Mark Warkentien (April 16, 1953 – December 23, 2022) was a basketball coach and executive whose most recent job was as a Special Assignment Evaluator for the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

.https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-warkentien-10a52a9/ He recently served as the New York Knicks' Director of Player Personnel. He was also the former Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Denver Nuggets, where he won the NBA Executive of the Year Award for the

2008–09 NBA season The 2008–09 NBA season was the 63rd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals, four games to one. The 2008 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2008, and Derrick Rose ...

Career

Warkentien coached several

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

teams before joining

Jerry Tarkanian Jerry Tarkanian (August 8, 1930 – February 11, 2015) was an American basketball coach. He coached college basketball for 31 seasons over five decades at three schools. He spent the majority of his career coaching with the UNLV Runnin' Rebe ...

's coaching staff as an assistant at

UNLV 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 th ...

. He later left the bench to serve as assistant athletic director for the program. His NBA career began in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

with the former

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

, where he spent three years as scout. Warkentien then worked for the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

for ten seasons. During his time in Portland, Warkentien held several positions, including scout, assistant general manager, and Director of Player Personnel. He then joined the Cleveland Cavaliers front office as Director of Player Personnel and became the interim GM for the latter half of the 2004-05 season. Warkentien was elevated to Vice President of Basketball Operations of the Denver Nuggets in 2006, replacing the released Kiki Vandeweghe shortly after the season ended. In his time in Denver he made two blockbuster deals, one involving the Philadelphia 76ers which sent

Andre Miller Andre Lloyd Miller (born March 19, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player and the current head coach for the Grand Rapids Gold. Miller has played professional basketball for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, Phil ...

to Philadelphia for Allen Iverson, and the second transaction sending Iverson to Detroit to return

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

native

Chauncey Billups Chauncey Ray Billups (born September 25, 1976) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 17 seasons in the NBA. Afte ...

home. He won the NBA Executive of the Year Award for the

. His transactions included sending Allen Iverson to the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

for

, and signing free-agent

Chris Andersen Christopher Claus Andersen (born July 7, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Birdman", Andersen was born in Long Beach, California, grew up in Iola, Texas, and played one year at Blinn College. Andersen bega ...

, while moving the Nuggets under the luxury tax at the same time. On August 3, 2010, the Nuggets declined to extend Warkentien's contract, ending his four-year association with the team. On January 30, 2011, The New York Knicks agreed to hire Warkentien as a high-level consultant. On February 5, 2011, they named him Director of Pro Player Personnel. Soon after in 2012, Warkentien became a "Basketball GM and Scouting" instructor for the online sports-career training school

Sports Management Worldwide Sports Management Worldwide (SMWW) is an international sports agency and private for-profit sports management training institution based in Portland, Oregon. It is an accredited online Sports Management school and is certified by the Oregon Depar ...

, founded and run by Dr. Lynn Lashbrook. Per his LinkedIn profile, Mark last worked as a Special Assignment Evaluator for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Personal life

Warkentien graduated from

Cal-State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

as a part of the school's 1976 graduating class. He earned
Master's degree in sports leadership
from

Concordia University Chicago Concordia University Chicago is a private university in River Forest, Illinois. Formerly a college exclusively for parochial teacher education, Concordia-Chicago now offers more than 100 undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and enrolls more t ...

. Warkentien had 2 daughters, Kreigh Dannette and Aubrie Jane. Warkentien's daughters Kreigh and Aubrie appear to be following in their father's footsteps. Aubrie is the Director of Basketball Operations for the University of Nevada, where she is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the men's basketball office as well as assisting with its operations, recruiting and team travel budgets. Aubrie previously worked for the NBA Summer League and many NBA G-League Affiliate teams. Kreigh is currently the Chief of Staff for the Washington Men's Basketball Program under Coach Mike Hopkins. Prior to joining UW, she was the assistant athletic director at 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 th ...

, the same school where her dad coached prior to joining the NBA. She previously served as the director of basketball operations for the university's men's basketball team. Warkentien died on December 23, 2022, aged 69.https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10059651-mark-warkentien-dies-at-age-69-won-2008-09-nba-executive-of-the-year-with-nuggets

References

External links

Mark Warkentien Biography on NBA.com/Nuggets
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warkentien, Mark 1953 births 2022 deaths California State University, Fullerton alumni Cleveland Cavaliers executives Concordia University Chicago alumni Denver Nuggets executives National Basketball Association general managers New York Knicks executives People from Huntington, Indiana Portland Trail Blazers executives Seattle SuperSonics scouts UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball coaches