Jim Stack is an American basketball executive and former player. He served as general manager of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

's Minnesota Timberwolves from July 9, 2004 to September 26, 2009. Prior to joining the Timberwolves' organization, Stack worked as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

and executive for the Chicago Bulls, an assistant coach for the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

and an advance scout for the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

Early life

Stack attended St. Laurence High School in Burbank, Illinois. He was a member of the school's basketball team, the Vikings, which won or tied for the

Chicago Catholic League The Chicago Catholic League (CCL) is a high school athletic conference based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. All of the schools are part of the Illinois High School Association, the governing body for Illinois scholastic sports. While some o ...

championship for four consecutive years from 1975 to 1978. The Vikings finished in fourth place in the 1977 IHSA Class AA Boys Basketball tournament. Stack, however, was unable to play in the Vikings' semi-final and third-place games, which were both losses, in that year's tournament due to an ankle injury he suffered during the team's quarterfinal victory. In the 19771978 season, the Vikings won their first 27 games before losing 4241 in the sectional round of the 1978 IHSA Class AA tournament to the also 27-0 and eventual state champions Lockport Township High School. Stack was named to the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's All-State second team as a senior in 1978. After graduating from high school, Stack played for Northwestern University. During his four years, he averaged 14.1 points-per-game and finished his career as the school's second all-time leading scorer with 1,583 points scored. Stack was selected as the team's MVP for his junior and senior years and helped the team advance to the second round of the

1983 National Invitation Tournament The 1983 National Invitation Tournament was the 1983 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. Selected teams Thirty-two teams accepted invitations to the tournament.

Professional career

Europe

Stack was a sixth-round selection of the

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

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, but ended up being one of the last cuts by the team that year. Stack then played overseas for a number of teams, including in Belgium where he played for

GSG Aarschot Gele Ster Gelrode Aarschot (in English: ''Yellow Star Gelrode Aarschot'') is a basketball club from the Belgian town of Aarschot. History The history of the club began in 1954 when Rimelago Basket Aarschot was founded. Initially Rimelago starte ...

in 19841985, averaging 27 points-per-game to finish third in the league in scoring, and

RAS Maccabi Brussels Royal Association Sportive Maccabi Brussels ( he, רויאל האיגוד הספורטיבי מכבי בריסל), founded in 1953, is a multi-sports club based in Brussels, Belgium with basketball, football, table tennis, volleyball teams. Bas ...

in 19851986.

Chicago Bulls

In 1988, Stack was offered a position as

with the Chicago Bulls by then General Manager

Jerry Krause Jerome Richard Krause (April 6, 1939 – March 21, 2017) was an American sports scout and executive who was the general manager of the Chicago Bulls in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1985 to 2003. His tenure with the B ...

, also serving as a special assistant to Krause. Stack's contract as a scout with the Bulls was extended by the team in 1989 after Phil Jackson was named the team's new head coach. Stack was promoted to Assistant Vice President of Basketball operations in 1996. Stack played a significant part in the formation of the Bulls as a powerhouse in the 1990s when the team won six NBA championships in eight seasons.

Indiana Pacers

In August 2000, Stack was hired by the

to serve as an assistant to head coach

Isiah Thomas Isiah Lord Thomas III (born April 30, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player and coach who is an analyst for ''NBA TV''. The 12-time NBA All-Star was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History as well as the 75 Grea ...

. Stack served as assistant coach for three seasons until Thomas was fired by the team in August 2003.

New York Knicks

Stack served as an advance scout for the

during the 20032004 season.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Stack was hired to be the general manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves in July 2004. Stack was given a contract extension by the team in 2005, but was demoted to scout in September 2009.

Personal life

Stack is the uncle of Frank Kaminsky who currently plays for the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

. Stack's sister Karen Stack Umlauf, who also played college basketball at Northwestern, began working for the Chicago Bulls in 1985 as an assistant for Jerry Krause and later the Senior Director of Basketball Administration for the team. She served as an assistant coach for the Bulls. In September 2004, Stack was convicted of

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

battery for his involvement in altercation with another man at a youth baseball game in Schaumburg, Illinois on July 4, 2004. Stack was sentenced to one-year court supervision and ordered to visit terminally ill children at a local hospital in December 2004 when the Timberwolves were scheduled to play the Bulls in Chicago.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stack, Jim Living people American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American basketball scouts Chicago Bulls scouts Houston Rockets draft picks Indiana Pacers assistant coaches Minnesota Timberwolves executives National Basketball Association executives National Basketball Association general managers New York Knicks scouts Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball players Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) American men's basketball players Forwards (basketball)