective bargaining agreement, playing an upfront role during talks with the NBPA and in shaping the league’s governing document that will guide it for the rest of this decade, including in writing it. She joined the NBA in 2018 after nearly three years at Skadden Arps, the white-shoe law firm, and has climbed the ranks at the league office.
“Katelyn is an indispensable member of our team who hits every mark – from standout leadership and execution, to skillful problem-solving, communication, and consensus-building,” NBA deputy general counsel Dan Rube said. “We’re especially grateful for the central role Katelyn played in negotiating and implementing the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement, which lays the foundation for the league’s continued growth.”
Ted Wu, 36, Indiana Pacers VP of basketball operations and cap management
Wu has been with the Pacers for four seasons, since the franchise hired him from the NBA’s league office. Wu was a part of the NBA’s salary cap management team and helped in the 2017 CBA negotiations. He’s taken that knowledge with him to Indianapolis, where he is an important part of the franchise’s strategy and team planning as the Pacers have rebuilt themselves on the fly, through shrewd trades for Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, and reached the Eastern Conference finals this past spring.
(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic. Photos: Getty; Mike Rasay / David Dow /NBAE, Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe, Rocky Widner /NBAE)
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