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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

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

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

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, sect ...

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 Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

, an

assistant coach An athletic 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 Coach (carriage), horse-drawn carriage, deriving ul ...

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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

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 Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

Early life

Stack attended St. Laurence High School in

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

. 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 ...

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 (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. 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 MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

for his junior and senior years and helped the team advance to the second round of the 1983 National Invitation 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 of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

1983 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 of the ...

, 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

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 in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jackson is a 13-time NBA champion, having won two as a player and 11 as ...

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), also known as "Zeke", is an American former professional basketball player who is head coach of the Saginaw Soul of the Basketball Super League, and also an analyst for NBA TV and Fox Sports. H ...

. 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

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 formerly played for the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

. 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 admi ...

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

Schaumburg, Illinois Schaumburg ( ) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 78,723, making Schaumburg the most populou ...

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 NBA executives NBA 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 Atomics Brussels players Forwards (basketball)