According to Ryan Young of Yahoo! Sports on Monday, the Charlotte Hornets will have a new general manager soon. That is because Hornets general manager and president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak of Brentwood, New York has agreed to resign from his position and will move to an advisory role once his previous positions have been filled.
Kupchak is 69 years of age, and has been the man in charge of making player personnel decisions with the Hornets since 2018. The 2018 draft did not go well for Kupchak. The Hornets did draft Canadian superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto, Ontario with the 11th overall pick. He was then traded to the Los Angeles Clippers for Miles Bridges of Flint, Michigan. Gilgeous-Alexander is a two-time NBA All-Star, leads the NBA with 2.2 steals per game and 1617 points this season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and is the reigning Northern Star Award winner (best Canadian athlete of the year). Bridges has been facing legal issues, and as a result missed the entire 2022-23 season.
With the Hornets, Kupchak did have a great deal of success. The Hornets have not made the playoffs in the five seasons when he has been in control. This season they are only at 12 wins and 41 losses.
Kupchak’s most success came with the Lakers. He was the assistant general manager with the Lakers from 1986 to 2000. In that time while working under Jerry West, the Lakers won the NBA Finals thrice in 1987, 1988 and 2000. Kupchak then won the NBA Finals four times as the Lakers general manager in 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010. It should be noted that Kupchak never always got along with Kobe Bryant, who at times requested Kupchak be fired.
