Jim Stack 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 and former player. He served as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the NBA's

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

from July 9, 2004 to September 26, 2009. Prior to joining the Timberwolves' organization, Stack worked as a scout and executive for the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

, an

assistant coach A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the Hun ...

for the Indiana Pacers and an advance scout for the New York Knicks.

Early life

Stack attended

St. Laurence High School St. Laurence High School is a co-educational, STEM-based high school founded in 1961. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, the school is conducted by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and is named for the Irish Saint Lauren ...

Burbank, Illinois Burbank is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 29,439 at the 2020 census. It is located at the southwest edge of the city of Chicago; the Chicago city limit – specifically that of the Ashburn neighborhood &n ...

. He was a member of the school's basketball team, the Vikings, which won or tied for the Chicago Catholic League 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 Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. 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 In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

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 in

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 TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

, 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 in 19841985, averaging 27 points-per-game to finish third in the league in scoring, and RAS Maccabi Brussels in 19851986.

Chicago Bulls

In 1988, Stack was offered a position as scout with the

by then

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Jerry Krause, 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 Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive. A power forward, Jackson played 12 seasons in the NBA, winning NBA championships with the New York Knicks in 1970 and ...

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 The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is aw ...

in eight seasons.

Indiana Pacers

In August 2000, Stack was hired by the Indiana Pacers to serve as an assistant to head coach Isiah Thomas. 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 New York Knicks during the 20032004 season.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Stack was hired to be the general manager of the

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 Francis Stanley Kaminsky III (born April 4, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Wisconsin Badgers. During his college basket ...

who currently plays for the NBA's Phoenix Suns. 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

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

for his involvement in altercation with another man at a youth baseball game in

Schaumburg, Illinois Schaumburg ( ) is a village mostly in Cook County and partly in DuPage County in northeastern Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 78,723. Schaumburg is around northwest of the Chicago Loop and northwest of O'Hare ...

on July 4, 2004. Stack was sentenced to one-year court supervision and ordered to visit

terminally ill Terminal illness or end-stage disease is a disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and is expected to result in the death of the patient. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as cancer, dementia or advanced h ...

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)