Billy Matthew King (born January 23, 1966) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

executive. He is the former general manager of the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The ...

and Philadelphia 76ers NBA teams, as well as former team president of the 76ers.

Early life and education

King grew up in Sterling, Virginia where he played basketball at Park View High School. Billy King, Duke Chronicle 1985-11-21

He received a scholarship to play at Duke University and wore jersey number 55. He was known primarily for his tough defense. In his senior season, he served as a captain of Duke's 1988 Final Four team and was named NABC National Defensive Player of The Year.

Post-playing career

King served as an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers for four seasons under Larry Brown. He joined the professional ranks after spending four seasons as an assistant at

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

under head coach Bob Bender. King also spent one year as a color analyst for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

's men's basketball coverage of the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in the Football Cham ...

. King then joined the Philadelphia 76ers on June 2, 1997, as vice president of basketball administration. On May 19, 1998, he was promoted to general manager, and on April 5, 2000, he signed a new contract to stay with the team for an extended term. On May 26, 2003, he was named president along with general manager. In 2005, King and other individuals became prominent investors in a

Foxwoods Resort Casino Foxwoods Resort Casino is a hotel and casino complex owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation on their reservation located in Ledyard, Connecticut. Including six casinos, the resort covers an area of . The casinos have more th ...

proposed for

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, Pennsylvania. In September 2008, facing massive opposition at the originally proposed waterfront location, backers for the slots casino decided to seek a new location in the Center City area, next to Philadelphia's Chinatown community. As of January 2009, the casino did not have a building permit. On December 4, 2007, the 76ers replaced King with former

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

general manager Ed Stefanski. On July 14, 2010, King was hired as a general manager for the New Jersey Nets, replacing former Nets president and general manager

Rod Thorn Rodney King Thorn (born May 23, 1941) is an American basketball executive and a former professional player and coach, Olympic Committee Chairman, with a career spanning over 50 years. In 2018, Thorn was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Baske ...

. As general manager of the Nets, King's legacy in the NBA was hurt by a series of oft-criticized trades that were deemed among the "worst in league history". On January 10, 2016, it was announced that the Nets had reassigned King. His position would be replaced by former NBA player and

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

assistant general manager Sean Marks. On October 2, 2019, it was announced that King was joining the morning sport talk radio show on 94 WIP in Philadelphia. On March 28, 2022, Billy King was hired by Modern Executive Solutions as a Senior Partner Head of Sports and Entertainment.

Personal life

King married the former Melanie Lynn Frantz on August 27, 2005. They have three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Billy 1966 births Living people African-American basketball players African-American sports executives and administrators American men's basketball players American sports executives and administrators Basketball players from Virginia Brooklyn Nets executives College basketball announcers in the United States Duke Blue Devils men's basketball players Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball coaches Indiana Pacers assistant coaches Medalists at the 1987 Summer Universiade National Basketball Association general managers Philadelphia 76ers executives People from Sterling, Virginia Universiade medalists in basketball Universiade silver medalists for the United States 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople