Whitsitt gone from Portland

Whitsitt to resign as Trail Blazers GM
'Trader Bob' to focus on Seattle Seahawks

05/07/2003

By KGW.com Staff and Wire Reports


PORTLAND - Portland Trail Blazer president and general manager Bob Whitsitt will resign after nine seasons with the team.

The Trail Blazers have confirmed Whitsitt will resign from the team, citing they want to reorganize the team management in a move to improve the image and leadership.

A statement released from the team Wednesday said they will fill Whitsitt's vacancy with two new people instead of one. The team already launched a national search for both a new general manager and a new president, recruiting for both positions separately.

“We mutually agreed this was the best thing for the team and the community,” team owner Paul Allen said in the prepared statement. “During Bob’s tenure we made the playoffs every year and averaged 50 wins each season. As we move forward, we are looking for new leadership that will be based in Portland, which we believe is important to the community and will be key to improving our relationship with the fans."

Allen added that he hopes fans will show patience and support in the transition process.

Whitsitt will stay with the Blazers until July 1, according to the Oregonian, and is expected to retain his position as president of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, a position he has held since 1997. Both the Trail Blazers and the Seahawks are owned by Microsoft pioneer Paul Allen.

Whitsitt may turn his entire focus on the Seattle Seahawks, where he’s served as President for the past six seasons.

"After 25 years in the NBA, I am very grateful for all the experiences I've had including the last nine years with the Blazers," Whitsitt said in the prepared statement. "I've always loved basketball and working with the league, and now I'm really looking forward to the opportunities and challenges that will come with devoting myself to the Seahawks full-time."

The change follows a troubled season for the Blazers that ended when the team got bumped from the first-round of the playoffs for the third-straight year. A series of on-court and off-court problems plagued the team, which reached the playoffs for the 21st year in a row this season.

But the Blazers, despite having the highest payroll in the league, have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the past three seasons, twice by Los Angeles and this year by Dallas.

In addition, several Blazers have had scrapes with the law and with the NBA for disputes among themselves and with referees.

The team learned of the decision early Wednesday morning at the Tualatin practice facility. At that time, Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks was given a vote of confidence from team owner Paul Allen and is expected to help lead the search for Whitsitt's replacement.

At 46, Bob Whitsitt has just completed his eighth season as president and general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers, where he oversees all aspects of the club's basketball and business operations. Whitsitt, who got the nickname “Trader Bob” for the deals he made for Blazer players, joined the team in 1994, after winning NBA Executive of the Year the season before with the Seattle SuperSonics. He has made 19 trades since then.

Among his accomplishments at the Blazers' helm are an extension of Portland's playoff string to 20 consecutive seasons - the NBA's longest current run and second longest in all of sports - and a 376-248 record (.603).

Along the way, some of his deals backfired. He traded popular forward Brian Grant to Miami and got out-of-shape, unproductive Shawn Kemp from Cleveland in return. Kemp was an expensive disappointment and left the team to enter a drug-treatment program.

In an interview posted on the Trail Blazers Web site, Whitsitt said he loves the highs and lows of his job.

“I'm not doing this because it's a job I need to do to support my family. I'm doing it because it's a job I enjoy doing. I love working for the Blazers. I love giving it everything I have every day. I love the highs and the lows,” Whitsitt said.

“I obviously love the highs a little bit more," he added. "When I get to the point that I don't have that passion that I've had all these years for NBA basketball, or if I get to the point where it's too big a sacrifice for my family, or if I can't do it for health reasons, those will be the only reasons, of my choosing, that I would ever stop doing this job.”

Whitsitt runs or is part of dozens of Allen’s business ventures, including the Seahawks and Blazers. And he is still under a long-term contract with Allen that pays him several million dollars a year.

But according to Portland's KGW TV's sports director Colin Cowherd, it has become clear over the last several months that the Blazers want to relinquish many of Whitsitt’s duties in an effort to improve the team’s image.

Whitsitt and Allen are friends, according to Cowherd, and the resignation was a decision they made together.


The Associated Press contributed to this report.