Former NBA All-Star Shareef Abdur-Rahim will take over as president of the G League next month, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The move will become official January 11 as he replaces Malcolm Turner, who has been hired as the new athletic director at Vanderbilt, adds Adam Johnson of Two Ways and 10 Days (Twitter link).
G League officials confirmed the move this morning (Twitter link), with Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum explaining why Abdur-Rahim was selected.
“Shareef’s unique experiences as a player, team executive and member of the NBA’s Basketball Operations Department make him a fantastic fit to be the next president of the NBA G League,” Tatum said. “He is well prepared to build on the tremendous progress that the NBA G League has made under Malcolm, who deftly oversaw a pivotal period of expansion and transition. We thank Malcolm for his lasting contributions to the NBA and the NBA G League and wish him the best at Vanderbilt.”
Abdur-Rahim played 12 NBA seasons with the Grizzlies, Hawks, Trail Blazers and Kings before retiring in 2008. He was an assistant coach in Sacramento for two seasons and was promoted to an assistant GM role. In 2013, Abdur-Rahim became GM of the G League Reno Bighorns and later joined the NBA league office as VP of basketball operations.
Maybe he can get Big Country Reeves to be his Veep. ;-)
He was an unbelievable player, shame injuries ended his career way too soon, on his day he became the youngest ever player to reach 5,000 points… sooo good. Wish him the best.
No playoff starts. Perfect ex-jock prez for the Big3.