Great players who became great executives

As depicted in the movie "Moneyball," Bille Beane entered the 1980 Major League Baseball Draft a promising prospect with first-round talent who fell to the New York Mets at selection No. 23 overall, in part because of fears he'd play football at Stanford, as Bleacher Report's Gean May wrote. Beane's unquestionable athletic gifts failed to translate in the pro game, however, and he appeared in only 148 MLB contests from 1984 through 1989. He's better known as the architect of the Oakland Athletics teams that made the playoffs every year from 2000 through 2003 and as the general manager who changed how many executives, managers and even fans view players. In December 2009, Dick Friedman of Sports Illustrated lauded Beane as one of the decades top GMs/execs of the decade: "The A's made a lot of noise and went as far as their small-market budget could take them; inevitably, the stars were dispersed to the richer clubs — the same way Beane's notions have been disseminated to front offices everywhere."

The main reason fans of the Boston Celtics believe the club can survive losing Kyrie Irving to free agency, if that occurs in the summer of 2019, is because Danny Ainge is still leading the charge as president of basketball operations. A one-time All-Star and two-time champion as a player , Ainge famously joined Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen with Paul Pierce to form a "big three" who directed the Celtics to the 2008 NBA title and helped Ainge win Executive of the Year . Trading for Irving, who wished to depart the Cleveland Cavaliers after the 2017 NBA Finals, may not have worked as hoped, but it was yet another brilliant transaction completed by one of the best minds in the Association. 

Say whatever you will about John Elway's inability to locate and draft the next franchise quarterback for the Denver Broncos since becoming general manager and president of football operations in 2011 . The greatest player in Broncos history who won a pair of titles as a signal-caller, acquiring Peyton Manning in 2012 will forever be remembered as one of the wisest signings of the decade. From 2012 through 2015, the Broncos made the playoffs each season, they played in two Super Bowl contests and won the title in February 2016. 

Wayne Embry was a five-time All-Star during his playing days , but one could easily argue he's made more of an impact on the Association as an executive. He became the NBA's first African-American general manager when the Milwaukee Bucks appointed him in 1971, per the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and the Cleveland Cavaliers made him the league's first African-American team president in 1994 after he originally joined that franchise in 1985. Under Embry, the Cavs, laughingstocks for much of their NBA tenure that began in 1970, made nine playoff appearances, and he won Executive of the Year in 1992 and 1998. He's currently an adviser for the Toronto Raptors. 

Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman, named one of the greatest 100 players in NHL history in 2017 , has continued his successful hockey journey as an executive. The three-time Stanley Cup winner earned a fourth ring with the Detroit Red Wings in the spring of 2008, and he built the Tampa Bay Lightning into playoff mainstays and a one-time conference champion from 2010 through September 2018. Yzerman is now back with the Red Wings as the team's general manager and executive vice president. 

Larry Bird has made history throughout his career in professional basketball. Arguably the game's greatest ever shooter before Stephen Curry "broke" the NBA in the 2010s, Bird won three rings, three regular season MVP awards and NBA Finals MVP twice. The Indiana Pacers appointed Larry Legend president of basketball operations in 2003, as A.J. Perez of USA Today explained, and he was named Executive of the Year for the 2011-12 season. According to the NBA, he's the only man in history to win Executive of the Year, MVP and Coach of the Year. 

Hank Greenberg won the World Series and the MVP Award twice during his Hall of Fame career , and the Detroit Tigers slugger led the league in home runs four times, from 1935 through 1946. As Scott Ferkovich of the Society for American Baseball Research wrote, Greenberg accepted a role in the Cleveland Indians front office in 1948, the same year the Tribe won the World Series. With Greenberg as general manager, the Indians won 111 regular-season games in 1954, but Cleveland ultimately fell to the New York Giants after " The Catch." 

As a member of the Philadelphia Eagle secondary, Troy Vincent earned Pro Bowl nods every year from 1999 through 2003, and he was a First-Team All-Pro in 2002. The 2002 Walter Payton Man of the Year has served as NFL executive vice president of football operations since March 2014, and, according to Joseph Santoliquito of Philly Voice , he answers only to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. From Santoliquito: "On Sundays, Vincent is the NFL’s football czar, with the help of his former Eagles’ teammate Jon Runyan, responsible for game-day operations. It encompasses everything from uniform violation, field conditions, weather, to the flow of the game, to hits on defenseless players, roughing the passer, to the equipment that players are wearing, to what the bubble looks like involving fan protection/fan conduct, to facility security, to working with network partners from the NFL hub in Manhattan."

While one-time All-Star goaltender Ron Hextall never lifted the Stanley Cup as a player, he won the Conn Smythe as a rookie netminder for his efforts in the 1987 Final. Fifteen years later Hextall earned a ring as Los Angeles Kings assistant general manager. Unfortunately, his return to the Philadephia Flyers in July 2013 included no such happy ending. Named the team's general manager in 2014, the Flyers showed him the door in November 2018, as Chase Kell of Yahoo Sports wrote. 

In April 2018, Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus examined Mitch Kupchak's roller coaster run as general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers that spanned from 2000 through February 2017. Under Kupchak, who was named to the 1976-77 All-Rookie team and who won titles as a player with the Washington Bullets and the Lakers, Los Angeles made six trips to the Finals and finished on top four times. If nothing else, Kupchak left no doubt he wasn't afraid to take risks and even mortgage the future in attempts to surround Kobe Bryant with championship talent. 

Fans of the Kansas City Royals remember George Brett as a 13-time All-Star who earned American League MVP in 1980 and was part of the '85 KC roster that won the World Series. Others may recall a certain incident involving pine tar when hearing or reading Brett's name. According to the Royals , the Hall of Famer is in the middle of his 26th season as the club's vice president of baseball operations. The Royals lost the 2014 World Series to the San Francisco Giants, but K.C. downed the New York Mets in the subsequent Fall Classic to earn Brett another ring. 

Jim Finks isn't the most accomplished former player in the list. He did, however, share the NFL lead in passing touchdowns with Otto Graham during the 1952 season, and Finks finished the '55 campaign first in completions, passing yards and total offense. His legacy stems from his work as an executive, though, as he built the famed "Purple People Eaters" of the Minnesota Vikings before joining the Chicago Bears in 1974, per the Pro Football Hall of Fame . While he was no longer with the franchise when the 15-1 Bears won Super Bowl XX, his thumbprint was noticeable on both sides of the ball. He moved on to the New Orleans Saints in 1986, where he helped that franchise earn its first playoff berth in just two seasons on the job.

In February 2019, Tiago Fonseca of Sir Charles in Charge  asked if Vlade Divac is now a good general manager. It's a fair question regarding the big man remembered for his stints with the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings. Promoted by the Kings to general manager and vice president of basketball operations in 2015, Divac and his staff have added stars such as Buddy Hield, De'Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley, and the Kings appear to be heading in the right direction with a strong foundation. 

Brendan Shanahan has been a polarizing figure both as a player and executive. Still the only man in NHL history to accumulate at least 600 goals and a minimum of 2,000 penalty minutes, according to NHL.com, Shanahan has held multiple league executive rules after his retirement. As explained by CBC Sports, Shanahan worked as vice president of hockey and business development, and Jeff Z. Klein of The New York Times praised him for his efforts to make the league safer as its "chief disciplinarian." Shanahan became president of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the spring of 2014, and he signed a six-year extension with the club, per the AP (h/t USA Today), in May 2019.

Misfortune struck Geoff Petrie multiple times as a player and executive. The 1971 Rookie of the Year named to a pair of All-Star squads played in only six seasons before lingering knee problems prematurely ended his career. He left the Portland Trail Blazers front office to become president of basketball operations with the Sacramento Kings in 1994, per Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune, and his Kings may have won the 2002 NBA Finals if not for some curious calls made by the referees during Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. While he earned NBA Executive of the Year honors for 1999 and 2001, Petrie never earned a ring with the club, and the Kings allowed his contract to expire in June 2013.

Dan Holmes of Baseball Egg wrote Eddie Collins was "the greatest second baseman of the Deadball Era," and the member of the 1919 Chicago White Sox not implicated as one of the "Black Sox" who threw the World Series is, per the National Baseball Hall of Fame, "one of only four players in modern baseball history with more than 500 steals and a .400 on-base percentage." After retiring as a player, Collins became Boston Red Sox general manager in 1933, and he eventually constructed a roster that journeyed all the way to the 1946 World Series, which Boston lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. It was the closest the Red Sox would get to winning a title until 1967. 

Football fans not around in the 1920s who know the basics about the franchise that became the Chicago Bears may not be aware George Halas, the club's founder, is part of the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team, per Pro-Football-Reference. "Mr. Everything," named the fourth greatest coach in league history by ESPN in 2013, wore every hat possible while running the Bears. He played. He coached. He managed the organization's financial business. As explained by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Halas was one of the men responsible for the formation of the league ultimately renamed the NFL. 

It's hardly a surprise Yao Ming's impact on professional basketball is felt around the globe. The eight-time All-Star named All-NBA on five occasions "was a cultural and physical phenomenon," as described by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and the 7-footer was elected into the Hall in 2016. According to Reuters (h/t ESPN), he stepped in to buy the Shanghai Sharks, his former club in China, in 2009 to keep the franchise afloat. Per the Associated Press (h/t NBA.com), the Chinese Basketball Association appointed him the league's president in February 2017.

Joe Torre's Major League Baseball accomplishments are so many that it's easy for some to fly under the radar. The nine-time All-Star won National League MVP in 1971, the same year he earned the NL batting title, and he won Gold Glove as a catcher in 1965. Younger fans know him mostly as the manager of the dynastic New York Yankees that won the World Series four times between 1996 and 2000. No longer affiliated with a single club, Torre is MLB's Chief Baseball Officer, tasked with, among other things, improving relationships between umpires and teams. 

Joe Dumars was the top defensive player on the "Bad Boys" Detroit Pistons that won back-to-back NBA titles in 1989 and 1990, and he was named MVP of the 1989 NBA Finals. The Hall of Famer served as the franchise's president of basketball operations from 2000 through April 2014, per the club's official website, and he was named NBA Executive of the Year for the 2002-2003 season. The Pistons won the 2004 NBA Finals, lost the 2005 Finals to the San Antonio Spurs and played in the Eastern Conference Finals in each of the following three years. 

Hall of Fame winger Cam Neely is widely respected as one of the toughest players of his generation who, per the Associated Press (h/t Seattle Times), once returned to the ice after losing part of his pinky during a game. Serving as team president for the Boston Bruins is much easier on the body. Appointed club vice president in 2007, Neely lifted the Stanley Cup won by the Bruins in the spring of 2011, and Boston returned to the Final in 2019.

As mentioned in his Baltimore Ravens biography, Hall of Fame tight end Ozzie Newsome began his off-the-field career with the Cleveland Browns in 1991, and he followed the franchise to Baltimore in 1996 before becoming the league's first African-American  general manager in 2002. Newsome earned a pair of championship rings with the Ravens for the team's victories in Super Bowl XXXV and Super Bowl XLVII before moving to an executive vice president role following the 2018 campaign. This past January, The Ringer's Danny Heifetz named Newsome "the most important GM of his generation." 

As Joe Posnanski of MLB.com wrote, Nolan Ryan, one of the most feared hurlers in the history of the game, possesses multiple seemingly unbreakable records. The Texas Rangers named Ryan team president in February 2008, per SportsDay's Evan Grant , and he became a minority owner in 2010. With Ryan as an executive, the Rangers made their first World Series appearance and played in the Fall Classic in both 2010 and 2011. After he and the Rangers parted ways in 2013, the Houston Astros named him an executive adviser in 2014. Houston won its first World Series in 2017.

Mario Lemieux sits eighth among the NHL all-time leaders in career points, seven spots below Wayne Gretzky, but the current Pittsburgh Penguins owner is a better executive than The Great One, who served as head of hockey operations for the Phoenix Coyotes before that franchise went bankrupt in 2009, per the Associated Press (h/t CBC). As ESPN's Elizabeth Merrill wrote in 2007, Lemieux worked to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh and avoid the franchise relocating to Kansas City. The Pens won the Stanley Cup three times between 2009 and 2017. 

Back in 2017, TNT analyst David Aldridge named Los Angeles Lakers icon Jerry West second in his all-time general manager rankings, writing "no one in the history of the league has been as great a player and exec as The Logo." The Hall-of-Fame point guard and 14-time All-Star is credited with building a sound structure for the "Showtime Lakers" in the early 1980s, and he won his second Executive of the Year award for the 2003-04 campaign while guiding the Memphis Grizzlies to their first postseason appearance. The 81-year-old is a "special consultant " with the Los Angeles Clippers as of June 2019.