Rob Pelinka

Robert Todd Pelinka Jr. (born December 23, 1969) is an American basketball executive, lawyer, sports agent, and former college basketball player from Lake Bluff, Illinois (suburban Chicago). Pelinka is currently the vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Before joining the Lakers, he was Kobe Bryant's agent and president and CEO of The Landmark Sports Agency, LLC. Pelinka has represented many players who have been top-14 picks since the 2003 NBA draft, including two at the 2010 NBA draft and 2nd-overall 2011 NBA draft selection Derrick Williams. In the 2012 NBA draft, Pelinka represented Dion Waiters and Andre Drummond, who were selected 4th and 9th overall, respectively. Pelinka was formerly Kevin Durant's agent; he resigned as Carlos Boozer's agent following a controversy in which Boozer signed a contract with the Utah Jazz after allegedly promising to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Pelinka played basketball for Lake Forest High School, earning All-American honors. As a junior, he led Lake Forest High School to its first conference championship. Entering his senior season, Pelinka was overlooked by many Division I scouts and recruiters. However, his MVP performance in a four-game tournament, where he made all 42 of his free throws, and his impressive season statistics enabled him to become a highly recruited athlete by the end of his senior year. He was selected to several regional all-star lists and to play on several regional all-star teams as a senior.

He was recruited by the University of Michigan, where he has the distinction of being the only person in school history to have been a member of three National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Final Four teams: the 1988–89 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Champion Wolverines basketball team as well as both the 1991–92 and the 1992–93 national championship runners-up, which were best remembered as the Fab Five teams. Pelinka holds a Juris Doctor ''cum laude'' from the University of Michigan Law School (1996) and Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business (1993). Pelinka was also named the 1993 NCAA Male Walter Byers Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Early life

Pelinka is the son of Robert Todd Pelinka Sr., a former high school basketball coach who taught him the fundamentals of basketball.

High school career

Pelinka became a high school All-American basketball player at Lake Forest High School. Regarded as one of the best shooters in the Chicago area, along side teammate Coley Brannon. the junior led Lake Forest to their first conference championship as an all-conference guard. However, the team lost in the first round of postseason play in 1987. Pelinka also played in the Chicago pro-amateur leagues where he played against local stars such as Mark Aguirre, Tim Hardaway, Kevin Duckworth and Kendall Gill.

By his senior season, he was listed at , and moved to the point guard position from the shooting guard position in the absence of Douglass, who had graduated and joined future Big Ten opponent Wisconsin, as a starting point guard. As a senior, Pelinka was a preseason selection by the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' as one of the top 50 Chicago metropolitan area high school basketball players and top five North Suburban players. However, he was not a national preseason top 500 pick by ''Street & Smiths basketball magazine, which may have been because his senior season marked the first season that the three-point shot was adopted by state high school associations and Pelinka was mainly a shooter. Furthermore, scouts such as Chicago-based David Kaplan, who questioned his true height and dribbling ability, doubted whether he was talented enough to play for either of his targeted colleges (Michigan and Notre Dame) even in late December of his senior year despite his having had multiple 30- point efforts already.

During the four-game December 1987 Elgin tournament, in which he was named MVP, Pelinka made all 41 of his free throws and recorded a tournament record 139 points, including 45 in one game. Pelinka's streak of consecutive free throws made ended at 45, but later recounts showed he had 42 free throws in the tournament and 46 consecutive overall, which ranked fourth in Illinois high school basketball history at the time of his graduation. After his tournament performance, Pelinka responded through the press to a scout who felt he might be limited to Division II or mid-major programs such as William & Mary that since he was able to score 45 points against a player committed to play for DePaul, he could succeed at the Division I high-major level. He had only been recruited by William & Mary, Navy, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Ivy League schools before his tournament performance. Afterwards, at least three Big Ten Conference schools showed interest—Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin—although no scouts were allowed to attend any games before February 8.

By the beginning of February of his senior year, Pelinka was listed as one of the top ten Class AA (the larger school class) basketball players in Illinois by ''Illinois High School Basketball magazine''. By the time of the scouting deadline of February 8, when college scouts could start attending his games, Pelinka was averaging 30 points and 10  rebounds per game; Illinois, Michigan, Notre Dame and North Carolina showed interest in him. Even previously doubtful scout Kaplan noted that of the players who waited until the April signing period instead of signing in November, Pelinka was one of the best in the Chicago area.

At the conclusion of the season, Pelinka had a 30-point-per-game average that benefited from a 41% three-point shot percentage over the course of 208 attempts. Pelinka was named to the post-(regular) season All-Chicago area top 20 players by the ''Chicago Sun-Times''. He was named among the 20 Class AA All-state players in a class that included Eric Anderson, LaPhonso Ellis, Acie Earl, and Deon Thomas. In addition to various all-star lists, Pelinka was selected to play for various regional all-star teams. He earned a coveted spot in the Schlitz League, teaming up with Maurice Cheeks for Luster Premium Hair Products.

Pelinka's final decision came down to a choice between Illinois and Michigan. Pelinka chose Michigan because of its academically strong law school and business school. After selecting Michigan, he had notable performances in his regional all-star games, including a 27-point performance in the annual City-Suburban all-star game.

In January 2009, Pelinka was one of two players who did not attend the twentieth anniversary reunion of the 1989 championship team. In February, Matt Vogrich broke Pelinka's Lake Forest High School scoring record. Vogrich followed in Pelinka's footsteps, playing as a freshman for the Wolverines basketball team in the 2009–10 season.

College career

Freshman season (1988–1989)

As a guard, Pelinka became the first Michigan Wolverine to reach three NCAA Tournament Final Fours during his Michigan Wolverines career. He played in the 1988–89, 1990–91, 1991–92, and 1992–93 seasons; the team reached the championship game of the Final Four in three out of four of those seasons. As a true freshman member of the 1988–89 National Champions, his teammates included Glen Rice, Terry Mills, Loy Vaught, Rumeal Robinson, Sean Higgins, Demetrius Calip, and Mark Hughes. As a redshirt member of the 1991–92 and 1992–93 national runners-up, his teammates included Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, Ray Jackson (the Fab Five), and Eric Riley. He was one of several upperclassmen on the Fab Five teams and served as co-captain of the 1992–93 team. As a scholar, he was noted for having a grade point average that rivaled his scoring average.

During Pelinka's freshman season, Michigan was picked by many to win the Big Ten Conference and was ranked number one in the nation, according to some preseason polls. He was the only true freshman to play in either of the first two games of the season. Pelinka's only start of the season came in the December 12, 1988 game against Holy Cross. This game followed the team's first loss of the season, which had come against Division II Alaska–Anchorage, after an 11–0 start and after which coach Bill Frieder benched three starters. Pelinka posted his season highs in points (8), rebounds (5) and minutes (18) in this game. During a practice, Pelinka was knocked unconscious and lost two teeth. As the team entered the March stretch run, Pelinka and Calip were the only reserve guards backing up Robinson and Higgins. The team went on to win the 1989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament against Seton Hall at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington. When the team visited the White House, Pelinka held Rumeal Robinson's suit coat, while Robinson and United States President George H. W. Bush reenacted Robinson's game winning free throws.

Redshirt season (1989–1990)

When tendinitis afflicted his knees, Pelinka redshirted the 1989–90 season. During his redshirt sophomore season, Pelinka was not called on to take many important shots. He did have an opportunity to take a 20-foot shot with five seconds left in what turned out to be a 76–74 loss to Texas on December 29, 1990, but he missed the shot. In this game, he played a season-high twenty-eight minutes in his only start of the season and first of his collegiate career. Pelinka was also instrumental in setting up some key shots such as a pass to Calip during a frenetic sequence to tie Minnesota in the waning minutes of the game. The team finished with at 14–15 overall (7–11 Big Ten) record after losing to in the first round of the NIT.

Sophomore season (1990–1991)

During his redshirt junior year, he was joined at Michigan by the Fab Five, who were all true freshmen. He was injured for part of the season. When he was healthy, he was an important reserve player. After sitting out the first half, he scored the overtime opening three-point shot and made three of four overtime free throws in an 89–79 road victory against Michigan State at the Breslin Center on January 29, 1992. Pelinka had also contributed an earlier three-point shot as Michigan erased a thirteen-point deficit to force the overtime. Pelinka also contributed his season-high nineteen minutes and a second-half career-high eleven points (eclipsed in his senior season) in a March 11, 1992 70–61 victory against Purdue at the Mackey Arena. Michigan head coach Steve Fisher credited both of these wins to Pelinka and also noted his two important three-point shots against East Tennessee State. The team lost in the final game of the 1992 NCAA Tournament. After the season, he went with the team on a 9-game 16-day European trip. According to press accounts, the team was homesick during the trip and Pelinka got sick from drinking tap water.

Junior season (1991–1992)

The following season, Michigan returned its top nine scorers and began the season ranked number one in the Associated Press national ranking as Pelinka was part of a quartet of seniors backing up the Fab Five, who had become sophomores. As a fifth-year senior, Pelinka started back-to-back games twice during the season. Early in the season, he started in place of the injured Jackson, but Pelinka came down with the flu after two starts against Kansas and Eastern Michigan on December 30, 1992, and January 2, 1993 respectively. During his other set of back-to-back starts against Ohio State and Iowa on January 26 and 31, 1993, Pelinka started even though Jackson played. Pelinka set several season and career highs, including points (16), in the 72–62 home victory over Ohio State. The sixteen points included six free throws that were among the nine consecutive Michigan made in the final 2:13.

Senior season (1992–1993)

During his senior season, Pelinka was an important role player for the team who drew the most charges on the team and contributed important defensive minutes as the sixth man. During the 1992–93 season, he led all reserves in minutes and assists and was second in points and rebounds (to Eric Riley). Pelinka was also instrumental as a leader during the run to the Final Four. Having been the only member of the team in Seattle for the 1989 championship, when the 1993 team played its regional championship games in Seattle, Pelinka was able to show Webber the spot in the locker room where Rice had taken his pre-game nap. During the Final Four weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana

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