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Adrian WojnarowskiESPN
The Indiana Pacers are hiring longtime WNBA executive Kelly Krauskopf as the first female assistant general manager in NBA history, league sources told ESPN on Monday.
Krauskopf will work with the Pacers basketball operations staff, including President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard, general manager Chad Buchanan and assistant GM Peter Dinwiddie.
Major League Baseball has had two women assistant GMs, including current New York Yankees executive Jean Afterman and former Los Angeles Dodgers executive Kim Ng. There are several rising female executives in the NBA, but Krauskopf will be the first at the assistant GM level.
Krauskopf had been president and general manager of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever for 17 years until relinquishing only the GM duties in 2017 to oversee the Pacers’ new esports entry in the NBA2K League.
She’s also has had a significant role with USA Basketball’s women’s national team, playing a part in the selection process on three gold-medal winning Olympic teams.
As she moves into a full-time role in the Pacers front office, she’s relinquishing her WNBA and esports duties, sources said.
There is a growing number of women in front office basketball roles in the NBA, including Becky Bonner (Orlando), Amanda Green (Oklahoma City), Teresa Resch (Toronto), Michelle Leftwich (Atlanta), Ariana Andonian (Houston) and Natalie Jay (Brooklyn).
Krauskopf built a WNBA championship franchise from the Fever’s expansion season in 2003. Indiana won the 2013 WNBA title, and advanced to three Finals appearances since 2009. Previously, she had been the WNBA’s first Director of Operations, beginning in 1996. She was a college basketball star at Texas A&M in the 1980s.