Боб Уитсит: «Трейдер Боб» – NBA және NFL басшысының өмірі мен мансабы

American sports executive

Bob Whitsitt is a former sports executive in both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Football League (NFL). He has served as the general manager (or in an equivalent role) for three teams: the Seattle SuperSonics and Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA, and the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL. Whitsitt, commonly known as "Trader Bob" for his penchant for making blockbuster deals, has met with mixed success in both leagues.

He was hailed as the architect of the 1995 1996 Sonics team that went to the NBA Finals (and lost to the Chicago Bulls); several years before that Whitsitt shocked many observers by drafting Shawn Kemp, a promising player who had never played a game of college ball. At the end of the 1993–94 NBA season, he was awarded the NBA Executive of the Year Award after the SuperSonics went from 55 to 27 (and third in the Western Conference) the previous season to a 63–19 record and the number 1 seed in the Western Conference. However, after a falling out with then Sonics owner Barry Ackerley, Whitsitt resigned his position with the Sonics in 1994 and took an equivalent job with the Portland Trail Blazers, owned by Paul Allen. In the eight seasons he was the general manager of the SuperSonics, the team had a total record of 377–279.

Several years after hiring Whitsitt to run the Trail Blazers; Paul Allen gave him a second role as president of the Seattle Seahawks in 1997. Whitsitt is a self proclaimed "basketball guy", being more knowledgeable about basketball than about football; for this reason his role with the Seahawks was primarily involved with business management. Decisions on players were generally left to others, until after his resignation in 2003 as GM of the Trail Blazers, when he installed himself as the ultimate decision maker of personnel in the Seahawks organization. This caused much friction due to his poor decision making and basketball background making him poorly suited as an NFL GM, especially with coach Mike Holmgren over the possibility of letting Matt Hasselbeck leave the team for free agency. The powerplay is generally viewed as the catalyst that ultimately lead to his firing after the 2004 season. While president of the Seahawks, Whitsitt oversaw three major changes to the team. First, he helped negotiate the development of CenturyLink Field, the stadium the team plays its home games in (this facility replaced the aging Kingdome). Second, Whitsitt hired Mike Holmgren (formerly of the Green Bay Packers as coach of the Seahawks (and later as general manager), and third, the team moved from the American Football Conference (where it played from 1977 to 2001) back to the National Football Conference (where they played in their inaugural season of 1976) in 2002. In 2004, Whitsitt was diagnosed with a growth on his colon (which was surgically removed); he made a full recovery. After the 2004–2005 season, in a move which has been widely praised by both the Portland and Seattle sports media, Whitsitt was suddenly (and unexpectedly) fired as president of the Seahawks after losing a power struggle with Holmgren; he was replaced in that position by Tim Ruskell. The move paid dividends, as the following year the Seahawks won the NFC championship, advancing to Super Bowl XL.

Whitsitt and his wife now run a business consulting practice in the Seattle area.