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Meet the GMs: Pete D’Alessandro

PETE D’ALESSANDRO
Title: General manager, Sacramento Kings
Career path: Student video coordinator at St. John’s University; earned law degree and worked as political campaign manager; entered sports industry in 1997 working for Professional Management Associates; hired by Golden State Warriors in 2004; joined Denver Nuggets in 2009; hired by Kings in 2013.

Pete D’Alessandro has been a criminal defense attorney, ran a successful congressional campaign, worked as a player agent, and was even a student basketball video coordinator at St. John’s University under legendary coach Lou Carnesecca.

It’s an unconventional path to the general manager’s office, but the 46-year-old affable executive draws on his varied background as he tries to rebuild the Sacramento Kings, a team that has missed the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons.

“As a GM, all those things come into play,” D’Alessandro said. “We are in an arena partnership with the

Photo by: NBAE / Getty Images
Sacramento community and I do think my political experience helps. My agent background really helps.”

So does a big dose of perspective gained by D’Alessandro after he chose to pursue his dream of working in sports and ditched his political and legal career. He had just served as campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Rick Lazio’s 1996 successful re-election bid in New York.

It was a humble start. D’Alessandro’s first job in sports was answering phones for Bill Pollack’s Professional Management Associates agency in Washington, D.C. It also was a huge pay cut. Though D’Alessandro had been admitted to the New York State Bar, he worked as a part-time paralegal and lived in a group house to meet expenses. “I was embarrassed to tell the law firm I was an attorney,” he said. “I was 29 years old and needed to pay my bills.”

The risk paid off for D’Alessandro, as PMA

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eventually allowed him to represent players. In 2004, the Golden State Warriors hired him as a consultant, where he drew upon his skills as an agent navigating labor agreements and the salary cap.

D’Alessandro was working for the Denver Nuggets in 2013 as executive vice president of basketball operations when new Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé hired him to replace Geoff Petrie as general manager. It was a bold move by Ranadivé, who passed up hiring a “big name” executive in favor of D’Alessandro in part because he fit the Kings’ approach to rebuilding the franchise.

“Pete takes on a global view of the business and the franchise as a whole,” said Kings President Chris Granger. “He is interested in the business side. He understands how important our partners are in the success of the franchise, and he is as aggressive as I’ve ever seen on the community side.”

While rebuilding the Kings into a playoff team is job one for D’Alessandro, not a day goes by when he isn’t involved in other areas of the franchise.

“Every time we talk to the media, we reach out to fans, and that is a big part of what I have to do,” he said. “You can go a whole day without focusing on basketball and I am very conscious of that.”

His management style is based on hiring people who bring broad perspectives to the organization.

“I never want to be a person who sits in this chair and fills roles with people like me,” D’Alessandro said.

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