Rich Cho Becomes The First Asian American General Manager In NBA History

Wednesday, July 21, 2010



Is it just me or are we really starting to come up in the NBA - even if just a little? I mean you have Erik Spoelstra who's coaching a dream team and now you have Rich Cho who's becoming the first Asian American NBA General Manager (not to mention the growing Jeremy Lin fanbase).

Hmmm...yeah - I think so.

New Trail Blazers general manager Rich Cho says while he's impressed with Portland's youth and depth, the team is still lacking the piece that will bring the city another championship. Cho, who spent nine seasons as an assistant general manager with the Oklahoma City Thunder, was introduced as the Blazers' GM on Monday. He replaces Kevin Pritchard, who helped usher the team out of the Jail Blazers era several years ago but was ultimately dismissed last month [...]

Cho interviewed with Blazers owner Paul Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, last week in Helsinki, Finland. Allen, still traveling in Europe, said in a statement: "Rich has depth of character, a foundation in business and legal matters and a knowledge of the game of NBA basketball that will help our team get even better. He is part of the new generation of NBA executives." With a law degree and also a background in engineering, Cho has gained a reputation for his expertise with the salary cap and the collective bargaining agreement. He's also got scouting experience.
To be called the new generation of NBA executives? And he's Asian American?

How slick is that?