Donnie Walsh

Joseph Donald Walsh Jr., better known as Donnie Walsh (born March 1, 1941 in New York City) is a former professional basketball coach, and former president of basketball operations for the New York Knicks.

Biography

Walsh was born in Manhattan, then attended Fordham Preparatory School in The Bronx, New York. Walsh played college basketball at the University of North Carolina for coaches Frank McGuire and Dean Smith and was selected by the Philadelphia Warriors in the NBA draft, but never played in the NBA. Walsh earned both a bachelor's degree and a law degree at UNC. He turned down opportunities to practice law in order to coach basketball.^{[citation needed]}

Walsh served as an assistant coach for several college teams, including twelve seasons at the University of South Carolina, working with McGuire, who was the Gamecocks' head coach. From there Walsh was hired as an assistant with the Denver Nuggets by Larry Brown. He became the head coach of the Nuggets in 1979 and held the position for a year and a half, being replaced with Doug Moe in 1980. In 1984, he became an assistant with the Indiana Pacers.

He later took a position as general manager with the Pacers, where in 1987 he made the then-controversial decision to select Reggie Miller in the NBA Draft over local hero Steve Alford of Indiana University. The decision later proved to be prescient, as Miller had a magnificent NBA career whereas Alford was a bust in the pros. He was later promoted to the position of CEO and president and held that position until shortly before the end of the 2007–08 season. During Walsh's tenure the Pacers reached the playoffs in 16 of the previous 17 years heading into the 2006–07 season.

On April 2, 2008, the New York Knicks announced that Walsh had agreed to become their president of basketball operations.^[1] Walsh immediately recognized the expensive long-term contracts the Knicks carried, and traded Jamal Crawford for Al Harrington. That same day,^[when?] Walsh traded Mardy Collins and Zach Randolph for Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas. Though Mobley retired of a heart condition, his contract, as well as those of Harrington and Thomas, were contracts that expired at the end of the 2009–2010 NBA season, decreasing the Knicks' payroll by $27 million and giving them enough cap space to sign anyone notable from the heralded free agent class of 2010 which included NBA players such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amar'e Stoudemire, and Joe Johnson.

Walsh's first major signing came on July 8, 2010, when he signed Amar'e Stoudemire to a five-year, $100 million contract. In the 2010-2011 season, Walsh would make a multi-player trade involving star players Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups coming to the Knicks in exchange for a few players, including Raymond Felton and Danilo Gallinari, and disclosed amounts of cash.

References

1. ^ Howard Beck, Walsh Will Take Control of Knicks, New York Times, April 2, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/sports/basketball/02walsh.html.

External links

• Basketball-Reference.com: Donnie Walsh
• HoopsHype.com General Managers:Donnie Walsh
• indystar.com: Biography of Donnie Walsh
• ESPN.com: Source: Walsh will leave Indy after season to work for NYK

Preceded by Larry Brown	Denver Nuggets head coach 1979–1980	Succeeded by Doug Moe
Preceded by Isiah Thomas	New York Knicks President 2008–present	Succeeded by TBD

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Name	Walsh, Donnie
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Date of birth	March 1, 1941
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