Mike Gansey had to ‘climb the ladder’ to become the Sixers’ president. Those closest to him say it ’hasn’t changed him’
Gansey, a former Ohio high school basketball standout, would evaluate college basketball prospects as an overseas player in 2009. It informed his future in NBA front offices, from Cleveland to Philly.
Mike Gansey was in Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, during the epic six-overtime Syracuse-Connecticut 2009 Big East Tournament game. He was using a Slingbox to get cable from his parents’ home in Ohio. The game ended around 6 a.m., and Gansey never went to sleep before a mandatory workout with his CB Canarias team about two hours later.
It was another opportunity to add to his notebooks, which was becoming increasingly filled with prospect evaluations. When Gansey was “very bored and lonely” while playing overseas, he would stay up into the middle of the night to watch college games.
“I didn’t think anything of it,” Gansey told The Inquirer in July. “I was just a basketball junkie.”
It was an early sign that Gansey could be headed toward a front-office career. He eventually worked his way up from an internship to the general manager role with his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers, immersed in an organization that won the 2016 NBA title and then rebuilt itself into a consistent winner. In late May, the 76ers hired Gansey as their new president of basketball operations, as a relative unknown who had never been the lead day-to-day executive of an NBA team. Then, Gansey pulled off a miraculous offseason, landing the legendary LeBron James and All-NBA wing Jaylen Brown to immediately vault the Sixers into contender status.
» READ MORE: LeBron James chose the Sixers in his ‘final decision.’ Now he’s bringing a championship ‘blueprint’ to Philly.
Who the heck is the self-proclaimed “laid back” person who spearheaded this stunning roster transformation?
Sixers coach Nick Nurse commended Gansey’s composure, “very keen eye,” and communication style. Pat Donahue, a longtime Cleveland-area high school coach who has known Gansey since he was a fourth-grader, said he possesses qualities that one would look for in a friend. Perhaps Brooklyn Nets coach Jordi Fernandez, who worked with Gansey during their time with the then-D League’s Canton Charge, said it most succinctly: “I love Mike Gansey.”
While those who know the 43-year-old Gansey best are just as blown away by the sizzling start to his Sixers’ tenure, they also say there is a reason so many across the league gravitate to him.
“Many people on the rise can change, and it’s normal,” said Wes Wilcox, a former NBA executive, scout, and coach who was with Gansey during his earliest days with the Cavaliers. “One thing that’s super special about Mike is he’s the same, humble, hardworking basketball man. …
“It’s really easy to like Mike Gansey, and it’s really easy to look back and to see all the people along the way who clearly have seen the same things.”
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The Gansey that Donahue first met as a youth camper in the Cleveland suburbs was a “goofball.” But as Gansey progressed through Olmstead Falls High School, the coach noticed a developing leadership quality that Donahue expects is similar to how Gansey operates today.
“He’s not going to get in anybody’s face,” Donahue told The Inquirer by phone. “But people are going to know what he wants.”
Back then, Gansey was embodying the environment Donahue strived to cultivate in 21 years coaching that program, by putting everybody in the best position to succeed. On the court, Gansey was sometimes unselfish to a fault, even while elevating into the player who in 2001 finished second in Ohio’s Mr. Basketball voting (James coincidentally won the award).
» READ MORE: Before Mike Gansey became a Sixers executive, he was a hard-nosed high school player who earned LeBron James’ respect
The only time Donahue would “get mad” at Gansey was when he passed up shots in AAU games, because the coach knew college recruiters wanted to see him score. As a thin 6-foot-4 teenager, many of those college coaches expressed concern to Donahue about how Gansey would hold up physically at the next level and concluded he had “no place on our team.”
Gansey wound up at St. Bonaventure, where he eventually played a game against a Richmond team then coached by John Beilein. The story relayed back to Donahue is that, while watching film of that game, Beilein highlighted Gansey’s all-out style as indicative of the players his program needed to recruit.
So when Beilein got the West Virginia job and Gansey decided to transfer, Beilein was “all over him.”
“Now, all of a sudden, I’ve got three or four calls from other college coaches from bigger programs who did not recruit Mike in high school,” Donahue said. “And I’m like, ‘Well, what are you calling me now for?’ [They said], ‘Oh, we were wrong.’”
Gansey did indeed bring that desired tenacity — and his signature baggy T-shirt under his jersey — to Morgantown. Beilein fondly recalls the waning moments of a 2005 game against Providence, when Gansey miscalculated a dive for a loose ball but, while on all fours, still tracked it down inbounds to seal the victory. That moment, Beilein said, helped respark the Mountaineers for an Elite Eight run in the NCAA Tournament.
“I will never forget Mike crawling on his hands and knees to get that ball,” Beilein told The Inquirer in May. “And I sense he’s done whatever he can to be successful just like that going forward.”
Gansey was an All-Big East and All-American honorable mention selection his senior season. Beilein also called Gansey a connector with his presence and patience, evidenced by a group chat full of former Mountaineers that popped off when Gansey landed his new gig.
Following his college career, Gansey and the Cavaliers officially linked during 2006 NBA draft workouts. Former general manager Danny Ferry was already a fan of the local kid and Gansey impressed during his interview, Wilcox said.
“Just one of those players, he comes into your building,” said Wilcox, who was a young scout at the time “ … and he just made a very positive impression with everybody in the building.”
As Gansey toggled between playing overseas and in the D League, the Cavaliers-affiliate Erie BayHawks acquired him in 2009. Wilcox described that player as smart, a great teammate, and “everything that you want to build a program around.” When Gansey later joined CB Canarias — and began filling out those late-night notebooks — his agent constantly reminded the Cavaliers, “Don’t forget about Mike” for potential front-office openings.
The Cavaliers called in 2011 to offer an internship, described by Wilcox as the “most entry-level job in the business.” Gansey’s tasks would include placing Starbucks orders and giving rides to the airport.
It initially stung Gansey when he asked to play pickup games during informal offseason workouts, and players assumed he also had been invited to training camp. Gansey also spent hours on the court with players and staff during former head coach Byron Scott’s grueling practices, then began his front-office responsibilities in the late afternoon.
“After the first couple weeks, I put my ego aside,” Gansey said. “It was like, all right, my playing career’s over. I’ve got to forget about that. I was going to do [my tasks] and do it to the best of my ability, and just show the people I’m willing to do whatever it takes to climb the ladder.”
Including taking a computer class, since his lack of Excel and Power Point skills made him “probably the most underqualified intern,” he quipped. A project he estimates took somebody else 15 minutes took him two hours.
Still, Wilcox instantly noticed Gansey’s humility, high basketball intellect, and relationship-building ability. When Beilein took over as Michigan’s head coach, for example, Wilcox could drop Gansey’s name on a visit and it would immediately open that program up “in a way that would not have been the case,” he said.
Gansey, meanwhile, felt validated when Wilcox began sending him reports from NBA games he had scouted, asking for feedback. Fellow former Cleveland staffer Trent Redden, who is now the Los Angeles Clippers’ interim president of basketball operations, encouraged Gansey to hop in the car with him to scout Big Ten games. Gansey began making the hour-long drive to the Cavaliers’ new D League facility in Canton to drop off gear or per diem money, recognizing that could be a path to move up.
He was correct. Days before a 2012 Charge mini camp, Wilcox shared that he was leaving for a job in the Atlanta Hawks’ front office and handed Gansey the reins. Gansey effectively took on general manager duties for that team, with the guidance from Cavaliers vice president of basketball operations David Griffin.
Gansey was nervous the first time he called another team to introduce himself and check in. But that began a five-year “whirlwind,” where he learned how to run a draft, trade players, and have productive conversations with agents and other teams. He won the G League’s Executive of the Year in 2017.
“It was the best thing for my career,” Gansey said. “ … It’s everything we do [at the NBA level], and you just get to grow.”
Beat reporters Gina Mizell and Chris Hine break down their most intriguing quotes from LeBron James and Tyrese Maxey during the preseason, along with what they most hope to learn about this revamped roster during the first month of the season. Watch here.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Sixers Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Gansey continued to be promoted within the Cavaliers’ organization. He was part of James’ triumphant return, capped by winning a long-awaited 2016 championship. He became responsible for running the draft, with picks including former NBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley and All-Star Darius Garland. He continued to take those copious notes from the bleachers at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, sometimes while sitting next to Donahue.
“Always looking for, ‘Where can we get a guy?’” Donahue said. “A diamond in the rough, so to speak.”
As Gansey’s prominence in Cleveland’s front office grew, Wilcox still found him to be a trustworthy resource. Though they had long worked for different teams, Wilcox knew he could count on Gansey for honest, efficient discussions about potential personnel moves or while aiming to acquire background information. When Gansey called Wilcox in 2022 to share that he had been promoted to Cleveland’s general manager, Wilcox believed Gansey was on track to someday run his own team.
“And I’d be shocked if the rest of the NBA doesn’t think that they can call Philly,” said Wilcox, who is now the general manager of the University of Utah’s men’s basketball team, “[and] they know they’re going to get a straight approach with the ability to get a deal done quickly.
“I think he’s already shown it with what he’s done this summer.”
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Bob Myers did not have a prior personal relationship with Gansey. Yet when Myers, the president of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and former lead executive during the Golden State Warriors’ dynasty, began assembling candidates last spring to replace the fired Daryl Morey, a “you should talk to Gansey” sentiment kept surfacing.
Gansey had naturally crossed paths with Warriors brass — including former West Virginia teammate Jonnie West, then-scout Mike Dunleavy, and the Lacob family that owned the team — during the seemingly annual Cleveland-Golden State NBA Finals matchups. From afar, Myers also admired how the Cavaliers had turned Cleveland from a perceived less-than-desirable player destination, to one many spoke positively about.
Gansey had interviewed for the Chicago Bulls’ lead executive opening earlier in the offseason, and was excited when his agent shared that the Sixers were interested in chatting. He was intrigued by the electric Tyrese Maxey-VJ Edgecombe backcourt, Philly’s passion for sports, and Nurse’s championship pedigree.
In that initial phone conversation, Gansey and Myers hit it off. Gansey then spoke to owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer. Topics ranged from Gansey’s relatability as a former player, his variety of front-office roles and experiences, and how the Cavaliers executed the blockbuster trades for Donovan Mitchell and James Harden.
“This just feels different,” Gansey thought to himself after those interviews.
That process occurred during Cleveland’s playoff run to the Eastern Conference finals, when Gansey quipped that he did not sleep for weeks. After the Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons in Game 7 of their second-round series, Gansey took the late-night flight with the team to New York City for Game 1 against the Knicks, spent about two hours in a hotel room, then went to the airport to fly cross-country to meet with Myers in Los Angeles. Hours later, he took a redeye flight back to New York to rejoin the Cavaliers.
“It was a whirlwind until they offered,” Gansey said. “Then, it was like, ‘This is too good to pass up.’”
During his introductory news conference in Camden, Gansey was pleasant yet vanilla. He said wanted to work with people who were “fountains, not drains,” and looked forward to getting to know the staffers already in place. With Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Paul George all on max contracts, Gansey set his sights on finding Sixers versions of role players such as Dean Wade and Sam Merrill, and building the roster around the edges before making a “big splash.”
That opportunity arrived way sooner than expected. Once two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo was traded from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Miami Heat instead of the Boston Celtics — and it publicly surfaced that Brown was part of Boston’s proposed trade package — Gansey dove into his philosophy to always make the call. He learned that from former boss Koby Altman and their trade for big man Jarrett Allen that was “years in the making,” because they kept calling the Nets until getting roped into the 2020 blockbuster trade that sent Harden from the Houston Rockets to Brooklyn.
» READ MORE: Sixers star Jaylen Brown plays with his heart on his sleeve. For the first time, it won’t bleed green.
“That’s what’s so crazy,” Gansey said, “a trade can happen in an hour, a day — or, like, three weeks, a month, a year, two years. You just don’t know.”
The July 1 news that the Sixers had acquired Brown in exchange for George and draft picks sent Wilcox into impressed laughter. He and Utah coach Alex Jensen, another former Canton Charge colleague, had just put Gansey on speakerphone in their office for a catch-up days prior — and got zero indication that such a move was brewing. Landing Brown also suddenly put the Sixers in very public contention for James, who had decided not to return to the Los Angeles Lakers. When Gansey met up with Donahue at Las Vegas Summer League, a conversation mostly centered around family included a brief admission from Gansey that he hoped James would make his decision soon.
On July 24, James picked Philly, officially creating the NBA’s latest super team.
Even after this ballyhooed offseason, Gansey believes it will still take at least a year to put his full imprint on the organization. Yet some who spent time with him in Cleveland have already noticed ways he has brought himself to his new job.
Tacko Fall, who recently signed a two-way contract with the Sixers and also previously played for the Cavaliers, spotted Gansey walking around the practice facility courts just like he did in Cleveland. Wade, who also joined the Sixers from Cleveland as a free agent, still trash-talks with Gansey about the Big 12 rivalry between his alma mater, Kansas State, and West Virginia. Then, they ask about each other’s family.
“He’s always checking in,” Wade said, “ … and, like, he genuinely cares. So that’s nice to see. But the change in title and everything hasn’t changed him as a person.”
Gansey flashed his roots at shootaround before the Sixers’ preseason finale, wearing a Cleveland Guardians hat while chatting with Nurse. Then, late Tuesday, Gansey waded through a jam-packed hallway inside Madison Square Garden following the Sixers’ season-opening win over the defending-champion New York Knicks. Harris was there. So was James’ wife, Savannah, and agent Rich Paul. And a gaggle of reporters waiting to get into the visitors’ locker room to speak to members of the roster Gansey had swiftly assembled.
It was quite the leap from those late nights in the Canary Islands, when Gansey filled notebooks with prospect evaluations.
“It’s unbelievable in the sense that [he’s accomplished] that much that quickly,” Donahue said. “It’s not unbelievable that he could do that.”
Conor Smith contributed to the reporting of this story.
