The work of a talented NBA general manager is often times, overly critiqued and underappreciated. Now more than ever, the 30 individuals holding this position across the league are scrutinized with every move they make, knowing it could possibly make or break their personal livelihood and hopes at a possible future championship. For the late Bob Bass, who passed away on August 17 at age 89, his three-decade run in the NBA certainly falls into the underappreciated category. Bass spent seven seasons (1995-02) as the Charlotte Hornets’ General Manager, an extensive stretch for an organization that at the time of his hiring, had already employed four GM’s since entering the league in 1988.
Although Bass retired from the executive life without ever landing that coveted NBA championship ring, his ability to steer and stabilize a pair of young, small-market franchises over the course of his distinguished career can’t be overlooked despite the lack of hardware.
Born in middle America shortly before the dawn of the Great Depression in 1929, Bass attended Oklahoma’s Tulsa Rogers High School before enrolling at NAIA Oklahoma Baptist University in 1947. He captained the basketball team for three years, graduated in 1950 and eventually went on to become a nearby high school coach.
Two years later, Bass circled back to take the reins of his alma mater. Although just 23 years old at the time of his arrival, Bass would lead the Bison for the next 15 seasons, winning the 1966 NAIA Division I Championship despite entering the tournament as an unassuming 11 seed.
Bass’ professional coaching career began unfolding in 1967, when he started a two-year run as head coach of the ABA’s Denver Rockets (they later became the Nuggets). He transitioned back to college coaching at Texas Tech University for another season and half before returning to the ABA to lead the Miami Floridians and Memphis Tams.
With the Tams struggling to financially stay afloat in the ABA, Bass headed to San Antonio in the offseason of 1974 to become the Spurs’ newest general manager. His arrival in Texas took place about seven months after the organization’s acquisition of future Hall-of-Famer George Gervin, who was controversially sold to the Spurs by the Virginia Squires back in January. When Head Coach Tom Nissalke resigned midway through the 1974-75 campaign, Bass took over and led the Spurs to an 83-57 record through the end of the following season. He famously moved the undersized Gervin from small forward to his more natural position at shooting guard, immediately turning the team’s offense into a faster, more high-powered version of its former self.
Gervin’s career swiftly skyrocketed and by the time he departed San Antonio in 1985, he had nine NBA All-Star appearances, seven All-NBA teams and four scoring titles to his name. In hindsight, Bass’ seemingly minor lineup tweak at the time likely played a major role in maximizing the talents of ‘The Iceman’ and catalyzing one of the greatest careers in NBA history.
After the ABA-NBA merger in 1976, Bass stayed on in San Antonio as the organization flipped leagues, although for the most part, he stayed in the front office. Over the next 18 seasons, the Spurs missed the playoffs just three times and made three Conference Finals appearances. Bass occasionally filled in as an interim coach when needed, compiling a 60-51 mark over three separate stints.
San Antonio’s on-court success over this span wouldn’t have been possible without a multitude of great personnel moves. Of the many key additions, Bass brought the likes of David Robinson, Artis Gilmore, Larry Kenon, Johnny Dawkins, Terry Cummings, Alvin Robertson, Avery Johnson, Vinny Del Negro, Sean Elliot and Dennis Rodman all into the organization.
It was also during this time that Bass would win the first of his two NBA Executive of the Year Awards after guiding the Spurs to a then-league-record 37-win improvement in 1990 thanks largely to the additions of Robinson, Cummings and Elliot.
Bass left the Spurs in May of 1994 and was hired by the Hornets one year later to replace Dave Twardzik, who had agreed to become the general manager in Golden State. Charlotte was coming off a franchise-record 50-win season, although a stalemate was looming in contract extension negotiations with All-Star big man Alonzo Mourning.
Despite the team’s success in 1994-95, Bass came in and immediately starting shaking up the Hornets roster. He brought Kendall Gill back to Charlotte after sending Hersey Hawkins and David Wingate to Seattle and then grabbed seven-foot Czech center, George Zidek, from UCLA with the 22nd overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft.
Five months after arriving, Bass shipped Mourning, LeRon Ellis and the recently-signed Pete Myers to Miami in exchange for Glen Rice, Matt Geiger, Khalid Reeves and a 1996 first-round draft pick, which later became Tony Delk. Rice went on to compile one of the single-greatest tenures in Hornets history, garnering three All-Star appearances, two All-NBA selections and an All-Star Game MVP in three seasons with the team.
After posting a disappointing 41-41 record in 1995-96, Head Coach Allan Bristow was fired and replaced by Dave Cowens. Bass then acquired Vlade Divac in a draft-day trade with the Los Angeles Lakers and sent fan favorite Larry Johnson to New York in exchange for Anthony Mason and Brad Lohaus.
Midway through the 1996-97 season, sharpshooter Scott Burrell was traded to Golden State for forward Donald Royal. That same day, Anthony Goldwire and Zidek were flipped to Denver for two-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year, Ricky Pierce.
Charlotte ended up with a still-standing franchise-best 54 wins and returned to the playoffs with Mason making the All-NBA Second Team and NBA All-Defensive Team. Bass was also named Executive of the Year for the second time in his career, making him the only general manager in franchise history to receive this honor.
The Hornets tallied a winning record each of Bass’ five remaining seasons in Charlotte, three of culminated with Eastern Conference Semifinals appearances. Along the way, Bass was responsible for adding more integral talent to the roster including David Wesley, Bobby Phills, Derrick Coleman, Elden Campbell, Eddie Jones, Baron Davis, Lee Nailon, Jamaal Magloire, P.J. Brown and Jamal Mashburn.
Bass accompanied the franchise when it moved to New Orleans in 2002, serving two more seasons as general manager before retiring at age 75. One of his last signature moves was snagging future two-time All-Star David West with the 18th overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.
Bass moved back to San Antonio and became a regular at Spurs games – this time as a spectator. The organization went on to win five championships after his departure in 1994, a run that can largely be credited to the foundation Bass helped instill years and years earlier.
As for his time with the Hornets, Bass distinguished himself as the best general manager the organization has had to date. He endured zero losing seasons in Charlotte while watching Rice, Mason, Jones, Brown and Davis combine for a total of five All-Star Game selections, four-All-NBA teams and four NBA All-Defensive teams in a span of seven years.
Still, one has to wonder where this Charlotte core that Bass constructed could have gone had the team not moved to New Orleans. The relocation likely took somewhat of a toll on the Hornets’ immediate success down in Louisiana as they were bounced in the opening round of the playoffs in both 2003 and 2004.
After Bass left, New Orleans began the 2004-05 season with a 2-29 record and eventually traded Wesley to Houston, Davis to Golden State and Mashburn – who was already out for the season with a knee injury – to Philadelphia. The team finished with just 18 wins, the fewest of any team in the Western Conference that year.
Needing to always be around the sport in some manner, Bass had an unconditional love for the game and the competition that came with it. Not one for complacency, if there was a move that could be made to improve the team, he made it. As evidenced, he shuffled up the best Hornets team to date in 1995 and despite the lack of immediate dividends, it ultimately set the stage for success down the line.
Not many probably would have had the courage to trade two franchise cornerstones in Mourning and Johnson like Bass did shortly after arriving in Charlotte. His track record wasn’t spotless (no general manager’s is), yet he was more often than not, right on the money in knowing when to roll the dice a bit and when to hold back.
One of the better examples that comes to mind was when Bass decided to take David Robinson from the Naval Academy with the first overall pick in the 1987 NBA Draft. The reigning National College Player of the Year, Robinson had two years of military service after graduating and because he would not be immediately signing a contract with the Spurs, he could have reentered the draft when he returned in 1989.
Bass and the Spurs front office stayed the course and took Robinson, knowing the risk involved with such a unique situation. They eventually convinced him to come aboard to San Antonio and the rest was history. ‘The Admiral’ became one of the top players of his generation in helping lead the Spurs to a pair of NBA titles in 1999 and 2003.
When Bass traded Johnson to the Knicks, the Hornets forward was still in the very early stages of the largest-ever NBA contract at the time – a 12-year deal for $84 million signed in October of 1993. Johnson’s pesky back had already started showing signs of breaking down and his playing style was a bit too similar to that of the recently-acquired Rice.
Bass pulled the trigger on the complicated deal (there was lots of financial haggling), sending Mason – a player with a known volatile, temperamental reputation – to Charlotte. Mason’s defensive tenacity and all-around versatility very much complimented a pure-scorer like Rice, a major factor in the team’s 13-win improvement in 1996-97.
Bass’ propensity for wheelin’ and dealin’ didn’t necessarily mean he shot from the hip though. Every signing, every trade, every draft pick was made with purpose and reason, not emotion. Colleagues praised him for never trying to do too much. Instead, he capitalized on his knack for finding hidden talent and cultivating it, an invaluable attribute for general managers residing in smaller NBA markets. The kind of straight-shooting personality one would expect from somebody with Oklahoma and Texas roots, Bass built a reputation of trusting his instincts and sticking to his guns. He was as much about constructing a culture in San Antonio and Charlotte as anything else, with each of his many moves thoroughly planned out and calculated from all different angles.
With his passing, Bass leaves behind his wife of 68 years, Pat, two sons – Kelly and Kip, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. His professional coaching record across the ABA and NBA finished at 311-300, although his long-lasting influence on a pair of franchises was far more resonating.
Over the next several months, the Charlotte Hornets will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of their inaugural season, honoring the likes of Rice, Johnson and many others along the way. It’s unfortunate that Bass won’t physically be around to witness any of the festivities as few individuals have made as big a contribution to the organization as he did across those seven special seasons.