ROB HENNIGAN
Title: General manager, Orlando Magic
Career path: Emerson College graduate landed an internship with the San Antonio Spurs in the 2004-05 season; joined the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008 as assistant general manager; hired by the Magic in 2012
Only 32 years old, Rob Hennigan is the NBA’s youngest general manager, but he calls his rocket ship ride to management “just dumb luck.”
Prior to joining the Orlando Magic as general manager in 2012, Hennigan spent eight years working for two of the NBA’s most successful teams in the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder. He fell under the tutelage of highly regarded executive Sam Presti, who was assistant general manager at the Spurs before joining the Thunder as general manager.
A Worcester, Mass., native, Hennigan earned a broadcast journalism degree from Emerson College in 2004 where he was a Division III All-American on the basketball team and finished his career as the school’s all-time leading scorer.
 |
| Photo by: Fernando Medina / Orlando Magic |
“I was a shooting guard/ball hog,” he said.
As Hennigan’s “dumb luck” would have it, Presti, who is five years older than Hennigan, also played for Emerson College and both played for the same coach in Hank Smith. When Presti approached Smith to recommend someone for an internship, Hennigan got the call.
“My interest and passion was in journalism and I wanted to be a reporter,” Hennigan said.
The Spurs internship led to a series of jobs under general
{podcast}
SBJ Podcast:
NBA writer John Lombardo and Assistant Managing Editor Tom Stinson discuss how the Cavs are handling LeBron James' return from a business perspective, as well as how the NBA's new breed of GM could change the game.
manager R.C. Buford and Presti, and then Hennigan followed Presti to Oklahoma City. “Sam and R.C. have been my biggest mentors and guys I still look up to,” Hennigan said.
It’s Hennigan’s NBA pedigree that convinced the Magic’s top brass in the summer of 2012 to hire the relatively unproven Hennigan to replace Otis Smith.
“What attracted us was the style he grew up in,” said Magic CEO Alex Martins. “He brings a very process-driven approach. Rob’s gone about his job in a very even-keeled approach to making personnel decisions. For me, the age is a non-factor.”
In Orlando, he’s tasked with improving on last year’s 23-59 record by overhauling the team’s roster through trades and free agent spending, including giving Channing Frye a four-year, $32 million deal while releasing veteran players to free up cap space.
The approach in Orlando is rooted in what Hennigan learned in San Antonio and Oklahoma City, two of the NBA’s smallest, yet consistently successful, markets.
“Be disciplined and stay rooted in your principles as it relates to managing strategies, and create an environment of inclusion and collaboration,” Hennigan said.
