Thomas F. Sheppard (born May 23, 1969) is an American sports executive who is the

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

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

of the

National Basketball Association 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 S ...

(NBA). A native of New Mexico, he attended

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

and played for their

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

before graduating in 1991. Sheppard's NBA career began upon joining the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

' public relations department in 1994. He later joined the Wizards as an assistant executive under

Ernie Grunfeld Ernest Grunfeld (born April 24, 1955) is a Romanian-American former professional basketball player and former general manager in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In college at the University of Tennessee, he set a new record as the sch ...

in 2003 and was promoted to general manager following his dismissal in 2019. Sheppard also serves as their team president.

Early life and career

Sheppard was born in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

, where he attended St. Pius X High School. Sheppard attended

, where he played three years for the

New Mexico State Aggies football team The New Mexico State Aggies football team represents New Mexico State University in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football as an NCAA Division I FBS independent schools, independent. Although New Mexico State is a membe ...

, before graduating in 1991. Sheppard started his career in sports management, when he accepted a job with the Aggies as a graduate assistant to the sports information director. Sheppard would later move to the

University of Nevada-Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

, where he served as the sports information director for the

UNLV Rebels The UNLV Rebels are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The Rebels compete in the NCAA Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision for college football) as a member of the Mountain West Confer ...

for three seasons.

Executive career

Denver Nuggets

Sheppard was hired by the

in 1994 as the team's senior director of team services and player relations. Sheppard was responsible for overseeing the team's public relations department, in addition to scouting players in the high school, college and international ranks.

Washington Wizards

Sheppard was hired by the Wizards in 2003, serving as the team's vice-president of basketball operations under the newly hired president and general manager

. Sheppard served in various capacities with the franchise and was responsible for the team's rebuilding efforts, which saw the Wizards move on from

Gilbert Arenas Gilbert Jay Arenas Jr. (; born January 6, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Arenas attended Grant High School in the Valley Glen district of Los Angeles, and accepted a scholarship offer to the University of Arizona lat ...

and placing a greater emphasis on drafting and developing players. Sheppard was considered influential in the team's decision to build around both

John Wall Johnathan Hildred Wall Jr. (born September 6, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A Raleigh, North Carolina native, Wall was chosen with the List of firs ...

and

Bradley Beal Bradley Emmanuel Beal Sr. (born June 28, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Florida Gators before being selected by ...

. Sheppard was appointed the interim general manager of the Wizards following Grunfeld's dismissal on April 2, 2019. He was later named to the position full-time on July 19, 2019. In November 2021, he signed a multi-year contract extension and was also given the title of team president.

Personal life

Sheppard now serves as an adjunct professor of sports management at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, after joining the university's staff as a guest lecturer in 2009.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, Tommy (basketball) 1969 births Living people American sports executives and administrators Denver Nuggets executives National Basketball Association general managers New Mexico State Aggies football players People from Albuquerque, New Mexico Washington Wizards executives